State education leaders are gearing up for the second leg of the 50-city Kansans Can Success Tour with visits next week to southeast and southcentral Kansas.
The 90-minute meetings feature Kansas Education Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson and Deputy Commissioner Brad Neuenswander providing information on the Kansans Can vision of focusing on the academic and social-emotional needs of students and improvements in high school graduation and postsecondary participation rates. Attendees then provide input on next steps and future areas of focus.
More than 800 Kansans attended the first week of meetings last month in western and north central Kansas.
State Board of Education members Dr. Deena Horst, R-Salina, and Jean Clifford, R-Garden City, attended all of the meetings in their districts.
“People are really seeing that what we are doing has meaning and has been helpful and will continue to be helpful to kids,” Horst said.
Clifford said, “People got a flavor of what the State Board is trying to achieve and how our school districts are trying to implement that.”
Since 2015, Kansas’ high school graduation rate has increased from 85.7 percent to 88.3 percent. That includes a 6.5 percent increase in the graduation rates of English language learners (77.2 percent to 83.7 percent); 3.7 percent among students who receive free or reduced lunch (77.5 percent to 81.2 percent) and 3.1 percent for students with disabilities (77.2 percent to 80.3 percent), which is the second highest in the nation.
In addition, the rate of students with postsecondary work two years after graduating high school has increased from 44 percent to 48 percent. Watson said this increase in postsecondary success shows that high schools are graduating quality students.
For a schedule of when and where next week’s meetings are go to this link.
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