 | Dr.Glenn Fortmayer is Superintendent of USD 247 Southeast. He has been a superintendent for four years and administrator for 15 of 23 years in education. He is working with Southeast on initiatives including: expanding student learning opportunities, technology integration, and increasing instruction that authentically engages students every class period of every day with an emphasis on project based learning. For more information call 620-457-8350.
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Education Issues
2012-11-07 11:45:37
Testing and college-career readiness
A- For the last decade Kansas has operated under testing regulations as required by the “No Child Left Behind Law” (NCLB) that measured student success by a single test in reading and math annually. Kansas has been granted a provisional waiver in regards to state testing. While students will take the tests this year and next, the scores will not be used to judge student, school, or district success. No cut off scores will be provided for comparisons to be made. School staffs will use the test information on an individual basis to help drive instruction and assist students towards improved learning.
Kansas will be researching and attempting to design a new assessment program that will measure the growth of each individual student each year beginning in 2015. The main difference will be that the new assessments will take in multiple forms of measuring student growth, not just a once a year reading and math test. The new assessment program will also be aligned with the new Common Core Standards. These standards don’t prescribe WHAT Kansas schools teach, but they dramatically change HOW Kansas students are taught and measured. It is clear that it may be difficult at first for teachers and students to make the change. The tests will ask students to analyze information, manipulate that information, and be able to apply it or even transfer it to a new setting before applying it. Students will have to defend their answers, explain how they got an answer and why it is correct versus picking a letter on a multiple choice question.
While we don’t know which tests or what growth measures will be used some examples could be: Character measures like number of discipline referrals, what activities students are involved in, community service hours, special ACT tests for elementary through high school, WorkKeys certification, regular course grades, etc. What is known is that in order for students to be successful in any college, 1-4+ years, career training, and when employed; “hard- easy to test” academic skills must be mastered, but also ”soft- hard to test” skills and traits such as communications, teamwork, technology operation, integrity, leadership, and a strong work ethic are needed.
Jobs in Kansas and across the nation are changing. HS Diplomas only cover about 40% of the jobs today, down 30% since 1973 and that percentage is shrinking. The Southeast school district recognized that in order to have the best chance of employment and better pay its students needed a curriculum that would develop these essential hard and soft skills and traits. That is why they formed a partnership with PITSCO and now offer a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) project based curriculum K-12. USD 247 staff lead students through the Common Core standards so they will be academically prepared and also develop the soft skills needed to be successful at any college, be it a one year trade program or an undergraduate or graduate degree program; and most importantly in their careers.
Interested students and parents should contact their local districts for more information.
