Feature Story

A large part of the 2025 Great Ideas in Education Conference, hosted by the Kansas State Department of Education, served as an enhanced school improvement day to kick off the second year of KESA 2.0., a slight departure from past conference formats.  

“A lot of people worked long hours to pull that off,” Kansas Education Commissioner Dr. Randy Watson said of the conference, July 28-30, that drew nearly 500 attendees to Wichita’s Hyatt Regency. “I thought the energy was really good. It allowed for more focused time.”  

One-day sessions known as “School Improvement Days” are integral to districts creating action plans to address student achievement as part of the second iteration of the Kansas Education Accreditation System, known as KESA 2.0.   

“This process is tremendously much more intentional, meaningful to actually be able to have the time to collaborate with like-sized schools, sharing ideas,” Karla Tanking, assistant superintendent of Holton USD 336, said during a recent School Improvement Day at Greenbush Education Service Center in Lawrence. “But it’s also just having the time to talk through and analyze data with our own group that is very helpful and beneficial.” 

As part of the second iteration of the Kansas Education Systems Accreditation process, known as KESA 2.0, districts and school systems are attending regional School Improvement Days during the 2024-25 school year with three to four other like systems.  

These days are facilitated by Kansas educators who have been trained and volunteer their time to help their colleagues understand what is required for KESA 2.0 accreditation. They guide those attending the School Improvement Days through a broad review of their district-level data, including assessment scores.