Test Success

February 8, 2005

Students lapping up test success

DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN

Hays Daily News

Hays High School performed well on state assessment tests last year, reaching the Kansas Board of Education Standard of Excellence in two different subject areas - reading and math. The Standard of Excellence requires having a significant portion of the student body scoring at the advanced and exemplary levels in tests in different subjects and grade levels taken each year. Administrators at HHS think a new twist could help students do well again this year. Students scheduled to take tests this spring will do so on their own laptopcomputers issued to each student at enrollment last fall. Marty Straub, an assistant principal at Hays High, gave a demonstration at Monday's regular Board of Education meeting showing board members how has Hays High has fared in state assessments the past few years, and why. "The most important thing we can do," Straub said, "is to assess a curriculum that is going to be tested," those aligned with state standards. "It isn't a mystery," he added. "It's mastery." This year, 10th-graders will take state assessments in math and science and 11th-graders will take the reading and social science tests. Computers being used by students in each of those grades were loaded with the Kansas Computerized Assessment software. Straub said that students have been busy for about a month taking practice tests in math and reading. "It gives them the opportunity to learn until they take the test," he said. Craig Pallister, principal at Felten Middle School, reported on a project made possible by a grant from Insurance Planning Inc. Because of the grant, 32 Felten sixth- and seventh-grade students will be able to attend the Kansas Youth Leadership Academy next month at Fort Hays State University. The academy, one of just four across the state, is a comprehensive program that promotes youth leadership development. Students will learn leadership skills in groups, then return to their schools to work on projects throughout the next two years to improve something in their school. Superintendent Fred Kaufman reported that nothing has yet changed with the school finance issues stemming from a Kansas Supreme Court ruling in January. On Jan. 3, the Supreme Court ruled that the current funding system for education in Kansas was insufficient and gave legislators until April 12 to come up with a solution. Richard Cain, assistant superintendent in charge of finance, presented the board figures on expenditure changes and general fund comparison for 2005 and 2006. Cain showed that "if everything stays the same for next year," the district budget would be down about $500,000 from this year. "This is the revenue side only, not the increased costs that we know we will have," Cain said. "So it's not a pretty picture." The board approved bills for payment for $308,728 for the month and, and it also approved the school calendar for 2005-06, which includes 1,144 calendar hours. The school year will start with a half day on Aug. 18, five days earlier than this year. "Starting students a little earlier allows better balance of the number of days between the two semesters," said Will Roth, deputy superintendent in charge of curriculum and instruction in the district. Board President Sharon Befort told the board that she needed the sheets for the superintendent's evaluation returned to her by Friday so she could compile the data and have it available to board members at the board office before the next meeting. The superintendent's evaluation will take place in executive session at the Feb. 21 board meeting. The board met in executive session for 30 minutes Monday with Kaufman, Cain and the board's attorney, Bill Jeter. No action was taken after the executive session.

Reporter Diane Gasper-O'Brien can be reached at (785) 628-1081, ext. 126, or by e-mail at dobrien@dailynews.net.