state assessment Archives - Kansas Policy Institute

Proficiency plummets to historic lows on 2022 NAEP in Kansas 0
- Education
- October 24, 2022
Reading and math proficiency fell to historic lows on the 2022 NAEP test, with just a third of 4th-grade proficient and only a quarter of 8th-graders. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and is considered the gold standard of student achievement measurement in the nation. A
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Achievement gaps persist despite KSDE claims 0
- Tax & Spending
- December 13, 2021
Deputy Commissioner of Education Brad Neuenswander last week told legislators that achievement gaps began to close after funding was "restored," but as is often the case with KSDE, both claims were misleading. Funding was increased, not cut, and achievement gaps have remained persistently wide. Legislators were told that proficiency – Levels 3 and 4 onREAD MORE
KSDE ‘success’ tour ignores districts’ academic failures 0
- Education
- September 7, 2021
“The art of a magician is not found in the simple deception, but in what surrounds it, the construction of a reality which supports the illusion.” This quote from Jim Steinmeyer, a designer of magical illusions, nicely describes the Kansas Department of Education’s so-called ‘success’ tour. I attended the Olathe session last week, whichREAD MORE

Five things to know about money-follow-the-child programs 0
- Education
- April 12, 2021
Money-follow-the-child programs tax credit scholarships for low-income kids and education savings accounts for students below grade level – have generated a lot of good questions. There is also a fair amount of misinformation going around. We provide explanations below for five of the most frequently raised issues, but please let us know if you have
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No, KSBOE, Kansas doesn’t ‘lead the world’ in education 0
- Education
- March 3, 2021
A recent mailer distributed by the Kansas Board of Education and the Department of Education (KSBOE)implied that Kansas “leads the world” in the success of every student. But that’s not true. According to the National Assessment of Education (NAEP), Kansas doesn’t even lead the region or the nation, let alone the world. Kansas is belowREAD MORE
Educational opportunity opponents ignore students’ needs 0
- Education
- February 12, 2021
Several Kansas state senators spoke at length this week in opposition to a better educational opportunity for students who are deemed academically or financially at-risk by school districts. They raised (patently false) constitutional violations, said tax credits are loopholes to defund education (not true, but ironically hypocritical), and expressed grave concerns that the institution of
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