Policy Update: Kansas: A Work in Progress

Vital Statistics
304	Public school districts
1,463	Public schools
470,000	K-12 enrollment
18.1%	Minority students
15%	Children in poverty
11.7%	Students with disabilities
2.7 billion	Annual K-12 expenditures (all revenue sources)

So last year, the board created an academic-standards committee and asked it to review current curricular standards for reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies. The committee was charged with bringing greater clarity and specificity to what teachers should teach and students should learn at different grade levels. It was also told to set priorities for what would be tested on the state assessments and provide advice on assessment methods.

The advisory committee has made progress on reading, writing, and math, and it continues to work on social studies and science. Each revision produced by the committee must be reviewed by the board before portions of the tests are approved and then adopted.

The board expects all the standards to be adopted by this spring. New tests in reading and math also should be ready by then.

Some in the state worry that the board is pushing too hard in changing the standards.

"Teachers would like to see decisions [about standards] that are going to stay made," says Peg Dunlap of the Kansas National Education Association. "I don't think teachers were all that dissatisfied [with the current standards]. We need and want time to have consistent years [of testing] to see progress."

But Paul Getto, the assistant director of policy services for the Kansas School Boards Association, says he welcomes a review of the assessments.

"I don't think anyone would argue that there is anything wrong with revisiting the tests to ensure that they are academically rigorous and clearly defined," he says.

In other assessment-related developments, 4th and 8th graders in Kansas participated for the first time last year in the reading portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federally sponsored sampling of student performance in core subjects. Results of the tests are expected early this year.

Student scores on state assessments, meanwhile, show an upward trend in all core subjects: reading, writing, math, science, and social studies.

"It is not startling, but it is upward," says Sharon Freden, the assistant state commissioner of education. "The quality of education in Kansas remains high and has always been quite high."

"At some point you just have to believe some of the evidence," Getto says of the state's assessment results. "They indicate that while we don't have all the answers, we're doing a good job with a considerable portion of our kids."

On other education fronts, Gov. Bill Graves announced a safe-schools initiative last summer. Sparked by a spate of deadly shootings in American schools during the 1997-98 school year, the Republican governor's zero-tolerance policy calls for the suspension of driving privileges for those who commit violent acts in school, creates new felonies for bringing a gun or illegal drugs to school, and offers incentives to teachers by offering them "hazard pay" to help violent children who have been expelled.

The state's $2.1 billion budget for education this fiscal year includes $3 million for a new preschool program that will focus on at-risk 4-year-olds and $10 million for school technology. The technology aid, which will be used to provide wiring and new computers, must be matched by districts. Special education programs received an additional $18 million, raising their funding to $218 million for this school year.

"There has been significant progress in education funding," Dale M. Dennis, the deputy state commissioner of education, says.

The legislature also approved the appropriation of $40,000 to assist teachers who are candidates for certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The state education department will provide 75 percent of the $2,000 cost of national certification to as many as 40 teachers.

Last year, the state board began reviewing proposals to redesign Kansas' own teacher-certification process. The Kansas NEA presented the proposals at the request of the previous board.

"The board wanted teacher-preparation standards that were more in line with student standards," Dunlap of the teachers' association says.

Last year's effort to overhaul high school graduation requirements is on hold until the curricular standards have been completely revised.