1. Kansas Leads the World in the Success of Each Student.
Dr. Randy Watson, Kansas Commissioner of Education

2. Kansas leads the world in the success of each student
A NEW Vision for Kansas ...
Kansas leads the world in the success of each student
KANSAS STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION |

3. Defining Success A Successful Kansas High School Graduate has the
Academic preparation,
Cognitive preparation,
Technical skills,
Employability skills and
Civic engagement
to be successful in postsecondary education, in the attainment of an industry recognized certification or in the workforce, without the need for remediation.
A Successful Kansas High School Graduate has the
Academic preparation,
Cognitive preparation,
Technical skills,
Employability skills and
Civic engagement
to be successful in postsecondary education, in the attainment of an industry recognized certification or in the workforce, without the need for remediation.

4. Creating a Vision for Kansas – State Outcomes
Social Emotional Growth
Kindergarten Readiness
Individual Plan of Study
High School Graduation Rates
Post Secondary Completion
Among the outcomes being considered by the state board are:
High School Graduation Rates
Post Secondary Completion/Attendance
Remedial Rate of Students Attending Post-Secondary
Kindergarten Readiness
Individual Plan of Study Focused on Career Interest
Social/Emotional Growth Measured Locally
Education Commissioner Randy Watson and members of the State Board of Education will meet with business, education and state leaders to build agreement on how we will work together to achieve this vision for Kansas education.
Kansas schools are already doing tremendous work to address the needs of individual students, but in order to achieve this new vision we cannot expect schools to go it alone. This requires a unified effort with businesses, communities, parents, higher education, and elected officials working with educators to help provide the supports and experiences Kansas students need for their future success.

5. From the first set of focus group responses, what characteristics of success were most frequently cited?
This result is a little surprising since about 66% of the respondents were educators, education administrators, or former educators—people who mostly teach, or used to teach, academic skills. Nevertheless, the soft skills—social-emotional, personality skills, or 21st century skills—they have lots of names—were cited 70% of the time.

6. The business and industry focal groups cited non-academic skills with greater frequency than the community groups:
Recall that the community groups cited non-academic skills 70% of the time and academic skills 23% of the time. These frequencies are remarkably similar to those expressed by the community groups. If volume can be equated with importance, the business and industry groups are saying that the non-academic characteristics are more important than academic skills, including applied skills, and that non-academic skills are at least as important to them as to the community groups, maybe more so.
One cited experience as a characteristic of the ideally prepared 24 year old (the tiny yellow line).

7. What is the role of K-12 education in achieving this future?
The responses fit into two broad themes:
Skill training includes all skills – the direct training of skills --- academic, applied or job skills and non-academic, social-emotional skills -- that respondents say schools should be cultivating.
strategic activities: defined as “all the activities suggested as steps, building blocks or scaffolding to support the characteristics, abilities, and skills being cultivated in the students (family engagement, community collaboration, specialized staffing and training, particular curriculum design, etc.)”

8. What themes made up the strategic activities?
human capital
Family engagement items complemented the career planning items, but the partnership between schools and families started early—birth through preK in some items. Some advocate joint planning for the child’s future, and others, opportunities for family participation and family education.
School climate activities were diverse and sometimes conflicting. Some advocate creating an environment of high expectations, while others recommend realistic expectations, or a positive supportive culture.
Less frequently cited strategies:
Career planning items called for individual goals and planning, of classes, pathways, further education, transitions, and careers. Some items included the family in the planning. When career planning should begin—middle school? 8th grade?--wasn’t clear.
Project-based learning items emphasize the learning and demonstration of applied skills, sometimes in contrast to standardized curricula and assessments. Some suggest projects as part of community service, a qualification for graduation, or a better way to teach or measure personality skills.
teaching techniques
Community collaboration items emphasized mutual obligations between students and the community and better social networking. Some advocate student community service, sometimes as a requirement; others, partnerships with local businesses and social agencies, especially early childhood agencies.
Individualized instruction and experience varied in intensity, from career interest diagnostics to universally required individual plans that the student must personally defend. The timing varied from beginning in Kindergarten, to middle school, to 8th grade.
Real-world instruction items advocate for concrete, real-life, relevant problems to solve, sometimes including their social dimensions. Some suggest integrating academics with applied skills, to improve motivation. Timing? As early as preK.
Early childhood strategies include strengthening the foundations of language and social skills at this sensitive stage, and the early establishment of parental collaboration.
accountability
extracurricular activities
college collaboration
About the less frequently cited strategies:
Teaching techniques as strategies included integrated, collaborative teaching; teacher as facilitator; engaging students; teaching teachers how to teach soft skills, among others.
Investments in human capital suggested increasing the number of counselors (which fits with the suggestion for more individual career planning), and more professional development for elementary math teachers.
The more striking suggestions in the accountability recommendations included more autonomy for teachers, aiming to meet the Rose Standards, linking drivers’ licenses to graduation, and allowing for greater individual differences in student development.
College collaboration and extracurricular activities were relatively few, which is surprising with the larger initiatives to prepare students to be college and career ready, and the ideal of teaching more social-emotional skills.
funding
prevention

