Kan. Admin. Regs. § 91-31-31 - Definitions
As used in this article of the department's regulations, each of the following terms shall have the meaning specified in this regulation:
(a) "Accreditation" means
the process of documenting that an education system meets requirements
established by the state board.
(b)
"Accreditation cycle" means the period of time from the beginning of the needs
assessment to the point at which the state board grants an accreditation rating
to an education system.
(c)
"Accreditation rating" means the status granted by the state board upon
recommendation of the accreditation review council.
(d) "Accreditation review council" means the
body of education professionals charged with providing a recommendation of
accreditation rating to the state board at the end of each accreditation
cycle.
(e) "Accreditation year"
means the final year, or step, of an education system's accreditation
cycle.
(f) "Accredited" means the
status assigned to an education system that meets the following conditions
established by the state board:
(1) The
education system is in good standing.
(2) The education system provides conclusive
evidence of improvement in student performance.
(3) The education system provides conclusive
evidence of a process of continuous improvement.
(g) "Area for improvement" means the specific
issue to be corrected, as determined by the accreditation review council, that
an education system shall complete in order to improve the education system's
accreditation rating.
(h) "Chief
administrative officer" means the person hired by a governing body to lead the
work of achieving the education system's mission and to oversee all aspects of
the operation of the education system.
(i) "Commissioner" means commissioner of
education.
(j) "Conclusive
evidence" means data that is sufficient to the accreditation review council to
justify its recommendation of accredited to the state board.
(k) "Conditionally accredited" means the
status assigned to any of the following:
(1) A
new education system seeking accreditation;
(2) an education system seeking accreditation
after one or more years of not seeking accreditation; or
(3) an education system about which both of
the following are true:
(A) The education
system is in good standing; and
(B)
the education system provides neither conclusive evidence of growth in student
performance nor conclusive evidence of a process of continuous
improvement.
(l) "Corrective action plan" means the set of
actions developed by an education system in response to areas for improvement
identified by the accreditation review council.
(m) "Credit" means formal acknowledgment by
an education system's governing body for criteria-based accomplishment. In
Kansas K-12 education, this term is usually expressed as a number of units of
credit.
(n) "Curriculum standards"
means statements adopted by the state board specifying what students should
know and be able to demonstrate in specific content areas.
(o) "Education system" means a Kansas unified
school district, the Kansas state school for the blind, the Kansas school for
the deaf, an organized body of non-public schools, or an independent private
school.
(p) "Education system
leadership team" means the group of education system employees that leads the
education system's work toward an accreditation rating during an accreditation
cycle.
(q) "Education system site
council" means the group of people from outside of the education system from
whom the education system leadership team receives input related to the
education system's work toward an accreditation rating during an accreditation
cycle.
(r) "Final analysis" means
the process of reviewing education system-level data at the end of an
accreditation cycle.
(s)
"Foundational structures" means programs, models, or practices prerequisite to
receiving an accreditation rating of "accredited" from the state
board.
(t) "Framework" means a
defined set of practices that together encompass the work that education
systems do to prepare successful Kansas high school graduates.
(u) "Goal area" means one area of performance
selected by an education system for specific focus during its accreditation
cycle.
(v) "Governing body" means
either of the following:
(1) The board of
education of any public education system; or
(2) the decision-making authority of any
private education system.
(w) "Independent private school" means a
non-public school that, for accreditation purposes, is not affiliated with
other non-public schools.
(x) "In
good standing" means in compliance with, or working with the state board to
achieve compliance with, all applicable federal and state statutes and
regulations.
(y) "Kansas assessment
program" means the evaluation that the state board conducts in order to measure
student learning within the Kansas curriculum standards.
(z) "Kansas education systems accreditation"
and "KESA" mean the Kansas model for the accreditation of education systems
that offer any grades kindergarten through grade 12.
(aa) "Needs assessment" means a systematic
process of scoring state board-approved rubrics and examining current data
supporting KESA results for the purpose of determining needs or gaps between
current conditions and desired conditions.
(bb) "Not accredited" means the status
assigned to an education system that is described by either of the following:
(1) Is not in good standing; or
(2) fails to provide conclusive evidence of
either improvement in student performance or a process of continuous
improvement.
(cc)
"On-site visit" means a visit at an education system by either the education
system's outside visitation team or its state technical assistance
team.
(dd) "Outside visitation
team" means a group of trained education professionals selected by an education
system to collaborate with the education system in a coaching or mentoring
role, supporting the education system for the duration of an accreditation
cycle.
(ee) "Outside visitation
team chair" means the member of the outside visitation team who has been
specifically trained and appointed to act as the leader of the group for the
duration of an accreditation cycle.
(ff) "Private education system" means either
of the following:
(1) An organized body of
non-public schools; or
(2) an
independent private school.
(gg) "Public education system" means any of
the following:
(1) A Kansas unified school
district;
(2) the Kansas state
school for the blind; or
(3) the
Kansas school for the deaf.
(hh) "Qualified admissions" means the set of
criteria allowing a high school graduate guaranteed admission into Kansas
public universities.
(ii) "School"
means an organizational unit that provides educational services in a logical
sequence of elements that may be structured as grade levels, developmental
levels, or instructional levels.
(jj) "School leadership team" means the group
of employees of a school leading that school's work toward an accreditation
rating during an accreditation cycle.
(kk) "School site council" means the group of
people not employed by the school with whom the school leadership team
consults.
(ll) "State board" means
the Kansas state board of education.
(mm) "State board-approved rubrics" means the
methods used by an education system during the needs assessment to evaluate the
education system's current condition.
(nn) "State technical assistance team" means
a group of persons appointed by the commissioner to assist "not accredited"
public education systems in achieving an upgraded status.
(oo) "Successful Kansas high school graduate"
means a high school graduate who has the academic preparation, cognitive
preparation, technical skills, employability skills, and civic engagement to be
successful in postsecondary education, in the attainment of an
industry-recognized certification, or in the workforce, without the need for
remediation.
(pp) "Unit" means the
number or amount, expressed in fractions or decimals, of credit assigned to a
specific achievement. A full unit is credit that is awarded for the successful
demonstration of competency and knowledge of a content area.
Notes
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