Kansas schools No. 2 in test score progress

Kansas official says 'high standards' reflected in report

A higher percentage of Kansas schools met testing goals than in any other state except Wisconsin, according to a report released Monday.

The report showed 93 percent of Kansas schools made adequate yearly progress on reading and math test scores and attendance or graduation rates in 2004. Only Wisconsin, with 94 percent of its schools making adequate yearly progress, ranked higher.

Except for Lawrence High School, all of USD 497’s schools made adequate yearly progress for the 2003-2004 school year. LHS missed the mark because one group of students — those with disabilities — fell short in reading.

“We have high standards, high expectations, and the kids perform and the teachers teach well,” said Alexa Posny, the state’s assistant commissioner of education.

The report was released by Education Week.

For more than 10 years, Kansas has required its schools to meet certain standards on math and English tests, among other things, for schools to be accredited. That prepared it for the federal No Child Left Behind Act, said Lawrence Supt. Randy Weseman.

“It was a mini-version of what the federal government is doing now,” he said.

Only 56 percent of schools in South Carolina, 35 percent in Washington, D.C., and 23 percent in Florida made adequate yearly progress. However, 92 percent of schools in Louisiana made state goals.

Southern states tend to have higher poverty rates than Midwestern states, which means many children in the South come to school already behind, Posny said.