KSN NBC News/Wichita | http://bit.ly/hYbeDc
3/02 5:23 pm -McPHERSON, Kansas – The McPherson School District is making history for being the first district in the country to opt out of assessment testing under No Child Left Behind. The district has come up with an alternative form of testing, which officials say raises the bar.
McPherson school officials are riding high after becoming the first district in the country to receive a waiver from required testing under the no child left behind act. The U.S. Department of Education approved the move after McPherson schools presented their alternate testing plan called “C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness.”
"We want to look at assessments to determine whether or not you are a good citizen, we want to look at assessments are you ready for a good career, and we want to look at assessments are you ready for a good post secondary education,” said Dr. Randy Watson, USD 418 superintendent.
Under the plan, middle and high school students will instead take ACT developed assessments. No Child Left Behind is supposed to ensure accountability by using test scores to prove growth. But Superintendent Randy Watson says that wasn't happening with the current state tests and that's why they came up with the new plan.
"There are all kinds of incentives trying to help them do well,” he said. “We thought that's a problem because it still doesn't do anything to you."
Dr. Watson says the current assessments focus too much on how a school performs as a whole. But he says the C3 program focuses more on individual growth.
"We think if we can get to that stage where we have these doors open for kids then they will go on and be successful,” he said.
Other schools across the nation are now looking at McPherson setting a precedent for better testing options and hopefully better education.
"We've heard repeatedly that the law has led to a narrowing of the curriculum, it's let to teaching to the test, it’s led to a dumbing down of the standards, teachers don't have the flexibility to be creative and to make a difference,” said Arne Duncan, secretary of education.
McPherson students have already begun testing under the plan. With the waiver, they don’t have to take state tests this spring. However, the plan does not include elementary students, who will continue taking state tests.
Press Release from McPherson Unified School District 418
http://bit.ly/fOW0gr
March 1, 2011 - This past week, the United State Department of Education informed McPherson Unified School District 418 that they were granting a waiver to the district to enact the locally designed, C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness initiative. The department called the McPherson initiative bold, challenging and one of a kind in the United States.
In May 2010, the McPherson school board, after two years of discussion with the community and retreats, released their plan entitled, C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness. This plan was a non-negotiable position for the school board and one that through collaborative goal setting, the entire McPherson administrative staff supported. In June 2010, that plan was submitted to the Kansas State Board of Educationand s ubsequently to the United States Department of Education.
While the waiver is only a small part of the school district’s work, it will allow the district to change the assessments given to their students in grades sixth through twelve.
Instead of taking Kansas State Assessments under No Child Left Behind, middle and high school students will be taking ACT developed assessments. These assessments measure whether students are ready for college or a high paying career. These benchmarks represent a much higher standard than is being asking of other schools in the country.
“This is an important day for students and faculty in McPherson,” Dr. Randy Watson, Superintendent stated. “This confirms the work that our staff and community has been engaged in over the past several years.”
The district C3 initiative has the support of many of the leaders in Kansas. Governor Sam Brownback, Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, Kansas State Board of Education, Dr.
Diane DeBacker, Commissioner of Education, Dr. Andy Tompkins, CEO and President of the Kansas Board of Regents, Dr. John Heim, Executive Director, Kansas Association of School Boards and Cheryl Semmel, Executive Director, United School Administrators all have endorsed the work being done in McPherson.
The McPherson, C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness plan has established strong partnerships with Quantum Learning and ACT to develop and measure their three areas of emphasis – citizenship, college and career readiness
Quantum Learning is a C3 founding partner with a decade-long relationship with McPherson. Quantum Learning programs empower teachers, students, administrators and parents to create a district culture of student engagement, positive behavior, teaching excellence and student responsibility for learning. Quantum Learning’s 8 Keys of Excellence equips everyone in the learning community with a common language of character that propels student success. In two decades of collaboration with school districts nationwide, Quantum Learning has trained over 100,000 teachers impacting more than 5 million students.
ACT is also a C3 founding partner with McPherson. ACT is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides a broad array of assessment, research, information, and program management solutions in the areas of education and workforce development.
Each year, ACT serves millions of people in high schools, colleges, professional associations, businesses, and government agencies—nationally and internationally.
More information on C3 – Citizenship, College and Career Readiness, can be obtained at www.mcpherson.com/418 or by calling Dr. Randy Watson, Superintendent or Angie McDonald, Director of Instruction at 620-241-9400, ext. 102.
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