August 10, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
David Smith, chief of staff,
(913) 279-2242, dasmith@kckps.org
The Kansas State Board of Education has endorsed, 10-0, a new assessment system to be used by the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), which is designed to ensure that students graduate from high school ready for college and careers. The endorsement came Tuesday, August 9 at the Kansas State Board of Education meeting in Topeka.
KCKPS is seeking a waiver from the Kansas Assessment Tests. These reading and math assessments are used as part of the accountability system for schools and districts under No Child Left Behind. The district would replace the Kansas Assessment with Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test for students in grades 3-7, and the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks for students in grades 8, 10 and 11.
"The MAP and ACT tests are much more rigorous assessments," said Dr. Cynthia Lane, superintendent of schools, "which will allow our students to be successful in life following their K-12 education. We are not seeking the waiver to make our work easier; rather, we want to raise the standard, so that our kids can be competitive with students all over the world."
Across the state, students who perform at the "meet" and "exceed" standards levels on state assessments often still need to take remedial courses when they get to college. In addition, KCKPS students consistently underperform their peers on the ACT.
The ACT's Educational Planning and Assessment System (EPAS) includes the Explore Test for 8th graders, the Plan Test for 10th graders, and the ACT for students in 11th graders. Research by ACT shows that students who use the EPAS series of tests are significantly more prepared for college by the time they graduate.
Similarly, NWEA's MAP will offer the district a rigorous measure of curriculum and instruction to ensure that students are moving toward college readiness throughout their K-12 experience.
"There is not another school district in the nation that can share with you the successful gains we have made in student achievement over the past decade," Lane said. "We believe that because of our history of growth and improvement, we are absolutely the right district to be granted this waiver."
With support from the State Board of Education, the request for a waiver will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Education, with a response expected early in the fall.
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