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March State Board News

C&TE – What Does It Look Like?

Three school districts in Kansas that have begun initiatives to integrate career and technical education into their day-to-day operations discussed what they do and how they do it with the State Board this week.

This presentation provided the State Board with specific examples of how the 9 initiatives passed at the February meeting might look when implemented.  [See February State Board News for a list of the 9 initiatives.]

The Board also received an aggressive timeline outlining action steps that KSDE staff and schools must take to implement the 9 initiatives.

Board members are enthusiastic about the potential impact of the initiatives and discussed what it might take to get schools to understand that they [the Board] are serious about implementation.

Garden  City  High School participates in a national program called “High Schools That Work,” an initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board.  In Garden City, one of the important elements is a required senior project, which is reviewed by a panel of community and school leaders.

Field  Kindley  High School, Coffeyville, used the career clusters, the career pipeline and Skills USA to involve students, their families and the school faculty in decisions to help students with their high school and post-high school plans.

Erie-Galesburg  High School  is implementing Project Based Learning, which involves students in teacher-selected, then student-selected projects.  These projects are aligned with the Kansas curricular standards.  Standards that don’t fit neatly into projects are taught in small-group intensive settings.

Representatives of the three schools, including teachers, students and administrators, discussed how their programs address issues of high school credit, qualified admissions, and sustained resources.  They stressed that the strengths of their programs are based on their focus on rigor, relevance and relationships.

Administrators Recognized

The 2008 Kansas administrators of the year were recognized by the State Board.  They are:

• Jim Lentz, Augusta, superintendent
• Jim McNiece, Wichita Northwest HS, high school principal
• Bruce Krase, Remington Middle School, middle school principal
• Sandra Almos, Edith Scheuerman Elementary School, Garden City, elementary principal

Charter Schools Proposed

Ten new schools are recommended for Charter Status, beginning in the 2008-2009 school year.  They are:

• Jefferson West charter school
• Abilene Community Preparatory Junior/Senior charter
• Ulysses  Career  Learning Academy
• Burrton Technical Trades charter
• Oswego  Service  Valley Charter Academy
• El Dorado  Project Extend
• Little River – Kansas  Career and Technical  Charter School
• Humboldt  Learning  Center
• Spring Hill – Insight Schools of Kansas  at the Hilltop  Education Center
• Rural Vista – White  City  Middle Charter School

Following approval at the April State Board meeting, each of the schools will be eligible for a $60,000 planning grant, to be followed by implementation grants of up to $170,000 for each of the next two years.  These are in addition to the base state aid per pupil that each school will receive.

April State Board Meeting

The April 8 and 9 meeting of the State Board will be in District 1.  Janet Waugh, who represents that district, has chosen USD 500, Kansas City, Kansas, as the site of the meeting.  The agenda and board materials should be available on the KSDE website on Monday, March 31.

In other action, the State Board:

• Heard an update on legislative actions
• Denied a request for reconsideration of a previous decision regarding the revocation of a teaching license
• Approved recommendations from the Waiver Review Committee
• Approved recommendations from the Licensure Review Committee to approve 19 and deny 5 requests for licensure/endorsements
• Approved recommendations from the Evaluation Review Committee
• Approve an innovative program at Emporia  State  University
• Approve a new ESOL program at MidAmerica  Nazarene  University
• Approve a new speech/theatre program at Southwestern  College
• Approve a contract with NSDC, the National Staff Development Council, to conduct surveys regarding implementation of professional development standards, the Standards Assessment Inventory
• Approved bond elections for:
  USD 259, Wichita
  USD 338, Valley Falls

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.