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Minutes for SB337 - Committee on Education
Short Title
Expanding the provision of the ACT college entrance exam and workkeys assessments to students enrolled in nonpublic schools.
Minutes Content for Mon, Feb 17, 2020
Chairperson Baumgardner asked for a motion to accept the Minutes of January 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 28, 29.
Senator Braun moved the motion, Senator Alley seconded. The motion carried.
Chairperson Baumgardner opened the hearing.
Proponents:
Jack Allston, Executive Director, Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corp. has been doing site selection work for major corporations. One of the factors they look at is whether students are taking WorkKeys assessments, which tests the cognitive and foundational skills of an applicant and not necessarily their academic skills. Business roundtables were formed in Wamego, made up of educators, businesspeople, counselors and workforce providers, to discover if there are Career Ed and Tech Ed programs to build employability skills. Schools began WorkKeys assessments in 2015 to insure there will be a pipeline of workers for the next 10-15 years. WorkKeys of Pottawatomie County is hoping the bill will expand WorkKeys to more counties in Kansas.(Attachment 1)
Jina M. Kugler, Professional School Counselor, Wamego High School, explained how each student should have an Individual Plan of Study on file which should include a graduated series of strength finders and career interest inventories to help students identify preference toward career clusters; the 8-12th grade course builder functions with course selections based on career interests; a general postsecondary plan; portable electronic portfolio. At Wamego High School, they surveyed their Chamber members, parents, educators and students and it was decided that their high school diploma should be their passport to whatever they want to do after high school. They are developing a passport in which they will receive stamps for whatever they do along the way toward earning a National Career Readiness Certificate. Through Xello, Excel CTE, PreAct and College Readiness, WorkKeys are used in guiding the students into their career path.(Attachment 2)
Opponent:
Jerry Henn, Assistant Executive Director, USA-Kansas and Kansas School Superintendents Association spoke against the bill. This bill is to include all students in Kansas to be eligible to take the ACT or ACT WorkKeys assessments using state tax dollars. They do not believe tax dollars should be spent on students who do not attend public schools.(Attachment 3)
Chairperson Baumgardner closed the hearing on SB337.
