See your school's goal and learn how you can help
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The state of Kansas has changed the accreditation process for Kansas schools, and Hays USD 489 schools have announced new goals for improvement.
Accreditation is transitioning from a five-year cycle to a one-year cycle, said Shanna Dinkel, assistant superintendent and director of curriculum.
The accreditation is split into three sections: compliance, outcomes and improvements.
Compliance covers items such as the number of school days and school nutrition programs—requirements that all schools must meet.
Outcomes have been narrowed to include math and English student assessment scores, graduation rate and postsecondary success. All three of these measures were also part of the former accreditation system.
Post-secondary success is the number of students who have received post-secondary degrees or accreditation, or are enrolled in post-secondary education two years after graduation. It does not include students who enter the workforce or military directly after high school.
You can find information about the district's data on the Kansas Department of Education website under the Data Central tab.
Assessments are completed in the spring, so the data for the 2024-25 school year has not been released.
The assessments are based on scores ranging from one to four.
• Level one indicates students demonstrate a limited ability to understand the material.
• Level two indicates students demonstrate a basic ability to understand the material.
• Level three indicates students demonstrate effective skills to understand the material.
• Level four indicates students demonstrate an excellent ability to understand the material.
In 2023 and 2024, USD 489 had fewer students in the lowest level for English and math, but had slightly higher percentages of students in level two compared to the state average.
Dinkel said the district will emphasize math improvement during the coming school year. The district's math scores for all students have decreased since the pandemic. The district has had more students scoring in level one and fewer in levels three and four, Dinkel said.
"The gap is a little tighter than we want it to be," Dinkel said of the district's scores compared to the state averages.
The district plans for English improvement projects at a later date, she said.
Hays USD 489 exceeded the state graduation rate in 2023 and 2024, with a 89.6% graduation rate in 2023 and a 93.5% graduation rate in 2024.
The district's post-secondary success rate has declined during the last two years. These would be students who graduated in 2021 and 2022 and were affected by pandemic remote learning.
The school districts have been planning their improvement projects this year. They will implement the plans in the 2025-26 school year, and the state will assess how those plans have affected outcomes in the 2026-27 school year.
The Kansas Department of Education has yet to establish benchmarks that school districts must meet to achieve accreditation, Dinkel said.
Dinkel said the district is working to align its curriculum with test standards and better coordinate collaboration among teachers.
"We want to make sure we're looking at the data and having the right conversations to make sure it impacts students at the desk level so our students are better prepared for those state assessments," Dinkel said.
School-level improvements
Each school also has a distinct improvement plan based on the needs of its students, Dinkel said.
They are as follows:
• Hays High School: Promoting student responsibility by expanding staff capacity in classroom management and relationship-building practices.
• Hays Middle School: Students will show improvement in course grades.
• Roosevelt Elementary School: Targeted Tier 1 instruction in the area of behavior and social/emotional learning.
• O'Loughlin Elementary School: By spring 2025, at least 92% of O’Loughlin students will show modest, typical or aggressive overall reading growth as measured by FastBridge.
• Wilson Elementary School: Focus on grade-level learners in Numbers and Operations in Base Ten standards K-5.
• Early Childhood Connections: Increase self-control of feelings and behavior, phonological awareness, and letter and word knowledge to 80%.
Dinkel said the schools will periodically check their progress toward their goals throughout the school year.
How can parents help?
The district offers a parent feedback survey in the spring, but Dinkel encourages parents to provide their thoughts throughout the year.
"The more families who provide feedback, the better, because that helps us identify where we are falling short from the parents' perspective," Dinkel said. "We can think we're doing a great job, but we really need to hear ways we can support [students]."
Based on parent feedback, the middle school changed to the Rooms app, which allows parents and teachers to communicate through text messages.
Dinkel said parents can also assist their students by offering homework help and establishing routines that set aside time for homework.
Check your students' grades on PowerSchool and then visit with them on how school is going, Dinkel suggested.
Parents can also become involved through home and school organizations and school site councils.