Kansans witnessed positive changes to our educational system, celebrated accomplishments and achievements and also overcame challenges throughout 2023.

As this year winds down, and Kansas educators and students ring in 2024, the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) wants to share a recap of its most popular KSDEweekly stories, online articles and social media posts.

The most popular online article at www.ksde.org for 2023 was published on May 11 and had 15,344 views, according to KSDE’s Information Technology (IT) team. The article provided details about grants that Kansas State Board of Education members approved during their May 2023 meeting.

The article focused on Preschool Pilot Grant Awards approved for 79 Kansas school districts and their partners. This program funds projects that provide high-quality education for preschool-aged children. To read the article, click here.

An article appearing in the Thursday, Feb. 16, issue of KSDEweekly about the State Board approving changes to teacher licensure regulations was the No. 1 KSDEweekly article for 2023. The determination was based on the number of link clicks compiled by Constant Contact, the platform KSDE uses to distribute the weekly external newsletter.

State Board of Education members at their Feb. 14-15 meeting in Topeka adopted proposed amendments to teacher licensure regulations, including changes to the names of some licenses, adding endorsements and deleting some requirements.

The article also included information on the State Board honoring two Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) schools; proposed regulation changes stemming from approved changes to graduation requirements; and a visit from Niomi Ndirangu, Miss Kansas’ Outstanding Teen 2022.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Other articles rounding out the top five for most clicked links include an article from August about the State Board approving Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA) Learning Year, as well as:

• A Dec. 21 article about two Kansas school district leaders whose names were included on the 2023 Superintendents to Watch list.
• An Aug. 10 article about an Olathe teacher being named the 2023 Kansas History Teacher of the Year.
• An Aug. 10 article about registering for Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training.

When it comes to social media posts on X (formerly named Twitter), an image from Sept. 23 announcing educator Taylor Bussinger as the 2024 Kansas Teacher of the Year was the most popular with 24,354 impressions, 150 likes, 23 reposts and 394 engagements.

However, an Aug. 14 post and photograph of Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announcing that Kansas is one of only 15 states to have the Dolly Parton Imagination Library available statewide received the highest percentage of engagement (20%) and the most likes (245) for the year.

Other top posts on X included:

• A Sept. 23 photograph of Bussinger sitting at his table surrounded by his family members and friends during the Dale Dennis Kansas Teacher of the Year Banquet in Wichita. The photograph was taken shortly after Bussinger, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Prairie Trail Middle School, Olathe USD 233, was announced as the 2024 Kansas Teacher of the Year. The post had more than 21,000 impressions, 224 likes, 36 reposts and 691 engagements.
• A March 26 post and photographs of Michelle Tapko, a sixth-grade teacher at Roesland Elementary, Shawnee Mission USD 512, and Bussinger being announced as the Region 3 finalists for the 2024 Kansas Teacher of the Year award. The post received more than 20,000 impressions, was reposted 21 times and had 158 likes.
• An April 13 post regarding KSDE releasing the names of 261 high school seniors who were named CTE scholars. It was the highest number of CTE Scholars since the program’s inception in 2017. It received 16,415 impressions, 32 likes and 25 retweets. It had a total engagement of 566.

To round out the list for 2023, here is a little trivia for you.

What webpage on the KSDE website, besides the homepage, had the most views/hits during 2023?

1. Special Education Services
2. Early Childhood
3. Resources
4. Teacher Licensure
5. Fiscal Resources

The answer? Teacher Licensure with 145,000 hits!

How did you do?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this look back on our top stories and posts from 2023. KSDE staff members wish you a safe and Happy New Year!