Facts About Funding

As we are about to enter yet another legislative session, there will be much rhetoric and misinformation regarding school funding, services, etc. USD 331 contracted with Southwest Plains Regional Service Center following the Kansas Learning Network (KLN) evaluation of the schools after the district was placed “on improvement” prior to the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year. USD 331 has not been “on improvement” status for two years now.

The improvement process was begun when district special needs students were not scoring at adequate levels on assessments. KLN findings included recommendations of evaluating and improving curriculum, hiring a district level curriculum director, development and implementation of walk-through observations, improvement of instruction and further integrating technology. These were just a few of the recommendations that have been developed and implemented or are under the implementation process. Completing these initiatives has been especially difficult since the deepest cuts in educational funding occurred at nearly the same time. However, several new curriculum adoptions have occurred and a curriculum leadership team has begun the process of writing the curriculum for all grade levels and subject areas. The walk-through staff observation tool was adopted and been modified to reflect best practices and research-based instructional techniques. As a result, along with changes in educational policies, neither the district nor any of its buildings are currently “on improvement” status by the state department of education.

The bar has been set higher again with the adoption of Kansas College and Career Readiness standards. Annually, the Board of Education has adopted and revised a strategic success plan to emphasize improvement goals for the district schools that includes meeting or exceeding standards. Professional learning is the key way improvements can be attained in instruction, curriculum development and preparation of our kids for their post secondary education and future careers. This is a difficult challenge when school funding is limited while all costs of educating our students increase. Furthermore, with reduced state aid, local property taxes continue to rise. Though USD 331 was able to keep the tax levy stable, it would have been lower if the state legislature met its legal obligation of funding the current school budget formula. In USD 331, since the state is not fully funding its legal equalization share of the local option budget, the property tax mill levy is 2.57 mills. Simply put, local taxpayers could be paying 2.57 mills less. State equalization is not funded at all with regard to capital outlay that also costs the local taxpayers and the base aid per pupil funding law is supposed to be $4492. We received $3838 this school year.

The CEO and consultants of Southwest Plains Regional Service Center, along with a subcommittee of superintendents, developed the attached “K-12 Education Funding – The Clear Facts.”  As you review the document, I trust you will find the vision is clear and it is powerful. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact me. We need all of your support to continue helping improve student learning opportunities. Every one of us benefits.

Thank you and best wishes for a wonderful new year!

The Transformation of Learning

The Transformation of Learning

The following is an excerpt of an article sent by ESSDACK Director, Dr. Mike Cook, to superintendents. This is not the full article, but identifies many of the challenges school districts are facing as USD 331 moves to provide blended learning with the use of Edgenuity, meet new Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards, implement Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs and our district’s commitment to do so by implementation of Project Lead the Way and many more initiatives currently under way. The teacher is a vital part of the learning, but we are in a transition of learning to teach in new ways. (Appropriate credit for the author and journal is listed at the end of the article.)

Today’s Internet connectivity makes accessible the sum of all human knowledge and over two billion people who can teach it to you. Let’s pause for a moment to think about the impact of that innovation. It’s huge beyond reckoning. In fact, when measuring shifts in human history, researchers such as Robert Darton from Harvard University have said this is one of the four most fundamental changes in information in human history, ranking it with the creation of alphabets for writing, the development of the first books and the invention of the printing press.

With the advent in just the last few years of a truly interactive World Wide Web where people of all ages and all interests can create and share their ideas, a time of real educational transformation is at hand. As billions of people from all parts of the globe begin to communicate, collaborate and connect in fresh and creative ways, their use of technology is challenging the traditional structures of business, journalism, politics and, ultimately, education. What happens to journalism when everyone has his or her own printing press? What happens to politics when constituents can have their own voices heard by large Internet audiences? What happens to businesses when their consumers can easily converse widely about their products? And what happens to schools when the sum of human knowledge and thousands of potential teachers are available at the click of a mouse?

