Salina USD 305 outlines KISA action plan, will focus on math standards alignment for grades 3–10

Deanna Collins, district leader for school improvement, briefed the Salina USD 305 Board of Education on Feb. 18 about the district’s work under the Kansas School Improvement and Accreditation (KISA) model and the draft KISA action plan the district will submit to the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) in April.

Collins said KSDE’s redesigned accreditation model emphasizes four fundamentals — structured literacy, standards alignment, balanced assessments and quality instruction — and that Salina’s district leadership team (DLT) analyzed local math outcomes and determined the primary focus should be standards alignment in math for grades 3–10. The DLT concluded that grade‑level and content teams must collaborate to align learning intentions and success criteria to the depth and rigor of Kansas math standards and that the district will prepare to adopt math instructional materials for grades 6–10 in the 2025–26 school year.

Collins described the required KISA submission steps and timeline under the new accreditation model. This year districts are evaluated on compliance and must submit a KISA action plan; outcome‑based evaluation of student results begins in the 2026–27 school year. The district’s immediate measures of progress include creating a district/building expectations document for teacher alignment processes within six months and, within a year, having all grades 3–10 math teachers align first‑semester learning intentions and success criteria to state standards. KSDE mini‑tests will be used to gauge alignment and progress.

Collins said Salina trained more than 100 teachers in LETRS for structured literacy and is training another cohort of more than 120, with plans to build district LETRS facilitators. She described the DLT’s collaborative regional work with peer districts and said the KISA plan is intended to be connected to the district strategic plan goals (critical thinking, communication and emotional skills) and state assessment growth targets.

Collins said the DLT will finalize and submit the KISA action plan in April; KSDE typically returns feedback within two weeks. Pending KSDE approval, the district will begin implementation and plan a spot‑check cycle with the regional executive in August. No formal board vote was recorded on the item; Collins presented the plan and sought board engagement and oversight during development.

Collins characterized the new accreditation model as reducing redundancy and strengthening cross‑system collaboration and said the district believes the standards‑alignment focus for math will positively affect student achievement.