• Disappointing, but not surprising, low scores on the 2022 state assessment

    Disappointing, but not surprising, low scores on the 2022 state assessment0

    Student achievement results on the just-released 2022 state assessment are disappointingly low, which is no surprise.  And neither does the dismissive attitude of state education officials. Commissioner Randy Watson told the State Board of Education yesterday that math scores improved slightly but were not back to 2019 levels, and English Languages Arts slightly declined.  That'sREAD MORE
  • School accountability a key component in student success

    School accountability a key component in student success0

    Nearly a half-million Kansas students are enrolled in the public school system. Public schools now spend over seven billion taxpayer dollars each year. The estimate for the current year is that per-pupil spending will increase to over $16,000. Despite all the increases in spending – much of that court-ordered – overall student achievement remains unacceptably

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  • School districts (again) disregard building needs assessment law

    School districts (again) disregard building needs assessment law0

    You might think that if the folks funding your organization asked for some additional work to make sure that goals are accomplished, and that money is well-spent, the organization would do so.  But in the case of Kansas public school districts and legally-required building needs assessment reports, you’d be wrong. A 2021 examination of 25READ MORE
  • Early 2022 NAEP results show biggest learning loss in 50 years

    Early 2022 NAEP results show biggest learning loss in 50 years0

    A precipitative drop in both reading and math scores of the nation’s 9-year-olds has been documented in the results of the just released NAEP 2022 long-term trend (LTT) test.  This is the largest drop in test scores for reading since 1990 and the first ever decline in math scores. It is important to note that

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  • Better “messaging” will not improve student achievement

    Better “messaging” will not improve student achievement0

    How do we take state assessment results, in which a vast majority of students are not on pace for being “post-secondary ready”, and make them sound better than they really are? That was the overarching discussion at the August State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting as the SBOE was tasked with adopting a new set

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  • KASB report that ranks Kansas 10th in nation an exercise in data manipulation

    KASB report that ranks Kansas 10th in nation an exercise in data manipulation0

    The Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) continues to take data manipulation to new levels in their just-released report Comparing Kansas 2022. KASB claims that “the most recent national data show Kansas ranks 10th in the nation on a weighted average of…measures that are part of the State Board of Education’s Kansans Can program and

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