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Welcome to the Kansas State Department of Education homepage. The Department promotes the mission of the Kansas State Board of Education through leadership and support for student learning in Kansas. The Board is charged with the general supervision of public education and other educational interests in the state. While clearly acknowledging the role and importance of local control, the Board has the responsibility to provide direction and leadership for the supervision of all state educational institutions under its jurisdiction.
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Leadership and Learning
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 We know that teachers and high-quality teaching is what makes the difference in terms of how well and how much our students learn. After teacher quality, the second biggest influence on student achievement is the quality of school leadership. Good teaching depends on good leadership. Richard Colvin, Director of the Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media, made this analogy: “Managers can cause movement. But only good leadership, like the steady breeze that fills a sail, causes movement toward a destination.”
Harvard Professor Richard Elmore describes educational leadership quite simply as ‘the guidance and direction of instructional improvement.” Kenneth Leithwood, a researcher at the University of Toronto, states that leadership to him involves setting direction, developing people so that they can head in that direction, and redesigning the organization around instruction. Finally, Michael Fullan has identified the following five characteristics of successful leadership:
- Projecting a sense of moral purpose—making a positive difference in the lives of others
- Understanding the change process—making change actionable
- Improving relationships—building relationships with people different from themselves
- Building knowledge—generating and increasing knowledge inside and outside the organization
- Building coherence—tolerating ambiguity while seeking coherence
As you can see, several common themes emerge when describing effective leadership: focusing on instruction, developing relationships, setting a direction, and making changes. In Kansas, we have many highly effective administrators who have taken this to heart. As part of the January State Board meeting, the Board will recognize the following individuals, who represent a few of our state’s highly effective leaders.
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Dr. John Heim, Superintendent of Emporia USD 253, 2009 Superintendent of the Year as recognized by the Kansas Association of School Administrators.
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Mr. Ron Vinduska, Principal at Seaman High School in Topeka (Seaman USD 345), the 2008 MetLife Principal of the Year as recognized by the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals.
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Mr. James Krone, Principal at Atchison Middle School (Atchison USD 409), 2008 Principal of the Year as recognized by the Kansas Association of Middle School Administrators.
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Mrs. Kim Christner, Principal at Garfield Elementary School in Augusta (Augusta USD 402), 2008 Kansas Distinguished Principal as recognized by the Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals.
Please join in congratulating these great exemplars of Kansas educational leadership. Let’s continue to celebrate the great job each and every one of you do for Kansas schools and students. As I have said before, Kansas is a great place to live and learn!
Alexa Posny, Ph.D.
Kansas Commissioner of Education
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TOPEKA, January 9, 2009/Thirty-two beginning educators from around the state were named 2009 Kansas Horizon Award recipients. The Kansas Horizon Awards are sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education.
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The Kansas Volunteer Commission and the Presidential Inaugural Committee have teamed up to promote the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service in Kansas.
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What:New Board Orientation, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday, January 12; SBOE January Meeting, January 13-14, 2009
When: January 12 (new board member orientation), January 13, & 14 (regularly scheduled meeting)
Where: Boardroom, Kansas State Department of Education, 120 SE 10th Ave., Topeka, KS 66612-1182
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TOPEKA – December 10, 2008 – The Kansas State Board of Education held its monthly board meeting December 9-10, 2008, in the boardroom of the Kansas State Department of Education, 120 SE 10th Avenue.
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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Coordinated School Health Program has awarded grants for health and wellness programs for the 2008-2009 school year to local schools and school districts.
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More Articles...
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Most Requested Information
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Kansas All Books Connect (ABC) - Posted Monday, January 05, 2009
KSDE has partnered with Renaissance Learning, the maker of Accelerated Reader to create a website specific to Kansas called Kansas All Books Connect (ABC) located at: www.kansas.bookconnect.com. Kansas ABC is a reading initiative consisting of tools and services to help educators and parents match books to kids to promote successful reading practices. more...
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