Student achievement in Geary County Schools peaks between grades three through five and then falls off during the middle school years.

Dr. Beth Hudson, USD 475 Associate Superintendent, said presented state assessment results at the Monday, June 5th Board of Education meeting.

“We’re real strong at those primary grades; we have concerns about where we are at those other levels and we’d certainly like to have our students performing at higher levels,” said Hudson. “That’s a concern for us, we want our students to be mastering concepts at those higher levels.”

The current assessments are ranked on a scale of 1 through 4; 1 being below grade level, 2 at grade level, and 3 or 4 is mastering or exceeding the grade level. Hudson noted that middle school, specifically 7th grade seems to be the time where assessment scores drop dramatically.

“I think if we knew what [the reason] was, we would be able to address it; I think it is a combination…you know in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade you’re with the same teacher all day – now suddenly you’re with different teachers who have different expectations,” said Hudson. “I think it’s a difficult adjustment for [students].”

Another difficult adjustment for some has been the Common Core Curriculum. Hudson noted that there was an increase in parents opting out of the state testing for their students, which may be linked to anxiety surrounding Common Core.

“People still have that misconception about Common Core being a bad thing; I think it’s a great thing because students are being expected to meet higher levels of rigor,” said Hudson. “There’s still that myth out there that Common Core has bad things…I would challenge anyone to show me which pieces would be bad pieces.”

USD 475 is also a transient District, which has an effect on teachers populations; Hudson noted that this affects student achievement.

“We’re constantly training new teachers each year they come on board, particularly at Junction City Middle School is a good example…that definitely affects us because we don’t keep teachers long enough in some cases to be develop those skills at teaching before they move on.”

Hudson maintains that there is no cause for concern about student achievement and test scores in the District. Randy Watson, the Kansas Commissioner of Education, has been working to shift the focus away from state testing as the benchmark for achievement and has championed other pathways for gaging knowledge. This shift places less stress on educators to master a test, and thus allows flexibility to make sure students excel.

Hudson added that Geary County Schools are in line with or exceeding state averages in many cases.