By MARK TALLMAN
Having attended 27 of the first 28 Kansans Can Success Tour events over the past month – with 22 still to come – I’m sensing a lot of enthusiasm for the vision outlined by Commissioner of Education Randy Watson and Deputy Commissioner Brad Neuenswander. I’m also hearing a lot of questions from news reporters, educators and others about how to explain what Kansans Can is really all about. Here’s my attempt.
To begin with, these are the key “bullet points” or “elevator speech:”
First, Kansas needs to help students be better prepared to be successful adults, and that requires a broader definition of education than we have had in the past.
To be successful, students need not only academic knowledge, but the skills needed to be self-sufficient individuals, civically engaged and giving back to their communities, and successful in the workplace, which for most students will require some education beyond high school.
Second, to accomplish this goal, K-12 public education systems and related policies will need to continue to adapt.
Learning must become more relevant to each student’s needs and goals and focus on broader skills, by personalizing learning for each child and having them work in real world situations through project-based or work-based learning. Schools must expand early childhood programs, address a wider set of student needs, social and emotional as well as academic; and must be closely connected to families, businesses and communities.
Third, the State Board of Education is implementing a plan to help local schools implement these changes.
The State Board has adopted a set of outcomes for student success, a plan to help schools redesign, and an accreditation and recognition system based on these outcomes and redesign. Schools are also being supported by restoration of state funding along with time-limited federal pandemic relief aid. Kansas is already seeing progress, but much continued work to attain the aspirational goals remains to be done, including on-going challenges to recover from the COVID-19 outbreak.
In short, the goal is to help all students to be better prepared as engaged adults, who help support their communities, and succeed in the workplace and the Kansas economy.
Next, here are some common questions about Kansans Can with a short response. This is to provide more information about why changes in education are needed and how the state is working to guide and support those changes.
Question 1: Why do we need a broader definition of student success than academics alone?
The broader definition of success is based on input from Kansans through public meetings, focus groups and business meetings, as well as from national survey results and multiple regional, state and national studies. It is consistent with goals set by the Kansas Supreme Court and Legislature. It reflects state and national level economic, civic and social needs, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Question 2: Why are Kansas schools engaged in redesign?
The inherited structure of school was designed when most students did not need postsecondary education, when other social structures met more “non-academic needs”, and most jobs required different and often less complex skills. Schools were standardized by age, courses and time, rather than an “effectiveness approach” based on individual student needs.
Question 3: How is the Kansans Can system working to change schools and increase student success?
The State Board has set seven major outcomes to focus the redesign of schools and evaluate progress. Some important progress has been made. There are three quantitative measures: Academically prepared for postsecondary, High school graduation and Postsecondary success; and four qualitative measures: Social-emotional growth, Kindergarten readiness, Individual Plans of Study, and Civic Engagement.
Question 4: What challenges still exist?
While meaningful progress has been made in Kansas K-12 public schools over the past several decades, the new bar for post-high school readiness is significantly higher for all students, not just a few. Not every student completes high school or reaches the academic and other measures they need to prepare them for postsecondary education. Many students still cannot access programs to help them reach these goals due to lack of staff or funding (full restoration of state funding will not be implemented until 2023).
Questions 5: What is the State Board doing to support improvement?
The State Board is helping schools redesign to better support student success. The goal to address unique educational challenges through innovation and continuous improvement, around the core principles of what Kansans wanted from their K-12 schools: personalized learning, real world application, student success skills, and family/business/ community partnerships. The board is also moving to accredit schools on the Kansans Can outcomes; recognizing schools for success in each of the outcomes and has created a task force on graduation requirements.
Question 6: What resources are being provided to Kansas schools to support improvement?
Kansas schools are receiving financial support in two ways: a legislative plan approved by the Kansas Supreme Court to restore operating funds to inflation-adjusted 2009 levels, and federal aid to respond to and recover from the COVID pandemic.
If you have come this far, congratulations! You should have a good overview of Kansans Can. However, the responses to these questions may raise more questions. The second part of this report will run Thursday and include more detailed responses to each question.
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Mark Tallman is the associate executive director for advocacy for the Kansas Association of School Boards.