Educators are just beginning to face these questions. For the first time, more than just the privileged few in our society have easy access to knowledge in the form of a digital library overflowing with relevant, diverse, high-quality information. No longer are teachers the sole arbiters of knowledge. No longer do classroom walls limit the reach of students’ work. No longer is learning restricted to small blocks of time over weeks or months. It’s a time where the learner has become empowered, and the monopoly that schools had on learning up until the 1990s is far behind us, and fading in the rear view mirror.

These changes do not mean that we should abandon proven best practices of schooling that support teacher growth and student achievement, or that meaningful face-to-face relationships between teachers and students are any less important. Students still need to learn many of the same basic skills as they always have. But it does mean that many of our long-held beliefs about schooling are being challenged by new technologies that allow learners to create networks of trusted mentors in meaningful communities of practice, and to share widely the fruits of their efforts.

In short—it’s a brave, new, interconnected world—and we have to figure out how to teach in it.

 This is an excerpt taken from the following Journal and author:

PERSPECTIVES: a Journal of Research and Opinion About Educational Service Agencies, Volume 19, 2013 (4); How 21^st Century Service Agencies Create 21^st Century Schools: Using research and data to target services and meet the diverse technology needs of member districts by Rob Mancabelli.

Setting the Record Straight on School Employees and Spending

A Report by Mark Tallman, Associate Executive Director of the Kansas Association of School Boards

Note by Bob Diepenbrock, Superintendent of Schools:

I’m sure many of you have heard radio and TV ads depicting Kansas Schools as failing to spend money in the classrooms while spending more on a number of other areas in schools and increasing expenditures as a whole. Mark Tallman and the research department at the Kansas Association of School Boards further explain how the expenditures of money in Kansas schools are spent and take into account much of what the ads do not. I encourage you to use the link below to access Mr. Tallman’s report and get the facts on how monies are spent in Kansas on education and if you have questions to contact me, the Kansas Association of School Boards or the Kansas State Department of Education. Mr. Tallman even has a number of links providing the sources of his reports.

http://tallmankasb.blogspot.com/2013/10/setting-record-straight-on-school.html

Digital Citizenship Week in Kansas

Every day, our students are tested with each post, search chat, text message, file download and profile update. Do they connect with like minds or spill too much information? Do they behave creatively or borrow ideas recklessly? Do they respect relationships or inadvertently damage reputations?

The Kansas State Department of Education and USD 331 have made a commitment to support educators and parents in helping children learn how to be safe and secure, responsible and respectful digital citizens. Governor Sam Brownback has proclaimed Oct 21-25 as Digital Citizenship Week in Kansas.  The proclamation/announcement is available on www.ksde.org/take . 

Join us for Digital Citizenship Week and engage your child and family in thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. For ways you can participate, click on the link below:  http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2775

We want all students in USD 331 to utilize the internet for positive learning and to remain safe.

College and Career Ready, Common Core, Edgenuity...What Are These?

College and Career Ready, Common Core, Edgenuity...What Are These?

by

Dr. Bob Diepenbrock, Superintendent of Schools

There are many new terms used by educators, educational institutions, and legislators and these terms represent changes that have a profound meaning and impact upon your students. I think it is appropriate to introduce and elaborate on a few of those terms and how the work being done by teachers and students plays out in USD 331 Kingman-Norwich.

Common Core…What is it and why is it so controversial? That is a good question. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed by the National Governors’ Association and the State Chief Education Officers and was adopted by the elected Kansas State Board of Education (KSBE) in 2010 for English Language Arts and Mathematics. Recently, KSBE approved the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and new standards for social studies. KSBE approves new state standards about every 10 years after carefully investigating what businesses and colleges view as important for students to be able to know and do upon graduation from high school. The newly adopted standards were designed utilizing businesses, international standards, colleges and universities so American students could be competitive in the current economy. The developers worked backwards, first identifying the expectations for graduating students, then determining what a student should know each preceding grade level up to when they first begin school. For instance, the first standard for a kindergarten student in English Language Arts states, “With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.”  A related standard is expanded from grades 1-12 where in grade 12 the first English Language Arts standard states, “Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.” In both standards, students are asked to answer questions about the text, but while being supported by the kindergarten teacher while the 12^th grade student should be able to analyze the text thoroughly, answer what is in the text and even what isn’t, but might be inferred. The developers of the common core standards, the colleges and universities and businesses want students or employees who can analyze text when they become college students or employees. It’s controversial due to a great deal of misinformation being disseminated, but my challenge to anyone is to simply look at the standards as I just presented one and determine for yourself if the standard is reasonable.

