Kansas State Board of Education announced Tuesday that for the ninth straight year, Kansas students have steadily made gains in reading and math. That is something the state should be very proud of, said Alexa Posny, state education commissioner. "Kansas students continue to achieve at higher and higher levels even as targets continue to rise," Posny said. "The educators, the students, the administrators should all be proud."
"We thought scores would level out years ago, but they keep increasing," said Diane DeBacker, the state's deputy education commissioner. "We didn't make as many gains in reading, but we still had an increase."
Locally, for the third straight year, every school within Auburn-Washburn Unified School District 437 achieved a state standard of excellence in reading and math.
"We are always pleased to have that public acknowledgement," superintendent Brenda Dietrich said. "We are very proud of the hard work of our faculty and teachers. They are responsible for making that achievement. It is due to their hard work and dedication. We also know that if you dig a little deeper and look at each grade level within the buildings, there are areas we need to improve upon. We are always looking to improve."
Five out of six schools in Kaw Valley USD 321 serving areas around St. Marys and Rossville received a standard of excellence in reading and writing. The district also fared well in math. "I'm very proud of how our students and staff did in our district," said superintendent James McDaniel. "We worked very hard, and I feel like all buildings districtwide did a wonderful job with state assessment this last cycle."
In USD 501, six schools received a standard of excellence in reading, while three received it for math and two for science. "Overall, the percentage of our students scoring proficient on state assessments is going up. While we are pleased that students are making progress, we are not keeping up with increases in target scores set by the Kansas State Department of Education." said superintendent Kevin Singer.
