KSDE: At‑risk accountability pilot moves into implementation year as districts flag cohort, assessment problems

Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) staff told the Special Education and Related Services Funding Task Force that the state’s two‑year at‑risk accountability pilot has completed a planning year and will enter implementation in 2025–26 with 12 participating districts.

The pilot stems from provisions in 2024 legislation and requires each participating district to identify two cohorts of at‑risk students, set four‑year quantitative goals for academic improvement and post an annual, public plan tying interventions to expenditures. KSDE’s public update focused on practical problems pilot districts have already identified and on changes staff will recommend to the Legislature.

KSDE program lead Dr. Harwood said the pilot’s first year (2024–25) was mainly planning and that ‘‘the idea being is we want to find out what the problems are so that we can fix them before everybody else is going on.’’ He told the task force one district has withdrawn because of leadership turnover and the remaining pilot districts will submit plans this fall.

Why it matters

The pilot is intended to make at‑risk spending more transparent and measurable by requiring districts to link specific interventions to outcomes and to report the financial portion of their plans. KSDE and pilot districts told the task force they view the exercise as both a test of procedures and an opportunity to surface practical barriers before statewide implementation.

Major implementation issues raised

- Cohort selection and minimum sizes: State guidance requires…