Corkins: Policies Will Not Change |
Even if elections change the makeup of the Kansas State Board of Education this year, don't expect there to be major alterations in policy. Bob Corkins, Kansas education commissioner, said despite conflicts in recent years, particularly over evolution and sexual education standards, the differences in opinions weren't large enough to see a major change with new members. "The differences are all in small degrees, things like the language that is tossed around," Corkins said. "But for the most part, I think the differences are overblown and exaggerated. On several of the major issues, such as all-day kindergarten, the board is unanimous and united." The Kansas education commissioner works directly with the board, overseeing the Kansas State Department of Education as one of three employees directly underneath the board. Corkins said a similar arrangement on a smaller scale would be a district superintendent working under the district's board of education. Corkins spoke to about 250 teachers and administrators from throughout the state Thursday as the KSDE wrapped up its three-day Summer Academy at Pittsburg High School. Tracy Newell, who organized the Pittsburg event, said the state holds three Summer Academies, which this year will draw about 800 teachers and administrators. Newell said the goal of the academy is to help K-12 teachers learn more about meeting state standards in reading, math, science, social studies and writing. "A lot of people think that teachers have the summers off," Newell said. "But I think if you walk around, you'll see that's far from the case." Corkins said the Summer Academy helps teachers meet standards and leads to faculty development. "You're starting to see growth in the tested areas," Corkins said. "But at the same time, proficiency may be what we need to hit, but it's not our goal ... Proficiency is not excellence." The goal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act is to have all students test in the proficient range by 2014. But Corkins said the goal needed to be more than that. In addition, he said there still remained problem spots, especially with middle school and high school students. Middle school students in particular have struggled to meet the standard of excellence benchmark. "You're seeing the highest levels in elementary school, then it drops off as they get older," Corkins said. "I can tell you it probably comes as no surprise to parents who have children in middle school. There's just so much going on at that time, and hormones is probably a part of that. So we believe you have to start looking at something different." As part of that, Corkins said the state was preparing what he called a "Student Engagement Project" to connect with older students, particularly by showing a connection between testing and the students' college futures. He said the idea would come up more within the next few months and that it should help students to better meet the standards. "We've seen a lot of great ideas, and we're going to do the best we can to bring this to a district level successfully," Corkins said. "In order to help protect our students' futures, we really need to strike a chord, and I think we can." The Morning Sun, (www.morningsun.net) June 30, 2006 |
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