News Releases

Our press releases provide timely, accurate information about key initiatives, policy updates, and important events in Kansas education. They serve as an official source for news and announcements from the Kansas State Department of Education, helping educators, families, and communities stay informed about developments that impact schools statewide.

Kansas Education Data System (KEDS) Transition: What Districts Need to Know for 2026–27  

The Kansas Education Data System (KEDS) team continues its work to prepare KSDE and schools for the transition away from the Kansas Individual Data on Students (KIDS) system to the KEDS system for the 2026-27 school year.   

Districts have been encouraged to connect to the new system during the current school year as part of a parallel implementation period. This year is intended to help schools prepare for the transition to the production KEDS system by:  

• Training district staff on both their Student Information System (SIS) and KSDE's Data Validation Portal (DVP).   
• Working through the SIS mapping and configuration process needed to publish data to KEDS. Much of this work carries forward from year to year.   
• Identifying and addressing any reporting issues that could impact district data submissions during the 2026-27 school year.  

As of late May, KSDE has received initial forms from 298 districts and accredited private schools with 47 remaining. KSDE will continue providing support and training to ensure all districts have completed the setup process, so any reporting issues are identified and resolved prior to the start of the 2026-27 school year.    

KSDE staff is monitoring the records being uploaded and posts status updates each Monday to the KEDS District Status page. This creates a clear set of indicators to districts whether information is being submitted in each area.  

As districts prepare for the 2026-27 school year, the KEDS team has outlined its expectations for the coming year. In July, KSDE will release 2026-27 key and secret sets to districts and schools, providing time to complete SIS mapping and configuration before the start of the school year.  

Additional expectations and milestones include:  

• The Student Assignment System (ASGT) will remain unchanged.   
• Districts will submit ENRL data to both KIDS and KEDS.   
• KIDS will remain the official data source for school funding purposes during the 2026-2027 school year.   
• KSDE will perform data validation between the two systems.   
• A Student Lookup Tool will be released.   
• Following the ENRL collection, KSDE will assess the timeline for transitioning from KIDS to KEDS.  

While there will be no changes to the KIDS file submission for the 2026-27 school year, districts will see some changes in KEDS.  The most significant change involves new dyslexia reporting requirements, which will be collected exclusively through KEDS.   

KSDE staff are currently finalizing these reporting requirements and will share the specifications with certified Student Information System (SIS) vendors. Once that information is available, schools and districts should work with their SIS vendor to understand how the required data will need to be entered and submitted through their local system.  

As districts prepare for this transition, KSDE is also adapting its support structure. Members of the help desk and training teams are working together to provide districts with coordinated support throughout the implementation process.  

KSDE is expanding virtual training and support opportunities while continuing to offer assistance through the KIDS Help Desk phone line.  

The agency is also updating documentation and guidance materials. 

One frequently requested resource has been a step-by-step implementation guide for districts. While this document will not contain SIS-specific instructions, it will provide districts with a clearer understanding of the overall set up process and key implementation milestones.  Districts are encouraged to work closely with their SIS vendor to complete the technical configuration and data mapping required for KEDS.  

Virtual support calls will continue throughout the transition, with new question-and-answer sessions being added to address broader topics as districts wrap up the 2025-26 school year and prepare for 2026-27.   

A complete list of training and support opportunities is available on the KEDS Training and Support webpage.  

More information is available on the KEDS webpage, or email the KEDS team, keds@ksde.gov.