Kansas City Kansas Unified Schl Dist 500
Performance Accountability
KCKPS Accreditation Status
Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (USD 500) was granted the status of Fully Accredited by the Kansas State Board of Education.
KSDE District and School Report Cards
The state assessment is given each year to students in grades 3-8 and 10 in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics.
English Language Arts (ELA)
Level 1: A student at Level 1 shows a limited ability to understand and use the reading, writing, and listening skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Level 2: A student at Level 2 shows a basic ability to understand and use the reading, writing, and listening skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Level 3: A student at Level 3 shows an effective ability to understand and use the reading, writing, and listening skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Level 4: A student at Level 4 shows an excellent ability to understand and use the reading, writing, and listening skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Mathematics
Level 1: A student at Level 1 shows a limited ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Level 2: A student at Level 2 shows a basic ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Level 3: A student at Level 3 shows an effective ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Level 4: A student at Level 4 shows an excellent ability to understand and use the mathematics skills and knowledge needed for college and career readiness.
Report Cards for Schools
The Kansas State Board of Education has established the building report card as another tool for accountability in the school improvement process.
The report card is a brief summary of how a school and students are performing and the impact of the school’s improvement plan. Over time, the report card can be used by parents to monitor the progress of a school toward meeting established goals. However, the report card is not designed to be used to compare one school to another. The KCK school district has made changes that provide a clear focus and high expectations for students’ academic achievement and behavior.
A districtwide initiative, a comprehensive school reform model called First Things First (FTF), which was begun in 1996, has resulted in phenomenal gains in student achievement. It has changed the way students learn and teachers teach. The graduation rate, attendance, and test scores have increased dramatically at all levels, and fewer students have dropped out of school.
First Things First focuses on improved instructional practice, targeted professional development, engaged families, and increased support for staff and schools reorganized into small learning communities. The district required all schools to adopt the model, but principals, teachers and parents have played an important role in deciding how to put FTF into place.
Now, having become a good school district, the vision of KCKPS is to become one of the top 10 school districts in the country, where each student will exit high school prepared for college and careers, and at every level, student performance will be on-track and on-time for success. In order to make this happen, student achievement will have to be the district’s focus, with everything else in service to that outcome.