Technology and Information Services (TIS)

Kansas assessment test scores a 'storybook' success

By DAWN BORMANN and JIM SULLINGER
The Kansas City Star - 10/15/08

Double-digit increases in high school assessment scores are extraordinary by any measure.

So when the 2008 Kansas assessment scores were unveiled Wednesday, several area high school principals and teachers had something to brag about.

"It was storybook for us," said Washington High School instructor Jolynna Addink.

And few would disagree.

Reading proficiency levels jumped by 32 percentage points; math proficiency levels increased 27 percentage points.

Harmon, Schlagle and Wyandotte – also in the Kansas City, Kan., School District – experienced unprecedented gains, too.

The district's results play into a long-term story of reforms. Still, the district understands that it has a long way to go.

"I don't think there's any other urban school district in the country that has showed these kind of gains in six to eight years," said Jim Connell, president of the Institute for Research and Reform in Education.

But the district was hardly alone.

High schools in Leavenworth, De Soto, Bonner Springs, Tonganoxie and elsewhere grabbed attention. Equally noteworthy are that many of the districts have high levels of at-risk students.

So how did teachers get through to teenagers who don't receive grades for the tests and have seemingly little to gain personally?

It's all about motivation, building relationships and having more resources, educators said. Truth be told, rewards didn't hurt.

De Soto High students were enticed with a day off from school. But that wasn't all. Students with especially noteworthy scores got to opt out of certain final exams.

"Everybody liked the idea because not everybody wants to take an English final, and they got a day off as one of their rewards," said Christian Davidson, 17, a senior.

Other schools didn't offer the same type of instant gratification, but education isn't the one-size-fits-all world it used to be, experts said.

While elementary schools make large gains from year to year, high school scores are harder to budge. It's especially true in urban districts or districts with large populations of at-risk students. Some high schools are happy to make a two- to three-percentage point gain.

State Education Commissioner Alexa Posny knows that skeptics will question the drastic improvement.

"I know people will be asking, 'Well, is this true?'

"We've checked and rechecked," she said.

The local success is part of a statewide trend in overall academic improvement, she said.

Posny credited the hard work of students and teachers. Districts are motivated, in part, by No Child Left Behind standards. Some districts said a new rule that allowed students to retake the tests made a substantial difference in scores.

Posny also credited the massive infusion of state dollars targeted directly to at-risk students.

"The additional dollars that have been put into the schools in Kansas I do believe have made a difference," Posny said.

In the Kansas City, Kan., district, administrators said the high schools have gone through a fundamental culture change, said spokesman David A. Smith.

The change slowly came together during the last several years as the reform plan First Things First has been implemented, adjusted and readjusted. The district also credits its benchmark program, which is a new grading system. Students must prove they understand concepts before moving on with instruction. In some cases, it means they need to make up work on Saturday and after school.

Administrators also believe a laptop lending program allowed students to have more instructional time outside the classroom, Smith said.

"It's hard to ignore the fact that it happened the year the kids got laptops," Smith said.

Like in Kansas City, Kan., De Soto thinks the overall story is best told over the long term.

Two years ago, De Soto High Principal David Morford said slightly less than half of his 600 students were proficient in math and 74.5 percent proficient in reading. This year, De Soto High students scored over 90 percent in math and improved their reading scores.

Morford said those results were no accident.

"We looked at those scores from two years ago and knew a lot of it was motivation and preparation," he said. "So, we put into place a plan."

Admittedly, the school first tried a barbecue. But that plan was overhauled when only teachers showed up.

Youths were asked what would motivate them, which led to the idea for a day off.

Students not proficient are enrolled in an "essentials" class where they receive extra help and then are given a comparable test. So far, he said all of those "essential class" students have passed that test.

"Our goal is to have every kid proficient," Morford said.

At Tonganoxie High, math scores improved by almost 20 percentage points and reading scores by more than 25 percentage points.

How did they do it?

"We got a new principal," said Kyle Hayden, associate district superintendent.

That principal, Jamie Carlisle, is one of several administrative changes for the district over the last two years.

"He has the personal touch with staff and students that lets them know he cares about what they do," Hayden said.

At Leavenworth Senior High and Shawnee Mission North, teachers identified and better targeted non-proficient students.

In Leavenworth, they even changed the hour that the math test was taken. Students are at their best between 9 and 11 a.m., said Principal Lance Arbuckle.

In the end, many believe the relationships that students form with teachers make the biggest difference.

That rang true last year in Addink's Washington reading classroom.

Her students were excited to tell her that they passed the test.

And they wanted to talk about why they didn't pass. One student stood out.

"He came back in tears because he didn't make it. He felt like he let me down, and he felt like he let his school down," she said.

It was a reminder that her students wanted to live up to high expectations.

"I can't talk enough about what our kids chose to do," she said. "They chose to learn."

---

Go to KansasCity.com for test results from local schools.

To reach Dawn Bormann, call 816-234-5992 or send e-mail to dbormann@kcstar.com.