What are Kansas College and Career Readiness Standards then? Common Core Standards were designed so each state could add some standards unique to the state that adopted them. Kansas not only has done that, but has made them unique by focusing on the skills KSBE believes are important for graduating students to possess whether the student begins employment in a career, starts a technical education program, or leaps to a major university. All of the standards recently adopted by Kansas use Kansas Pk-12 and college educators and business people to analyze and apply the standards specifically for Kansas. For instance, the newly adopted science standards are Kansas College and Career Ready Science Standards based upon the next generation science standards (NGSS) and science professors and teachers in Kansas examined the standards and will adapt them for each science discipline.

What is the difference between a standard and curriculum? A standard expresses what a student should know or the skill(s) a student should have upon completion of a particular grade level. The curriculum is determined locally by educators within the school district and approved by the local Board of Education. The curriculum includes the resources that will be used to teach what a student should know or to help a student attain a particular skill. Teachers also have some flexibility within a curriculum to utilize various teaching methods or instruction to assist students with learning the curriculum. It’s important teachers can use various modalities since students do not all learn in the same way or at the same pace.

Is Edgenuity a curriculum then? The district refers to Edgenuity as a curricular resource similar to what a textbook is. Since textbooks are expected to be completely digitalized within a few years, the district curriculum leadership team made up of USD 331 teachers and administrators examined various digital resources that could assist with the changeover to digitalized curricular resources. The resources are not ever going to be totally digitalized and thus, teachers are encouraged to use Edgenuity as well as other resources currently and previously used to help teach the curriculum. Instructional techniques, curricular resources, and education are ever changing, as are societal needs, so educational institutions must continue to meet those needs. Edgenuity can be used as a stand alone virtual curriculum and is used for that purpose for the district’s virtual program, but in the traditional school grades 6-12, it is one resource that can be used to assist teachers and students to work at students’ own pace and help students learn at higher levels. Teachers will continue to get professional learning assistance so they can help students better utilize this resource along with all the resources available.

Kansas Works: Internships and Other Opportunities

I was asked to forward information to students and parents in the district from the Statewide Workforce Response Coordinator; a division of the Department of Commerce. Since USD 331 already has numerous career pathways available, it might be helpful in securing internships for our students and those internships may qualify for various career pathways in technical education. See the information about Kansas works below:

The job board and employment information at website:  www.kansasworks.com is helpful to those who are seeking employment (full time, part time, seasonal) and/or internships in Kansas – all industries, all levels.  We appreciate your consideration in efforts to share this valuable information with your students and parents.

Debra Rodenbaugh Schaub

Statewide Workforce Response Coordinator

Kansas Department of Commerce

PH:  785-224-6664

Fax:  785-539-5697

www.kansasworks.com

Background Checks of Employees – Doing Our Best to Ensure Student Safety

Every school district is required to complete a KBI background check on all new employees hired by the school district. USD 331 goes beyond that requirement and uses a service that provides additional information on employees beyond what is provided by the KBI checks. The KBI is a free service that will provide information about sexual predators, etc., but does not thoroughly vet the potential employee’s background regarding other areas that could be of concern to parents, students, and the district.

The district pays for a employee background screening service that will provide everything the KBI site provides, but also provides information on any court proceeding, arrest, or even traffic tickets. If a potential employee received multiple traffic tickets or a serious infraction, the district may decide to prohibit any transportation of students or even ban the use of school vehicles, though that has not been necessary to this point. Anything that shows up on the background check that could be potential risk to students or other district employees is thoroughly investigated and the administration and Board of Education is satisfied of safety before contracts or work agreements are provided to the potential employee.

The safety and security of USD 331 students and staff is paramount to the operation of the school district. We will continue to use all reasonable means to ensure that safety and security.