PREPARING TODAY’S STUDENTS FOR THE OPPORTUNITIES OF TOMORROW IS THE PRIMARY FOCUS FOR SHAWNEE HEIGHTS.   

KESA 2.0 (New Accreditation Model)

Last spring, the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE)  released a new version of KESA, which is called KESA 2.0.  This is a yearly accreditation model instead of spanning over several years.  

For this new model, KSDE created 4 Fundamentals to help districts focus on school improvement.  After surveying all districts, they determined these four areas had the most impact.  KSDE shifted their energies to providing support and resources to help District Leadership Teams’ (DLT’s) create their action plans around one of those fundamentals.  

• Structured Literacy

• Standards Alignment

• Balanced Assessment

• Quality Instruction 

The USD 450 District Leadership Team (DLT) met several times to determine where our next focus should be.  Based on our local and state assessment data, information from KSDE and reflection of district strengths and areas for growth, the DLT selected “Quality Instruction” as the fundamental to work on for the 25-26 school year. 

 KSDE's Definition of Quality Instruction:

“We have a culture of high expectations in our classrooms and provide each student access to grade level standards and content through high-quality instructional materials.”

During the last two years, we have gone through 2 major curriculum reviews in ELA and math. We worked to align standards, select, and invest in High Quality Instructional Materials. In the past, our teachers have had autonomy to select their own resources and instructional strategies that align to the KS standards. To make the shift to district aligned curriculum, the DLT feels that we need to focus our efforts on quality professional development and observational feedback on Implementation with district selected materials and instructional strategies that align with grade level standards. 

• Professional learning

  • PD days will include specific training on the curriculum resources we have purchased as well as instructional strategies.

• Observational Feedback on Implementation with district selected materials and instructional strategies