Members of the Kansas State Board of Education were presented with additional information about the 2025 state assessment cut scores during their monthly meeting, Sept. 9-10, in Topeka. 

Staff members of the Kansas State Department of Education’s career, standards and assessment services, told board members individual student, building and district-level results of past spring’s new summative assessments are now available on the Kite® educator portal. These updated reports provide insights into student performance relative to grade-level learning standards in English language arts (grades 3–8, 10), mathematics (grades 3–8, 10), and science (grades 5 and 8). 

Staff members of Assessment and Technology Solutions (ATS) at the University of Kansas said the 2025 assessment reports will be available in the Kite® parent portal (https://ksassessments.org/kite-parent-portal-user-guide) by the end of next week and families are encouraged to ask questions about their student’s state assessment scores. In the meantime, parents can access information on the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) website about the KSDE standards their child is tested on and an explanation of state assessment cut scores and the updated performance level descriptors (PLDs). A practice test is also available on the KAP website parents can take. 

ATS staff also showed board members concordance tables which show how the scores from the 2024 state assessments are compared to the scores on the new, revised 2025 tests. Because the two assessments are not identical, the tables will show linked (concordant) scores but the scores are not interchangeable. ATS staff said the scores should not be used to compare individual scale scores from one grade to the next as they do not predict future performance. For example, if a student received a scale score of 251 on the 2024 third grade assessment, that student should not be expected to score a 463 on the 2025 fourth grade assessment.  

There are 16 concordance tables for each grade level and for each content area posted on the KAP website at ksassessments.org. 

Board members also approved the Accreditation Review Council’s (ARC) recommendations to accredit the 303 districts and school systems in the Kansas Education System Accreditation (KESA) on school improvement and compliance for the 2025-26 school year.  

In August, all the KESA districts and school systems met the criteria for school improvement by submitting a “ready to implement” KESA action plan which was reviewed by KSDE’s action plan review team for clarity, alignment to the four fundamentals, and the use of district-level data.  

The majority of the districts and school systems met the standards in each of the 14 KESA compliance areas. There are several school systems that have been deemed “Not In Compliance” in a few compliance areas; however, this is the first school year for those particular systems to be deemed “Not in Compliance.”  

Following the KESA evaluation process, a school system's accreditation status is not affected when not meeting standards for one year. If a system does not meet standards for two consecutive years in the same KESA area, that is when the ARC will complete a more in-depth review to determine if the school system should remain accredited or be accredited with conditions.  

On Wednesday, board members voted unanimously to approve Southern Cloud USD 334’s plan to disorganize and attach its territory to five neighboring school districts effective July 1, 2026.  Earlier this week, the USD 334 board of education unanimously passed a resolution which called for the district’s disorganization. That resolution also described what the new boundaries will be for Beloit USD 273, Concordia USD 333, Clifton-Clyde USD 224, Clay County USD 379, and North Ottawa County USD 239. 

The matter will now be voted on by residents of Southern Cloud USD 334 during the Nov. 2025 election. If the measure passes, the school boards of the receiving districts will have 30 days to formally approve the transfer.  

At the end of their two-day meeting, board members also accepted Dr. Randy Watson’s notice of retirement. Read more about the announcement here. 

Board members voted to approve the following agenda items:  

• A request to contract with America Learns for AmeriCorps performance, progress and financial reporting.  
• The Evaluation Review Committee’s (ERC) recommendations for higher education program approvals.  
• Several districts’ requests to hold a bond election and receive capital improvement (bond and interest) state aid.  
• A contract with Kansas State University to support the Kansas Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA).  
• Dues for membership in the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE).  

Board members also heard several presentations on the following topics: 

• Digital health and safety concerns for students, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and student data privacy.  
• A report on computer science education in Kansas.  
• What’s being done to promote excellence in Kansas educational leadership.  
• The practical aspects of starting the school year from an administrator’s perspective.  
• An overview and legislative budget requests from the Kansas State School for the Blind. 
• A presentation to honor Clelia McCrory of ESSDACK, in Hutchinson, for her years of service in career and technical education (CTE).  

The board’s next meeting will be Oct. 14-15, in the first floor board room, Landon State Office Building, 900 S.W. Jackson, in Topeka.