May State Board News
An agenda full of information only and discussion only items made for a relatively quiet meeting of the State Board this month. The absence of two board members, Ken Willard, district 7, all day, and Connie Morris, district 5, in the morning, could have contributed to the lack of action items, since all actions of the State Board require 6 votes.
As always, specific board materials can be found on the KSDE website at http://www.ksde.org/commiss/May%2006%20mtg%20materials.pdf
State Assessment Issues Discussed
This summer will be busy, as Kansas educators and testing experts prepare to recommend new performance levels to the State Board in August. Prior to that, two sets of work must be completed. Dr. Tom Foster, Director of School Improvement and Accreditation, outlined that work for the State Board.
First, Kansas teachers participated in a “contrasting groups” study, in which teachers were asked to predict how their students might perform along the continuum of performance levels. About 3,000 teachers provided information on 30,000 students – sufficient numbers to provide a valid sample.
Second, panels of Kansas teachers will meet in June for a “bookmark” exercise, in which they will examine actual assessment items for each assessed content area at each grade level and by consensus decide where the 5 performance levels should be set.
All that information will be analyzed and recommendations forwarded to the State Board for an August decision about the specific performance levels. That decision is necessary before the building and district AYP decisions can be made and before building and district report cards can be developed.
Simultaneously, as required by the US Department of Education, Kansas will be conducting a comparability study of the Kansas Computerized Assessment (KCA) and the paper/pencil version of the state assessments. This study, expected to be completed by July, 2007, will be conducted by CETE (Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at KU) and supervised by Dr. Michael Kolen, from the University of Iowa. Kolen is a member of the Kansas Technical Advisory Group, a 6-member panel of assessment experts from outside the state. The TAC was formed in the mid-‘90’s to assist KSDE and CETE with assessment issues.
Board materials on these two topics can be found on pages 61-63.
Agency Response to Sex Ed Instruction Request
KSDE staff presented a statement regarding abstinence and human sexuality education to the State Board, with a recommendation that it be placed in the introduction to the standards document. The statement can be found on page 37 of the Board materials.
Board discussion ranged from questions about how the staff statement was different from material already contained in the standards document to concerns that the statement was not specific enough about the need for abstinence-only-before-marriage instruction.
Kathy Martin, district 6, who raised the issue before the Board two months ago, indicated that she still did not like the word “comprehensive” in the statement, because she feared that it implied that it was appropriate to teach about “safe sex” before marriage. She also indicated that she continues to have reservations about a policy statement, which does not have the impact of a regulatory change.
Action on the statement is expected at a future Board meeting.
In other action, the State Board:
Heard from Dr. Jill Shackelford, USD 500, about KCK’s Zap The Gap program
Recognized Kansas ’ 2005 Presidential award winners for excellence in mathematics and science education (p. 35)
- Christine Herald, NEA Manhattan/Ogden, secondary science
- Audrey Smalley, USD 260, Derby, secondary mathematics
Received the Kansas Licensed Personnel Report (pp. 43-60)
Received final recommendations on educational services for autistic children from the Special Education Advisory Council (pp. 39-42)
Approved reappointments to the following:
- Professional Standards Board: Karen Godfrey, NEA Seaman; Carolyn Good, Olathe NEA; Sam Rabiola, Lawrence EA; Shirley Meissner, Wichita Collegiate; John Heim, Emporia; Deb Haltom, Shawnee Mission, Orville Altevogt, Alma – all to second three-year terms (p. 125)
- Professional Practices Commission: Andrea Ewert, NEA Hutchinson; Tom Biggs, El Dorado; David Webb, Gardner-Edgerton – all to second three-year terms (p. 127)
- Licensure Review Committee: Mary Tate, Clay County TA, first full three-year term; Mark Jarboe, Shawnee Heights EA, second three-year term (p. 129)
Approved recommendations from Licensure Review Committee to approve 13 license/endorsements and deny 8 (pp. 131-134)
Approved a request from USD 446, Independence, to hold a bond election (p. 139)
Future State Board Meetings
On Wednesday, May 10, the State Board visited the Kansas School for the Blind in KCK and the Kansas School for the Deaf in Olathe. Both schools are under the direct supervision of the State Board. The agendas for those visits can be found on pages 147-151.
The next meeting of the State Board is scheduled for June 13 and 14 in Topeka. The agenda and materials should be available on the KSDE website on June 5.
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