Feature Story

Members of the Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time have met four times to date, reviewing research and discussing the issues that will form the basis for a recommended policy regarding the non-academic use of cell phones and other technology by Pre-K-12 Kansas students.

The 36-member task force, appointed by the Kansas State Board of Education in July, is focusing on the following areas: 

• Use of personal devices in schools 
• Parental oversight of district-issued devices 
• Screen time and mental health 

Members of the task force include students, classroom teachers, administrators, two legislators, and two members of the state board.

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education received an update during their September meeting on what districts will have to include in their at-risk accountability plans, the at-risk pilot initiative and the status of the list of evidence-based programs.     

The Kansas State Department of Education’s teacher licensure program has recently made some updates to a frequently asked questions (FAQ) fact sheet for the licensure literacy requirement that will go into effect in 2028. 

Those updates are as follows: 

• Elementary is defined as grades Pre-K-6. 
• The Certificate of Mastery is specified as the type of certificate educators must receive to complete LETRS® training. 
• Information about additional training providers has been updated to include links to their websites and a list of the training options the provider offered. 

As part of a social studies methods class to learn how to teach content that involves history and military service, Washburn University hosted a group of veterans and education majors during an event on the Topeka school’s campus this past week. 

“Our veterans get to tell their stories and our students get to listen to those stories,” said Cherry Steffen, a professor of education and chair of the Washburn University School of Applied Studies. “It’s ‘let me hear your voice and what message should I be sharing with my students?’” 

Members of the Kansas State Board of Education will consider approving American Sign Language (ASL) as part of the higher education educator preparation standards for Pre-K-12 world languages during their monthly meeting, Sept. 10-11, in Topeka. 

A committee of ASL educators and world languages educators convened to review the world languages preparation standards and revise them to include features of ASL, such as expanding references to speaking to include signing, and identifying a minimum proficiency level for ASL educators. This was after the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) received inquiries from an ASL task force about Pre-K-12 ASL teacher qualifications as a content area for which the KSDE teacher licensure program didn’t have an established license.