As the state moves to a regional/cohort of support and accountability for Kansas Educational Systems Accreditation (KESA), the Kansas State Department of Education’s (KSDE) Accreditation and Design team recently reconfigured the regions/cohorts map, moving from four regions to three regions and creating two new cohorts of systems.  

Below is the revised map (pg. 18) and lists of systems by regions and cohorts that are in effect immediately. For clarity, systems in a region are grouped geographically while systems in a cohort are grouped by the similarities they share. There are three regions (West, Central, East), with 87 or 88 systems in each. 

• West region systems – Amber Miller 
• Central region systems – KSDE is working to fill this position by January prior to the start of the KESA check-ins. 
• East region systems – Myron Melton/Jay Scott will split the systems in this region for the 2024 spring semester. 

 
There are four cohorts (Urban, Suburban, Private, Special Purpose) with varying numbers of “like” systems within each cohort.   

• Urban cohort – Myron Melton/Jay Scott 
• Suburban cohort – Myron Melton/Jay Scott 
• Private cohort – Myron Melton/Jay Scott 
• Special Purpose cohort – Amber Miller 

For the remainder of this year, the KSDE Accreditation and Design team also is reconfiguring how it will complete KESA check-ins during the spring semester. 

KESA check-ins this spring will take place from mid-January to the end of the school year. 

Thank you to all who have responded to the KESA Check-in survey (95% of all systems), and we appreciate your patience in getting the check-ins scheduled.  The Accreditation and Design team recently sent out meeting invitations to all systems that have responded to set up a KESA Check-in for the spring semester.   

If you have any questions about the regions/cohorts, KESA Check-ins, or any other accreditation-related topic, contact the Accreditation and Design team at accreditation@ksde.org.