State Board News -- September 2004

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September State Board News

In this month's news
Kansas Education Resource Center Launched
Science, History/Government, Writing Performance Levels Discussed
October Meeting in District 2
Board Agendas Available on the Web
In other Action
Schools Receive Accreditation

Kansas Education Resource Center Launched

At last - the long awaited web-based resource you've been waiting for is available. The Kansas Education Resource Center, http://www.kerc-ks.org offers tools to help teachers align classroom instruction and assessments with the Kansas curriculum standards.

Check out the site - it has a huge amount of information [explanations of standards, lesson plans, assessment models, etc.] with more to come.

Science, History/Government, Writing Performance Levels Discussed

QPA regulations which go into effect July 1, 2005, require that all schools meet specified performance levels in all subjects assessed at the state level. Performance levels for reading and mathematics have been set, as required for AYP by ESEA/NCLB. Now the State Board is beginning the discussions on appropriate levels for the other assessed subjects. Because these other content areas are NOT part of the AYP/ESEA/NCLB mandate, Kansas can set performance levels any way it wants.

Materials provided by staff used data from current assessments to make initial recommendations. These recommendations have also been distributed to schools and districts for comments.

In science and history/government, three-fourths of the schools had approximately 50% of their students at proficient and above for K-8 and 45% for 9-12.

In writing, three-fourths of the schools had approximately 50% of their students with scores that ranged from 2.83 to 3.34 at 5th grade, 2.94 to 3.51 at 8th grade, and 2.81 to 3.52 at 11th grade.

Suggested performance standards would be:

Science	2003	2005	2007	2009	2011	2013
4th	50	55	60	65	70	75
7th	50	55	60	65	70	75
10th	45	50	55	60	65	70

H/G	2003	2005	2007	2009	2001	2013
6th	50	55	60	65	70	75
8th	50	55	60	65	70	75
11th	45	50	55	60	65	70

Writing	2004	2006	2008	2010	2012	2014
5th	2.85	2.87	2.89	2.91	2.93	2.95
8th	2.90	2.92	2.94	2.96	2.98	3.00
11th	2.80	2.82	2.84	2.86	2.88	2.90

Unlike for reading and mathematics, these 3 sets of performance levels would look only at "whole group" data, not at disaggregated groups, although schools would be encouraged to use their disaggregated data for instructional decisions. The levels would also need to be re-normed following the first administration of new assessments in 2005.

In addition to the suggested performance levels, several "safe harbor" provisions could be available:

Increase 20% of the difference between the percent of students proficient and the target level

Move 5% of students out of unsatisfactory and/or basic and sustain or improve percentages at the other levels

Close the achievement gap by 5%

Comments from Board members and from schools and districts ranged from agreement that these proposals are reasonable to concerns that they are too stringent to concerns that they are not challenging enough.

The Board will continue these discussions at their October meeting.

October Meeting in District 2

The October meeting of the State Board will be in District 2, represented by Sue Gamble, at the Shawnee Mission central office. The meeting times remain the same, 10 am on Tuesday, October 12 and 9 am on Wednesday, October 13.

Board Agendas Available on the Web

Beginning with the October State Board meeting, full agenda information will be available on the KSDE website a week prior to each board meeting. Printed packets of information will no longer be provided.

To access the information, go to the KSDE website, www.ksde.org. On the left scroll bar, click on Board of Education. A hyperlink to "current month meeting materials" will be added to the current list of available options. They will be available in PDF format for downloading. Typically, materials are available the Monday of the week prior to the week that the board meets (the second Tuesday/Wednesday of each month).

In other action, the State Board:

Received the annual report from the Special Education Advisory Council

Heard about district budgeting processes in DeSoto, Andover and Garden City

Approved QPA waivers for
o USD 468, Healy, adjust timeline for on-site visit
o USD 301, NesTreLaGo, adjust membership of on-site teams
o USDs 212, 224, 245, 279, 291, 297, 299, 305, 312, 321, 329, 359, 360, 382, 442, 462, 500, waive timeline for first on-site visit and begin transition to new regulations (selected schools in each USD)

Approved Ed Flex waiver for USD 492, Flinthills

Approved recommendations from Licensure Review Committee
o 11 license/endorsement approvals
o 1 PDP approval

Approved license waivers for
o USD 105, Rawlins County, administrator out of field
o USD 232, DeSoto, teacher out of field (library-media)
o USD 396, Douglass, teacher out of field (special education)
o USD 490, El Dorado, 5 teachers out of field (special education)
o USD 497, Lawrence, 2 teachers out of field (special education)

Approved bond elections for
o USD 206, Remington
o USD 343, Perry
o USD 450, Shawnee Heights
o USD 506, Labette County

Schools Receive Accreditation

The following schools received full accreditation status at the September meeting:

USD 204, Clark ms
USD 207, Bradley and Eisenhower elementaries
USD 217, Rolla elementary and hs
USD 219, Minneola elementary and hs
USD 225, Fowler elementary and hs
USD 232, Clear Creek elementary
USD 239, Minneapolis elementary and hs
USD 253, Emporia hs
USD 256, Marmaton Valley hs
USD 259, Black magnet elementary, Brooks magnet ms, Metro Blvd alt hs, East hs, West hs
USD 290, Ottawa hs
USD 345, Logan jhs
USD 368, Paola ms
USD 379, Wakefield elementary
USD 402, Robinson elementary, Augusta ms
USD 419, Canton elementary and hs
USD 428, Great Bend hs
USD 447, Lincoln Central elementary, Cherryvale m/hs
USD 458, Basehor, Linwood and Glenwood Ridge elementaries
USD 500, Emerson elementary, Sumner Academy
USD 501, Avondale East, Avondale West, McClure and Quincy elementaries, Chase, Eisenhower, Landon and Robinson ms, Highland Park hs

KNEA Legislative Contacts

Blake West, President
Peg Dunlap, Director, Instructional Advocacy
Mark Desetti, Director, Legislative and Political Advocacy
Terry Forsyth, Director, Political Action

The KNEA Lobby Team consists of elected leaders and staff. The Lobby Team welcomes member feedback on issues before the Legislature and on this site.