§ 72-3574 — At-risk student accountability plans; identification of students; academic improvement goal; evaluation of academic improvement; participating school districts; required reports

(a) Each participating school district board of education shall submit annually to the state board of education an at-risk student accountability plan to attain at-risk student proficiency in accordance with this section and to ensure the provision of programs and services that are above and beyond regular education services to students who are eligible for at-risk programs and services. Such plan shall be submitted to the state board of education on a form and in the manner required by the state board. The purpose of each school district's at-risk student accountability plan is to:
(1) Demonstrate that the school district is using evidenced-based instruction, as defined in K.S.A. 72-5153, and amendments thereto, for the education of students who are identified as eligible to receive at-risk programs and services;
(2) measure longitudinal academic improvement in a quantitative manner;
(3) establish quantitative student academic improvement goals for certain identified student cohort groups and strive to meet such goals through the provision of evidence-based instruction that is provided to such cohort groups above and beyond regular educational services;
(4) ensure that at-risk education fund moneys are expended in accordance with the law by providing services above and beyond regular education services; and
(5) continue the process of identifying certain student cohort groups and providing evidence-based instruction above and beyond that of a regular education to such identified student cohort groups until the school district achieves the state board of education's goal to have 75% of all students achieve proficiency by scoring at performance level 3 or 4 on the state assessments for English language arts and mathematics.
(b) Each at-risk student accountability plan shall identify not fewer than one cohort group of students who are enrolled and attending grade three each school year that such cohort group is required to be identified and not fewer than one cohort group of students enrolled in and attending kindergarten or any of the grades one through eight each school year that such cohort group is required to be identified. Except as provided in this subsection, one of the student cohort groups identified by the school district for either such grade level shall be the students who are eligible for free meals pursuant to the national school lunch program. For the other grade level, the school district shall identify any other student cohort group that corresponds to one of the subgroups identified for state assessment purposes or shall identify a cohort group of students who are identified as eligible to receive at-risk educational programs and services pursuant to the same at-risk identification criteria established pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5153a, and amendments thereto. A school district shall not identify a cohort group of students pursuant to this subsection if such cohort group is comprised of 10 or fewer students. If both cohort groups of students who are eligible for free meals are comprised of 10 or fewer students, the school district shall identify another cohort group pursuant to this subsection.
(c) (1) Each participating school district board of education shall establish a four-year quantitative academic improvement goal for each identified student cohort group in accordance with this subsection and shall repeat such process every four years as provided in this section. The academic improvement goal established for a cohort group pursuant to this section shall be related to the achievement of academic proficiency in the areas of English language arts and mathematics. Once a school district establishes a four-year quantitative academic improvement goal for a cohort group on the school district's at-risk accountability plan, the school district shall not revise or revoke such goal for such cohort group in order to meet or exceed such goal.
(2) To attain the four-year quantitative academic improvement goal for each identified student cohort group, the school district board of education shall identify and implement two through four targeted supports or interventions for each identified student cohort group. Such supports or interventions shall be selected from the state board of education's list of approved at-risk educational programs established pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5153, and amendments thereto. The purpose of the targeted supports or interventions is to provide evidence-based instruction above and beyond regular education services to the identified student cohort group and evaluate whether such targeted supports or interventions have a positive impact on academic improvement. A school district board of education may select different targeted supports or interventions for each identified student cohort group and may change such targeted supports or interventions if the chosen targeted supports or interventions are not having a positive impact academic improvement.
(d) (1) Each participating school district board of education shall conduct a four-year or five-year longitudinal academic evaluation of each student cohort group identified on the school district's at-risk student accountability plan to evaluate whether such students improved upon attainment of academic proficiency and met or exceeded the quantitative academic improvement goal established by the school district board of education.
(2) To evaluate whether the student cohort group that is first identified in grade three pursuant to this section is achieving at a level that is sufficient to meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established for such cohort group, the school district shall select and specify in the school district's at-risk accountability plan not more than two quantitative measures to evaluate the cohort group's achievement. One of such quantitative measures used by the school district shall be the English language arts and mathematics state assessments. The school district may choose one additional quantitative measure to evaluate such cohort group's progress from the list of approved quantitative measures in paragraph (4).
