Education

Consequences, not spending, drive changes in student achievement 0
- Education
- June 22, 2018
(This column is written by KPI scholar David Dorsey, who formerly taught in Kansas public schools for more than a decade.) Recently I showed how the Supreme Court’s belief of a relationship between education spending and student achievement is fundamentally flawed. Throughout the Gannon case – the Court’s Gannon VI decision is expected any time
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An alternate look at spending and achievement disputes relationship determined by Supreme Court 0
- Education
- June 13, 2018
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on May 22 from the State Solicitor and plaintiffs’ attorney pursuant to what will be the sixth Supreme Court decision in the eight-year old Gannon saga. A decision will be presumably handed down before June 30. Front and center in the arguments is whether the state legislature’s most recent
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KPI presents scholarly review critical of WestEd education cost study 0
- Education
- May 29, 2018
Kansas Policy Institute commissioned a review of the recent WestEd education cost study that was undertaken for the Kansas legislature at the behest of the Kansas Supreme Court. Dr. Benjamin Scafidi of Kennesaw State University has provided a response (here) critical of WestEd’s use of a “cost function” approach to determine education funding in Kansas.
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A-F Grading Comes to Kansas 0
- Education, Education Research
- May 17, 2018
It’s been too hard, for too long for parents to understand exactly how their child’s school is performing. Every state has a “Report Card” system that provides information on student performance, demographics, attendance rates and other related data regarding public schools. Most state systems, including Kansas, use ‘fuzzy’ labels like ‘approaching standard’ or ‘Level 1’
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Disconnected players lead to education funding mess 0
- Education
- April 26, 2018
Why is the system of funding Kansas public schools such a mess? Whose fault is it? Is it the Legislature’s? The Supreme Court’s? Could it be the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE)? Maybe the feds? How about the schools themselves, do they play a role? Or is
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Student-focused Florida trounces $-focused Kansas 0
- Education
- April 18, 2018
Facts keep getting in the way of the education lobby’s contention that money drives academic achievement, and the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the latest instance. Despite spending $1,159 per-pupil less than money-focused Kansas, student-focused Florida has significantly better results. Of the eight proficiency measurements covering two subjects and two grade levels
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