The Kansas State Board of Education recently announced that public schools in seven districts throughout Kansas will be taking part in what it calls a “moon shot,” with the objective of changing the way education is handled in the state. Olathe Public Schools is one of the participating districts.
The object of the effort is to change the focus of schools from the current emphasis on achieving high test scores to considering the objectives of individual students. Student-driven education has been a byword of the Montessori system for decades, with many Montessori schools in operation in Europe and the United States. However, the traditional model of measuring achievement by test scores is much more common.
The change is named for the Mercury program, which first put a man on the Moon in 1969. The state board compares the effort that will be necessary to change the way schools operate to the effort NASA put into the moon landings. The seven districts were chosen to honor the first seven Mercury astronauts.
The Olathe district is the second-largest in the state, and the biggest near Kansas City. District officials will focus their efforts on Santa Fe Trail Middle School and Westview Elementary School.
Such a major change requires a detailed explanation, which school officials could provide by working with a newsletter printing company. They could create a letter for district parents discussing the issues.