(3) To evaluate whether the other student cohort group that is first identified in kindergarten or any of the grades one through eight pursuant to this section is achieving at a level that is sufficient to meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established for such cohort group, the school district shall select and specify on the school district's at-risk accountability plan not more than two quantitative measures to evaluate such cohort group's achievement. If such identified student cohort group will take the English language arts and mathematics state assessments in a school year that such cohort group is evaluated pursuant to this section, the school district shall use such state assessments to evaluate the cohort group's achievement and may choose one additional quantitative measure to evaluate such cohort group's progress from the list of approved quantitative measures in paragraph (4). If such identified student cohort group will not take the English language arts and mathematics state assessments in a school year that such cohort group is evaluated, the school district shall use one or two quantitative measures to evaluate such cohort group's progress from the list of approved quantitative measures in paragraph (4).
(4) Subject to the requirements of paragraphs (2) and (3), the quantitative measures that a school district may use to evaluate whether an identified student cohort group is achieving at a level that is sufficient to meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established for such cohort group shall only include the following:
(A) The English language arts and mathematics state assessments;
(B) a formative assessment approved by the state board of education;
(C) a summative assessment approved by the state board of education; or
(D) ACT or ACT workkeys assessments.
(e) If the identified student cohort group meets or exceeds the quantitative academic improvement goal established for such cohort group at the end of the four-year period, the school district board of education shall repeat the process established pursuant to this section by identifying another student cohort group, establishing a four-year quantitative academic improvement goal for such cohort group and conducting a four-year or five-year longitudinal academic evaluation of such cohort group in accordance with this section.
(f) If the identified student cohort group does not meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established for such cohort group at the end of the four-year period:
(1) The state board of education shall deem such school district as not meeting at-risk improvement requirements on the school district's at-risk student achievement report published on the state board's website pursuant to subsection (j) until such school district meets the quantitative academic improvement goal established by the school district board of education for the subsequent cohort group identified pursuant to subsection (b) that replaces the cohort group that did not meet or exceed the four-year longitudinal academic improvement goal;
(2) the school district board of education shall continue to evaluate the longitudinal academic performance of such student cohort group for one additional school year in accordance with this section; and
(3) the school district board of education shall repeat the process established pursuant to this section by identifying another student cohort group pursuant to subsection (b), establishing a four-year quantitative academic improvement goal for such cohort group and conducting a four-year or five-year longitudinal academic evaluation of such cohort group in accordance with this section.
(g) (1) Commencing in school year 2030-2031, if an identified student cohort group does not meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established for such cohort group at the end of the one additional school year that the school district is authorized to evaluate such cohort group pursuant to subsection (f)(2), notwithstanding the provisions of K.S.A. 72-5131 et seq., and amendments thereto, the school district's at-risk student weighting and high-density at-risk student weighting entitlements in the school year following such one additional school year shall be determined and adjusted by the state board as follows:
(A) If only one student cohort group identified on the school district's at-risk accountability plan fails to meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established by the school district board of education at the end of the one additional school year that the school district is authorized to evaluate such cohort group pursuant to subsection (f)(2), the state board of education shall:
(i) Determine the BASE aid amount that was in effect in the final year of the five-year evaluation period of such cohort group;
(ii) determine the difference between the BASE aid amount in the current school year pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5132, and amendments thereto, and the BASE aid amount determined pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(A)(i);
(iii) multiply the amount determined pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(A)(ii) by 0.50;
(iv) add the amount determined pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(A)(i) to the amount determined pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(A)(iii); and
(v) multiply the sum determined pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(A)(iv) by the school district's at-risk student weighting and high-density at-risk student weighting determined pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5151, and amendments thereto. The computed amount is the amount of state aid attributable to the at-risk student weighting and high-density at-risk weighting that the school district shall be entitled to receive in the current school year; or
(B) if both student cohort groups identified on the school district's at-risk accountability plan fail to meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goals established by the school district board of education at the end of the one additional school year that the school district is authorized to evaluate such cohort groups pursuant to subsection (f)(2), the state board of education shall:
(i) Determine the BASE aid amount that was in effect in the final year of the five-year evaluation period of such cohort groups; and
(ii) multiply the amount determined pursuant to subsection (g)(1)(B)(i) by the school district's at-risk student weighting and high-density at-risk student weighting determined pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5151, and amendments thereto. The computed amount is the amount of state aid attributable to the at-risk student weighting and high-density at-risk student weighting that the school district shall be entitled to receive in the current school year; and
(2) commencing in school year 2030-2031, the state board of education shall determine a school district's at-risk student weighting and high-density at-risk student weighting entitlements pursuant to this subsection for the school year following the one additional school year that the school district is authorized to evaluate a cohort group pursuant to subsection (f)(2) and in which the cohort group identified on the school district's at-risk accountability plan fails to meet or exceed the quantitative academic improvement goal established by the school district board of education at the end of the five-year evaluation period of such cohort group.
