Here is a review of the reporting adjustments made to Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA) for the 2022-2023 school year: 

• Every KESA system in year five will move through this year with no changes. All year 5 KESA systems will complete the full report and accreditation process with no exceptions/changes.  

1. All year-five systems utilizing Cognia will work with Cognia to complete the process in full. 

• For systems in years one through four, the Kansas State Department of Education’s Accreditation and Design (AD) team is making the following adjustments:  

1. KESA systems: In order to eliminate the redundancy and set systems up for where the state is heading in the next two years with KESA, the information systems have to report on this year has been narrowed down. All systems in years one through four are being asked to complete the Needs Assessment Process and Goals section and the Assurances only. Every other section of the years one through four report will be optional. If there have been substantial developments in work around the foundational structures or the Kansas State Board of Education Outcomes, then reporting on that might be needed, though it is not required. You can access a fact sheet on that here: https://www.ksde.org/Portals/0/TLA/Accreditation/Reporting%20Adjustments%202022%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf?ver=2022-07-11-205630-057 

2. Cognia Systems – Systems using Cognia will complete the Cognia process as directed by Cognia. In lieu of submitting the annual EMEY (Every Member Every Year) this school year (2022-2023), Cognia systems only need to enter their system SMART goals in the authenticated application under the Needs Assessment Process and Goals section.  

• Why this change? The EMEY report traditionally asks Cognia systems to report on three things: work in the areas of the State Board Outcomes; work toward the development of the successful high school graduate; and the system’s SMART goals. Because systems using only KESA are not required to report on the State Board Outcomes and the Definition of the Successful High School Graduate this year, KSDE’s AD team did not feel it was necessary to require Cognia systems to still report on those areas.  

• How do I answer the Needs Assessment Process and Goals section? Because the EMEY report traditionally asks the system only to state/report their measurable goals, systems utilizing Cognia can go ahead and answer only the final question in the authenticated application, which asks that each system state its measurable goal. Please review all of the questions in that section and provide data that might support why you chose the goal you have. However, to align with the expectation set by the EMEY, each system is only required to answer the final question and state its measurable goal. Make sure that each goal your system has is submitted as an individual goal.  

 
Note, this spring the AD team plans on previewing these updates to KESA and presenting a timeline for how that work will unfold. The expectations outlined above are for the 2022-2023 school year and will be revisited for next year as more of the work becomes available.  

Thank you, and please reach out if you have any questions by emailing accreditation@ksde.org.