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The Kansas State Board of Education in 2015 announced a new vision for education – Kansas leads the world in the success of each student.
Eight years later, the state is entering the next step to meet that vision.
On Wednesday, June 14, Deputy Commissioner Dr. Ben Proctor and other Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) staff members updated the State Board of Education on the progress of the School Improvement Work Group (SIWG).
This 35-member team is comprised of KSDE staff members, as well as staff members from the Kansas Technical Assistance Systems Network (TASN) and Kansas Learning Network (KLN). The group meets every two weeks, Proctor said.
SIWG has been charged with building capacity across Kansas to elevate student opportunities and reduce limitations, which will help the state achieve the Kansans Can vision established by the State Board in 2015, Proctor said.
Building capacity to elevate student opportunities and reduce limitations can be accomplished through four fundamentals at the school building and classroom levels in each school system in Kansas. Those four fundamentals are:
Structured literacy
Balanced assessments - Student learning is assessed in a variety of ways and data is used to adjust instruction, interventions and practice.
Standards alignment - Lesson planning, instruction and learning materials are aligned to Kansas academic and nonacademic standards.
Quality instruction - High-quality instruction is provided each day to each student, and instruction and support are adjusted when students don’t meet academic and nonacademic standards.
KSDE will elevate the four fundamentals by engaging all partners that support student success. Initial collaborative partners include KSDE, the State Board, school systems across the state, service centers, teacher and leadership organizations and associations, and higher education institutions.
KSDE will measure its actions as an agency to determine if they are aligned and provide a focused direction and targeted support, Proctor told State Board members.
During the summer months and early fall 2023, KSDE staff members will create a clear and consistent message around the work; identify internal lead measures; assess and build capacity to support the work; and audit KSDE information sharing, initiatives, stakeholder groups and guidance.
Also, during the June meeting, the State Board of Education approved updated English language arts (ELA) standards. KSDE’s Dr. David Fernkopf, assistant director of the Career, Standards and Assessment Services (CSAS) team, and Dr. Laurie Curtis led the discussion on the ELA standards.
During a review of ELA standards in November 2022, there were some identified areas for improvement, including structured literacy - semantics, syntax and morphology.
Revisions to the ELA standards:
KSDE had two public hearings via Zoom on the updated ELA standards, one on May 25 and one on June 1. There was a small turnout for each hearing, Fernkopf said. Attendees included teachers, building leaders, district leaders and one State Board of Education member. Feedback included the request for a crosswalk of changes made to the standards.
The ELA standards also were published on the KSDE website for review and comment. KSDE received 42 written comments submitted by 29 people, Fernkopf told the State Board. Those people included principals, a reading specialist, at-risk interventionist, teachers and TASN coordinators.
Written comments were reviewed by KSDE staff members and appropriate edits were made.
A clarification document will be posted on the KSDE website before the start of the 2023-2024 school year, and the KSDE ELA Standards Team will develop professional development that will be offered in person and virtually to help educators become familiar with changes.
State Board of Education members accepted recommendations from the Commissioner’s Task Force on Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and Emergency Assistance Nonpublic Schools (EANS) Distribution of Money to approve ESSER II change requests, ESSER III expenditure plans and ESSER III change requests for use of federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Doug Boline, assistant director of KSDE’s Special Education and Title Services (SETS) team, said there were eight ESSER II change applications from districts, representing 52,838 students. The plan includes 267 individual budgeted expenditure items totaling $32.5 million. Out of $343.5 million allocated for ESSER II, $341.1 million (99%) has been approved by the State Board with $.4 million (less than 1%) remaining.
Nine districts submitted ESSER III plans, representing 9,432 students. The plans included 193 individual budgeted expenditures totaling $9.5 million being considered eligible expenditures. Sixteen districts submitted ESSER III change plans, representing 25,790 students. The change plans included 493 individual budgeted expenditures totaling $33.6 million being considered eligible expenditures.
Out of $768.1 million allocated for ESSER III, $721.4 million (92%) has been approved for allocation, with $37.2 million (7%) remaining.
Deputy Commissioner Dr. Craig Neuenswander discussed the fiscal year 2025 budget options with State Board of Education members.
The Base Aid for Student Excellence (BASE) is projected to be $5,388 per student, which is an increase of 5.9%. It was $5,088 for FY 2023-2024.