9. What Kansans want from their schools
Kansas children need quality preschool including all day kindergarten
Changes need to be made to address school culture
New dynamic roles for counselor and social workers
Collaboration between schools and businesses
Reorganize schools around students, not the system
Community service needs to play a bigger role
We also learned that Kansans believe
Every child needs access to quality preschool education
School culture needs to be addressed – we must value the student going to a two-year or certification program as much as a student attending a four-year institution.
Counselors need to be able to help students identify and explore career interests
Must be collaboration between schools and businesses to prepare students for postsecondary pursuits
Schools must be reorganized around the student, not the system to meet unique needs
Community service is an important part of preparing students for life after high school.

10. How Does an IPS flow into Post Secondary Success?

15. Redesign? Personalized Project Based
Intense focus on social and emotional development
Immersion with parents and the community
Personalized Learning
What is Personalized Learning?
A personalized learning environment includes the following elements:
Personal learning paths for each student
Personalized learning time
Project-based learning
Student mentor program
Flexible learning environment
Mastery-based education
Performance-based assessments (project-based learning, portfolios, etc.)
What do teacher and student roles look like in Personalized Learning?
Teachers Students Personalize instruction by providing opportunities for students to practice skills, give real-time feedback and support students to make their own plans to reach academic goals.
Provide small group workshops based on individual student needs.
Mentors students to become self-directed learners who can set and achieve goals and maximize opportunities.
Demonstrate student agency by having choice in when, where, and how they learn.
Select content that best meets their learning style.
Establish weekly obtainable academic goals.
Establish long term college goals. Work collaboratively with small groups
What is Connect? Connect is Pasadena ISD’s personalized learning initiative.
Personalized Every Connect student has a digital Personalized Learning Plan and is able to access all of the learning tools and resources they need at any time.
Empowering Connect students are self-directed learners. Connect students are encouraged and coached to develop in the elements of self-directed learning - Challenge Seeking, Persistence, Strategy-shifting, Response to Setbacks and Appropriate Help Seeking are key habits that are invaluable for college and life success.
Relevant Connect students receive consistent, relevant, and personalized support seamlessly integrated into their school day as they drive towards their academic and personal goals.
College and Career Readiness Student success in college and career must extend far beyond college acceptance. We focus on helping students to develop in four areas that form the foundation for a lifetime of success.
Mentor Support ​​Student-teacher bond is the heart of learning. Students meet weekly with their mentor teacher to set academic goals and discuss their progress.
Empowering students to engage in self-directed learning and develop key habits that are invaluable for college and life success.

16. Recognition

17. KANSAN CAN RECOGNITION
Copper
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Diamond

18. KANSANS CAN RECOGNITION LEVEL
Gold

19. GOLD SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL Gold KINDERGARTEN READINESS
INDIVIDUAL PLANS OF STUDY
PREPARED FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
State Assessments 75% at Levels 3/4 95% at Levels 2/3/4
ACT 24+
Employability - WorkKeys 50% Gold 100% Silver
Technical Skills
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
GRADUATION RATE
95%+
POSTSECONDARY
Effective Rate 71%+

20. KANSANS CAN RECOGNITION LEVEL
diamond

21. DIAMOND Achieves all Gold levels
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEVEL
KINDERGARTEN READINESS
INDIVIDUAL PLANS OF STUDY
PREPARED FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT LEVEL
GRADUATION RATE
POSTSECONDARY

22. GOLD Sample District SILVER COPPER BRONZE Not recognized
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL
GOLD
KINDERGARTEN READINESS
INDIVIDUAL PLANS OF STUDY
Not recognized
PREPARED FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
COPPER
BRONZE
SILVER
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
GRADUATION RATE
POSTSECONDARY
EFFECTIVENESS

23. Today’s students are the future workforce and future leaders of Kansas
Today’s students are the future workforce and future leaders of Kansas. Kansans Can achieve anything and, together, Kansans Can lead the world in the success of each student.