(h) Each participating school district board of education shall continue to follow the school district's at-risk student accountability plan and update the plan annually or as may be necessary to repeat the process established pursuant to this section every four years by identifying another student cohort group, establishing a four-year quantitative academic improvement goal for such cohort group and conducting a four-year or five-year longitudinal academic evaluation of such cohort group in accordance with this section. Such process shall continue until the school district achieves the state board of education's goal to have 75% of all students who took the statewide assessments during the preceding school year achieve academic proficiency by scoring at performance level 3 or 4 on the statewide assessments in both English language arts and mathematics.
(i) (1) For school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, the provisions of subsections (a) through (h) shall be implemented as a pilot program by 10 school districts selected by the state board of education for participation in such pilot program. When selecting the 10 school districts that will participate in such pilot program, the state board of education shall select a diverse array of school districts with consideration given to a school district's size, location, student demographics and level of staff participation and prior training in the science of reading.
(2) Commencing in school year 2026-2027, the provisions of subsections (a) through (h) shall be implemented by all school districts, including the school districts that participated in the pilot program. A school district that participated in the pilot program may identify new student cohort groups in such school year.
(j) (1) Each school district board of education shall submit annually to the state board of education an at-risk student achievement report on a form and in the manner established by the state board that includes:
(A) Subject to the provisions of subsection (i), the school district's at-risk student accountability plan to attain student proficiency established in accordance with this section that includes the cohort groups identified by the board of education of the school district and the quantitative academic improvement goals established for such cohort groups;
(B) subject to the provisions of subsection (i), the current progress of the school district's plan to attain at-risk student proficiency and an estimation of whether the school district expects to meet or exceed the longitudinal academic improvement goals established by the school district board of education pursuant to this section;
(C) the expenditures made from the school district's at-risk education fund, which shall be submitted:
(i) In school years 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 by the school districts that are participating in the pilot program established pursuant to subsection (i); and
(ii) in school year 2026-2027 and each school year thereafter, by all school districts;
(D) the at-risk educational programs, services and resources and the provisional at-risk educational programs that the school district is using to support student achievement for students identified as eligible to receive at-risk program services and the targeted supports and interventions from the state board of education's list of approved at-risk educational programs that the school district is using to provide evidence-based instruction above and beyond regular education services to achieve the longitudinal academic improvement goals established for each cohort group;
(E) the number of students identified as eligible to receive at-risk or provisional at-risk educational programs and services who were served or provided assistance under the school district's approved at-risk program; and
(F) the data and research that the school district utilized to determine what programs and services are needed to implement the district's approved at-risk program.
(2) Each school district may provide a supplemental narrative to accompany the school district's at-risk student achievement report to provide information regarding annual progress reports or reasons why the school district was able to meet or not meet the longitudinal academic improvement goals established for each cohort group identified on the school district's at-risk student accountability plan pursuant to this section.
(3) To achieve uniform reporting of the number of students who are provided at-risk programs and services above and beyond that of a regular education, school districts shall report the information required pursuant to this subsection in a uniform manner required by the state board.
(k) Commencing in school year 2026-2027, the state board of education shall publish the plans and reports submitted by all school districts on the state board of education's website through the link on the state department of education's website homepage titled "accountability reports" with such reports published under a link titled "school district at-risk student accountability plans and reports." Commencing in school year 2026-2027, each school district board of education shall publish the school district's report on the school district's website and provide a link to the state department of education's website where all such reports are displayed.
(l) On or before January 31 each year, the state department of education shall prepare and present a summary of the reports submitted pursuant to subsection (j) to the house of representatives standing committee on K-12 education budget and the senate standing committee on education or any successor committees.
(m) As used in this section, "longitudinal" means the repeated examination and progress monitoring of the same individuals of a particular cohort group of students over a period of time.
(n) The provisions of this section shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.

Legislative History

L. 2024, ch. 111, § 6; May 30.