Outcomes on and reactions to the 2024 state assessment could have been predicted more than a year ago, and the exact prediction will hold true for future years—proficiency levels will remain stubbornly low, nearly one-third of students will be below grade level, and Education Commissioner Randy Watson will say the results are cause for celebration.
One-third of Kansas students remain below grade level in math and English language arts (reading). Proficiency in math and reading improved one point to 32% and 33%, respectively, but are still not back to the pre-pandemic outcomes in 2019.
David Dorsey, a former Kansas teacher writing for the Kansas Policy Institute, estimates that 53,737 students read below grade level in 2015; that number is now north of 82,000. Dorsey’s estimate only accounts for students tested in Grades 3-8 and 10, so the actual number across 12 grades is probably twice as high.
The likelihood that those 150,000 students will be able to earn an industry certification or some other post-secondary education is pretty low, so a lot of those people will not be able to achieve their potential in life.
Still, there is no sense of urgency.
Student outcomes won’t improve until adult behaviors change
Watson (falsely) told the State Board of Education today that COVID set back progress two years ago. Outcomes did decline based on how the state and local school boards chose to educate students during the pandemic, but achievement levels were declining long before COVID.
Reading proficiency fell from 41% in 2015 to 37% in 2019, while the share of students below grade level jumped from 21% to 29%. The share of students below grade level in math increased from 23% to 28%, while proficiency was one point better but still low, going from 32% to 33%.
State officials and school administrators want students to do better, but not if they must change their behaviors to make it happen.
Consciously misrepresenting student achievement is just one example. Other actions by the Department of Education and the State Board include:
- Eliminating a requirement for academic improvement to be accredited, even though the state board is legally required to adopt an accreditation system “based on improvement in performance….”
- Refusing to compel districts to comply with the state law specifying that over $500 million in at-risk funding be used for “above and beyond” services for students at risk of academic failure, as determined by audits in 2019 and 2023.
- Failing to instruct school superintendents to allow local schools to participate in school-level meetings with teachers and principals as part of the building needs assessment legal requirements.
Some legislators in both parties are also to blame. They know all this is happening but don’t want to get involved because they know the education system will work against them in elections, and getting re-elected is more important than getting students the education they deserve.
Fortunately, some adults are willing to change their behaviors. Individual board members and even a few superintendents are breaking ranks with the state school board association to work with the Kansas School Board Resource Center (which, like The Sentinel, is a subsidiary of Kansas Policy Institute). KSBRC provides free training and other services to help board members become effective advocates for students. Similar organizations affiliated with School Boards for Academic Excellence are doing the same in many other states.
With less than a month to go before new legislators and State School Board members are elected, voters should ask candidates if they will vote to strip accreditation from districts that don’t comply with state law. It’s a simple litmus test to distinguish between student-focused candidates and those who put the system first.
