The 2017 state assessment results released this week by the Kansas Department of Education shows college and career readiness remains persistently low across Kansas. The state average for 10th grade low income students is just 11 percent and a slight decline from 11.2 percent last year; 34.1 percent of those who aren’t low income are on track to be college and career ready in Math, which is a bit better than last year’s average of 33.6 percent. English Language Arts readiness for 10th graders declined for both groups; low income 10th graders declined from 17.8 percent to 16.5 percent and readiness for other students dropped from 42.3 percent to 39.8 percent.
The state assessment has four performance levels. Students in Level 1 are below grade level. Level 2 is for students considered at grade level but not on track to be college and career ready because they still need some remedial training. College and career readiness is reflected in Levels 3 and 4, for students who don’t need remedial training and are on track to be college and career ready.
USD 266 Maize has the highest percentage of low income 10th graders on track in Math (33 percent) among the state’s larger districts and USD 229 Blue Valley leads for Math students who aren’t low income at 53 percent.
In English Language Arts, USD 229 Blue Valley has the highest percentage of low income 10th graders on track at 35 percent and USD 497 Lawrence leads for those who aren’t low income at 57 percent.
USD 457 Garden City has the lowest Math readiness among larger districts at 2 percent and 8 percent, respectively. In English Language Arts, USD 443 Dodge City is the lowest for low income students at 7 percent and USD 500 Kansas City’s 18 percent is the low readiness level for students who aren’t low income.
Readiness levels in the adjacent table that improved over the prior year are highlighted in green and those that declined are highlighted in pink.
