The Kansas State Department of Education’s Kansans Can STAR Recognition Program is designed to measure a school district’s improvement efforts and recognize success in the measures Kansans told the Department that they value.
USD 446 earned a Copper Award for its social emotional growth. USD 446 schools are implementing very promising Social Emotional Learning initiatives in an attempt to address issues that impede learning.
USD 446 also earned a Commissioner’s Award. The Commissioner’s Award is based on a district’s postsecondary effectiveness rate and the confidence interval assigned by KSDE when comparing a district to other like districts—taking into consideration risk factors such as poverty, chronic absenteeism, and student mobility. The 5-year Postsecondary Effectiveness Average is calculated by multiplying a district’s graduation rate by the rate achieving at least 1 of 4 measures of success 2 years post high school. Those measures of success (not all inclusive but what can be accurately measured through reporting procedures) include:
earning an industry recognized certification while in high school;
earning a postsecondary certificate;
earning a postsecondary degree;
enrolling in postsecondary in both the first and second year following high school graduation.
Independence’s 5-Year Postsecondary Effectiveness Average is 53 and KSDE’s Confidence Interval predicted 46.7-49.2. This means USD 446 is performing well above where it was predicted to perform when compared to other districts with similar risk factors, earning the Commissioner’s Award for Postsecondary Effectiveness.
When comparing USD 446’s postsecondary data with that of other schools in SE Kansas, it ranks 9th for graduation, 2nd for success rate, and 3rd for effectiveness rate.
Additionally, US News and World Reports annually ranks schools in the nation and by State. These rankings are calculated based on math, reading, and science proficiency as well as graduation rate and AP scores for high schools. US News explains that half the formula is the results themselves; the other half is the results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. In other words, how well do schools succeed at educating all their students?
Independence Public Schools’ rankings are as follows:
Jefferson School: 170th of 959 Kansas elementary schools (upper quarter – 82nd percentile)
Independence Middle School: 61st out of 763 Kansas middle schools (top 10% – 92nd percentile)
Independence High School: 22nd out of 386 Kansas public high schools (top 10% - 94th percentile)
Nationally, IHS is ranked 4,128 out of 17,680 public high schools (top quarter – 77th percentile)
Elementary School results can be viewed at https://www.usnews.com/educati...
Middle School results can be viewed at https://www.usnews.com/educati...
High School results can be viewed at https://www.usnews.com/educati...
This couldn’t happen without each and every member of the USD 446 team. November 13-17 is American Education Week established to honor the team of people who work in public schools, everyone from the bus driver and classroom teacher to the cafeteria worker and administrative staff, plus countless others.