By RYAN CHRISTNER

rchristner@dailynews.net

Members of the Hays USD 489 Board of Education received a lesson in technology-oriented pedagogy Monday night, courtesy of Hays High School Principal Mike Hester.

The information contained in the presentation was collected as part of a study for the dissertation Hester is crafting during his pursuit of a doctorate from Wichita State University and was generated from the thoughts and experiences of seven district teachers who Hester said have been "very successful" with their efforts of using technology as a method to improve student achievement.

During the two-day period in which the study took place, the group spent time analyzing the district's past, present and future as they relate to student learning and technology.

Hester said the teachers identified the district's entrance into a technology lease nearly a decade ago -- which helped put laptop computers into students' hands -- as one of the most defining moments of the past 20 years.

Success in the classroom can only be sustained, he said, when teachers are given the "freedom to take academic risk with visionary leadership," are surrounded by a culture of contextual support, focus on student-centered learning and work within a supportive environment that encourages change.

Board members also were given a reprisal of students' most recent performance on state assessments.

In a feat that has become old hat for USD 489, every school in the district once again achieved adequate yearly progress. That much was known already, but Superintendent Fred Kaufman shared additional good news about the scores.

Earning the highest academic honor that is awarded by the Kansas State Department of Education, USD 489 was given Standard of Excellence awards in 85 percent of possible subject areas.

That's tops among similarly sized schools, Kaufman said, where the second-best school achieved 50 percent of its possible awards.

The Hays district received 63 out of 74 Excellence awards, which are given to each building in a district in the areas of reading, writing, math and science.

"We will need to be thanking them for the focus they put on that," Felten Middle School Principal Craig Pallister said of the students, teachers, parents and others who played a part in the high rankings.

"Everybody ought to be celebrating this."

Contrasting that news, however, was a report on student absenteeism, which is well above average for this or any other time of the year.

Kaufman provided current-day statistics from area schools, some of which were short more than 20 percent of their student bodies. Some schools even have exceeded 30 percent absenteeism this year. The norm, he said, is about 3 percent or 4 percent.

"We don't really know what causes that absenteeism," Kaufman said, although he speculated illness has played a dominant role.

In other new business:

* The board approved an interagency agreement with the Hays Area Children's Center, which will come up for renewal annually.

* A list of Hays USD 489 site council members was approved, with the exception of the group representing Lincoln Elementary, which contained too few non school-affiliated members.

* The board continued its mission to review board policy.