The approved State Foundation Aid for FY 2024 was $3.4 million. For 2025, it is $3.7 million.
The estimated supplemental state aid (Local Option Budget State Aid) for FY 2024-2025 is $590,000,000. The approved amount for FY 2023-2024 was $568,727,309.
The estimated capital improvement state aid (bond and interest state aid) for FY 2024-2025 is $205,000,000. The approved amount for FY 2023-2024 was $203,000,000.
The approved capital outlay state aid for FY 2023-2024 was $94,000,000. The estimated amount for FY 2024-2025 is $93,000,000.
For juvenile detention facilities, the approved state aid for FY 2023-2024 was $5,060,528. The estimated amount for 2024-2025 is $5,060,528.
For special education, the approved state aid amount for FY 2023-2024 was $528,018,516 with 69.1% in excess costs. The estimated amount for 2024-2025 is $535,518,818 with 64.7% in excess costs. Neuenswander shared three options for special education state aid with the State Board:
Other budget options discussed included transportation, Career and Technical Education (CTE) transportation, Mentor Teacher Program, professional development, National Board Certification, school lunch, Parents As Teachers (PAT), Pre-K Pilot, Kansas Safe and Secure Schools, Mental Health Intervention Team (MHIT) Pilot Program, and the KSDE agency operating budget (school safety auditor and virtual assessments for virtual students).
The State Board is slated to act on the budget options at its July meeting. The budget recommendations will then be submitted to the Division of the Budget and then forwarded to Gov. Laura Kelly’s office.
Neuenswander and Tate Toedman, assistant director of the SETS team, highlighted the Kansas At-Risk Pupil Assistance Program.
Neuenswander discussed funding for at-risk students, and Toedman shared information about the criteria for students to be identified as at-risk.
State Board of Education members approved the Accreditation Review Council’s (ARC’s) recommendations to accredit 39 public systems, one special purpose system and one private system, and conditionally accredit one public system through Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA).
The ARC can make a recommendation of:
Accreditation of systems began in the 2017-2018 school year and accredits systems as opposed to buildings. It is a five-year cycle, and systems were able to select what year they would begin their cycle.
The ARC reviews a system’s accountability and narrative report, as well as the Outside Visitation Team’s (OVT) report, and makes an accreditation recommendation to the State Board. The OVT is an external collaborator that makes the report to ARC.
To date, 183 systems have completed their first cycle of KESA, and 179 systems are completing their first cycle during the 2022-2023 school year. There are currently 362 public and private systems in KESA.
ARC recommended, and the State Board approved, the following systems for accredited status:
Oswego USD 504 was conditionally accredited, and Wellington Christian Academy withdrew from the KESA process.
State Board members also received 36 ARC recommendations (32 public systems and four private systems) to consider for their July meeting.
ARC recommends that the following systems be accredited:
The ARC recommended that Chase-Raymond USD 401 be conditionally accredited.
Dane Baxa, director of community relations for Goddard USD 265 and executive director of the Goddard Education Foundation, introduced Jacob McCarty, a recent graduate of Eisenhower High School, Goddard USD 265.
During the spring semester, McCarty completed an internship with Goddard USD 265’s Community Relations Department and the Goddard Education Foundation.
“Jacob is a passionate advocate for his fellow students,” Baxa told the State Board. “His persistence, leadership and a little nudge from our good friend earned him the very first internship in the Community Relations team for Goddard Public Schools. Jacob is truly a humble guy.”
McCarty graduated from Eisenhower High School with 42 hours of college credit while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average, Baxa said. He also received the Dale M. Dennis Excellence in Education Award.
“To sum it up, Jacob is one of those students who gives us in education what we pursue to achieve, which is hope for a brighter future,” Baxa said.
McCarty presented about his work during the internship, including taking photographs and producing videos and a magazine.
McCarty plans to attend The University of Kansas in the fall and major in political science. He also plans to attend law school and hopes to someday run for public office.
“I was still a student at the district, but I wasn’t treated like a student, I was treated like a coworker,” he told the State Board. “This has been another one of those moments in my life when I was heard and could see my potential. Every single person I talked to is doing this for the students … Education is so important and powerful. All of the work you are doing is worth it. Thank you, guys, so much.”
