Thomas B. Fordham Institute - Advancing Educational Excellence

The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?

November 1, 2006

The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children? appraises each state according to thirty indicators across three major categories: student achievement for low-income, African-American, and Hispanic students; achievement trends for these same groups over the last 10-15 years; and the state's track record in implementing bold education reforms. It finds that just eight states can claim even moderate success over the past 15 years at boosting the percentage of their poor or minority students who are at or above proficient in reading, math or science. In addition, most states making significant achievement gains--including California, Delaware, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas--are national leaders in education reform, indicating that solid standards, tough accountability, and greater school choice can yield better classroom results.

View the press release for this report

Contents

Kansas

 

 


 

Tug of War on the Range

The "intelligent design" controversy made the Kansas state school board the butt of many jokes and the target of a sarcastic Web-based church-The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Outlandish board decisions and sarcasm aside, however, Kansas's lackluster efforts at school reform are no joke. Education leaders point the finger at money, money, and more money (or the lack thereof). Frustrated government officials and education watchers single out the state board of education, which has been grossly ineffective since the intelligent design debate. Others point to laws that greatly restrict charter school freedom and growth.

And then there's Bill Gagnon. A state board of education member, he contends that charters and other reform measures, such as graduation exit exams (which Kansas does not require), are extreme measures inappropriate for a state with Kansas's more mild challenges. "We in Kansas don't have any failed large urban school districts," he says. "We have no Chicagos and we have no Philadelphias. The highly prescriptive formulas Fordham makes don't apply to us."

The state may not have big, urban centers, but its African-American and Hispanic students still perform poorly on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Both in math and reading, none of these subgroups has more than 14 percent of students scoring at or above the proficient level. And measured over time, these scores are flatlined. The students have made no statistically significant progress over the past 15 years.

"NAEP says Kansas does well in a relative way compared to other states, but that's not acceptable," says State Education Commissioner Bob Corkins. "The student achievement gap, especially in minority groups, is actually widening."

The real battle over reform is shaping up over charter schools. Corkins, who was hired last year by the state board's conservative majority, supports an open environment for charter schools, but state law severely limits their freedom.  School districts have the final say about whether a charter petition is accepted. And even if a charter clears this hurdle, it has no more curricular freedom than any other district school.

"Is that a true charter school? I say no," says Steve Abrams, chair of the state board. "Charters [in Kansas] are used as a place for at-risk kids, to get the troublemakers out of the classroom. I'm not sure that's what a charter school is supposed to do." The state had 26 charter schools in 25 districts last year-many of them will soon expire or be reabsorbed into their districts.

At a bare minimum, Corkins argues, the state board should at least be able to hear appeals on late petitions that are rejected at the local level.

But Corkins isn't waiting for the moderates on the board-or even a majority of Kansans-to say they want more education choices. He's already working to implement regulatory changes that make charter schools (as well as other alternative education models) easier to develop. His new Division of School Innovation, set up to get the latest research about best teaching practices into the hands of teachers and principals, will include a special coordinator for alternative schools to "advocate for charters, magnet, and virtual schools." He is also looking to use a newly received federal charter school grant of $10 million to stimulate the state's fledgling charter movement.

And that's a good thing, because the status quo is less than heartening. Kansas scores terribly in graduation rates for African-American and Hispanic students, for instance. But the high school dropout rate has generated less debate than other issues. Wagnon and Abrams, usually on opposite sides of education issues, agree that a new program that integrates academic and vocational training could help keep struggling teens in school.

Their program is called Academic Vo-Tech. It's a route through high school that allows students grappling with the traditional academic program to choose a vocational interest-such as automotive repair, computer programming, medicine, or restaurant/hotel hospitality-and become immersed in the field. They essentially train for a career, while also fulfilling their academic requirements.

"This is not about destroying public education and the typical classroom," says Abrams. "We're trying to find a hook, so to speak. If students don't go into this, odds are high that they'll drop out of school, even if they just drop out mentally."

That so many minority students do drop out is particularly disconcerting when Kansas state standards are not well thought of to begin with. While not the worst in the nation, there are notable weak spots, such as science. Wagnon, a moderate, praised Fordham for flunking the state's science standards: "I think our science standards have a profound effect on kids and an unfortunate one."

But those pushing for reform have a long struggle ahead. In addition to problems already noted, the Jayhawk State teaching corps is about as status quo as it comes. According to Abrams, the percentage of the state's teachers coming through traditional education colleges is "in the high 90s." And with no significant shortages, this isn't likely to change.

Kansas offers the choice to enter the classroom as a math or science teacher to those who've worked for a significant number of years in the industry. It's up to the school to hire them, but the teacher must still complete a traditional educational curriculum at night within three years of entering the classroom. The number of folks taking this option is very small, according to Abrams.

So even if Kansas gets its science standards right once again, the Flying Spaghetti Monster should be around for some time. After it tires of picking on the intelligent design issue, there's plenty more education foolishness to skewer.

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