Article Details

For immediate release:
July 19, 2012

Kathy Toelkes, Director of Communications, 785-296-4876

Kansas gains approval for ESEA flexibility request
New school accountability system to be in place for 2012-2013 school year

TOPEKA – The U.S. Department of Education today approved Kansas’ request for flexibility in meeting some of the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. With the approval, the accountability system for Kansas schools will shift from ensuring a prescribed percentage of students achieve proficiency on state reading and math assessments each year to ensuring schools achieve a prescribed level  of improvement on at least one of several Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs) established by the state. 

 “I’m extremely pleased with the plan that has been advanced with the approval of our state’s flexibility request,” said Education Commissioner Dr. Diane DeBacker. “An accountability system based on student growth and multiple measures is a key component of our waiver and I believe it will result in a far more meaningful assessment of the progress and success of Kansas schools.”

Kansas submitted its application for flexibility last February after the Obama administration announced an initiative to grant states waivers from some of the NCLB provisions, provided they demonstrated movement toward a number of education reforms. The waiver was sought in an effort to move away from a narrowly defined accountability system that relied solely upon achieving specific performance targets on state assessments in reading and mathematics, and required 100 percent proficiency in those subject areas by 2014. With the waiver in place, the state can now look to multiple measures to assess the performance of Kansas schools in helping all students achieve.

 The new accountability system will be in place for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) will still be determined for the 2011-2012 school year; however, a previous waiver allows the state to use the 2010-2011 AYP targets in determining AYP for the 2011-2012 school year. AYP results for the recently completed school year will be included in report cards which will be released in September.
 
 Another key component of the state’s waiver is related to evaluating teachers and school leaders. Among the criteria for achieving a waiver request was implementing an evaluation system that includes student achievement as a significant factor in the evaluation. The Kansas plan calls for appointing a commission to identify the most effective means of tying student achievement to teacher and leader evaluations and building that into the existing Kansas Educator Evaluation Protocol (KEEP). KEEP will be a model evaluation system that districts may adopt, or they may build their own evaluation system that incorporates the guidelines specified in the Kansas plan, including the tie to student achievement. KEEP will be piloted in 2013-2014 and will be ready for full implementation by 2014-2015. Districts opting to use an evaluation system other than KEEP must achieve full implementation by 2014-2015, as well. The state’s waiver is conditioned on completing the plan to tie student performance to teacher and principal evaluations. 

 “The review process took a little longer than we had anticipated, but I believe we gained a stronger plan through the process,” DeBacker said. “It was important to me and to our State Board of Education that the integrity of the Kansas plan was preserved, and I believe it has been. I’m looking forward to sharing the details with school districts and working toward implementation.”

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