The State Board approved the appointment of State Board Chair Melanie Haas to the Special Education and Related Funding Task Force, which was established by Senate Bill 113.
Doug Boline, KSDE’s assistant director of SETS, introduced Bev Mortimer with Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-Kansas); Diana Kohls and Sarah Finan, both with Orion Education and Training; and Lori Ray, superintendent of Parsons USD 503. They shared information on the obstacles youth in the Kansas Department of Children and Families (DCF) and state custody face on the path to graduation.
One of the major challenges is the high rate of school mobility for youth in care, both when they are initially removed from a home and when they change living placements while in care.
About 25% of Kansas children who entered foster care experience eight or more placements in a 12-month period, according to the DCF Placement Stability Rate Report for FY-21. About 39% of foster care students don’t graduate with their four-year cohort, according to the Kansas Department of Children and Families Kansas Foster Care Report Card.
When foster children move schools, they often experience delays in enrollment, inappropriate school placements, a lack of educational support services and difficulties in transferring course credits, presenters said. Foster children often lack a strong advocate to help navigate the obstacles associated with changing schools. Those same students find themselves with limited or no opportunities for education because of a lack of a permanent placement or expulsion/long-term suspension.
Kansas data shows that during the 2020-2021 school year, more than 6,000 children were in the custody of the state foster care system, and 32.1% of them missed 10% or more school days. On average, only 20% of those students scored at levels three and four on the state assessments.
Solutions proposed during the presentation included:
Deputy Commissioner Proctor and KSDE’s Laurie Curtis updated the State Board on the Every Child Can Read Act, which goes into effect on July 1 to address third-grade literacy initiatives.
Each school district/system must provide targeted literacy interventions, Proctor said. The act requires literacy to be attained through the science of reading; evidence-based instruction; and the necessary competencies to gain literacy proficiency.
Schools must follow and use the KSDE Dyslexia Handbook and competencies must be met through literacy instruction, including phonics, phonological and phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, silent and oral reading fluency and reading comprehension.
Shane Carter, KSDE’s director of Teacher Licensure, provided an informational presentation on licensure for State Board members.
The Teacher Licensure team is responsible for application processing, fingerprint background check processing, DCF records check, customer service, systems management, apprenticeship program, professional development plans, mentoring plans, program reviews, external training, management of the Professional Standards Board and subcommittees, National Board Certification, mentor stipends and more, Carter said.
Each year, the team issues about 25,000 licenses; completes about 8,000 fingerprint background checks; and receives about 44,000 phone calls.
There are several license options, including:
Standard licenses (unencumbered)
Initial (two-year license)
Professional (five-year license)
Accomplished (10-year license)
Pre-standard License (encumbered)
Transitional License (TRANS)
Provisional License
Interim Alternative
Waivers
Nontraditional (Encumbered)
Innovative Program Licenses
Limited Elementary Apprentice Program
CTE Certificates
Substitute Licenses
Any time that a change is required to a current teaching license, an application and fee are required, Carter said. The standard total processing time for a license is about 10 working days, and applications are worked in the order they are received.
About 8,000 background checks are completed each year, and about 1,000 educators require legal review each year. About 30 receive disciplinary action each year.
Carter also shared an update on the Teaching Registered Apprenticeship Program. KSDE’s Teacher Licensure team has been working on finding funding streams to sustain the program, which was approved during the State Board of Education’s May meeting.
Funding opportunities include $500,000 in Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) monies to fund the pilot for the first year; the Kansas Apprenticeship Act (House Bill 2292), which is up to $3 million per year; a competitive grant through the United States Department of Labor that could be worth up to $3 million; Promise Act Scholarship; Teacher Service Scholarship; and Ethnic Minority Scholarship.
There also is a National Education Agency Great Public Schools Grant, which includes a $10,000 planning grant. It can provide up to a maximum of $250,000 annually.
Sustainability is the number one priority for the Registered Apprenticeship Program, Carter said.
The State Board of Education will meet again on July 11-12 at the Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, Suite 102, in Topeka.
In this edition | Feature Story | Assessments and Accountability | Reporting and Operations Standards and Instruction | Student Health and Nutrition | Upcoming Events, Trainings and Recognition
Questions about this page contact:
Denise Kahler (785) 296-4876 dkahler@ksde.org
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