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

KESA 2.0 (The Kansas Department of Education (KSDE)’s Accreditation Model)

In the Spring of 2025, 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 and the 26-27 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 three years, we have gone through 3 major curriculum reviews in ELA, math, and science. We worked to align standards, select, and invest in High-Quality Instructional Materials. In the past, our teachers have had the 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 decided that for the 2026-2027 school year, our focus will be on:

School Improvement Fundamental: Quality Instruction

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

School Improvement Structures: #1 Professional Collaboration and #2 Tiered System of Supports

• In collaboration with building leadership teams, our district leadership team will analyze current collaboration practices, research PLC models, and develop a sustainable PLC system for our district aligned with the KSDE Vision.

• Our district leadership team will analyze current tiered systems of support within our buildings for development and implementation of district-wide MTSS expectations that include structures regularly analyzing student data and systems-based instructional decisions for tiered student supports.