Partnership to
Review &
Improve
Student Performance via
Multiple Measures
What is PRISM?
The U.S. Department of Education awarded Kansas a federal grant as part of the 2024 Competitive Grants for State Assessments (CGSA) competition. The CGSA program helps states enhance the quality of their assessment systems to better measure the academic achievement of elementary and secondary school students. The overall goal of the PRISM project is to create professional learning opportunities for educators, while also improving the tools teachers use in the classroom to utilize the Kite expanded item bank and reports to advance their instructional planning and execution. This goal will be furthered by the visualization tool, which will assist educators in understanding the scope of what they are to teach in a particular grade and content and better understand how standards, instruction, and assessment interact. The project will also expand reporting and will provide families with quantitative information and resources to better understand their student’s current progress and learning trajectory across content areas while reinforcing learning at home. The project will focus on two cadres of third grade teachers from across the state, creating a professional network and learning opportunities that can be scaled up to other grade levels.
PRISM Goals
1Develop Teacher Resources
Develop and implement professional learning materials and coaching that assist teachers in utilizing, administering, and interpreting interim assessments and associated results.
2Expand Mini Test Item Bank
Develop additional mini-test items to provide an expanded pool of resources available for Grade 3.
3Update Kite Assessment System
Update our existing Kite assessment system to include the standards visualization tool and provide quantitative data to educators to share with families.
4Evaluate PRISM Effectiveness
Evaluate the Usability and Effectiveness of the PRISM Project.
The evaluation team from The Center for Public Partnerships & Research have been working with PRISM staff and Cadre A teachers to document the feasibility and effectiveness of the PRISM model.
Cadre Impact
Throughout the PRISM project Cadre members...
- Provided guidance and options for classroom application
- Shared feedback during touch points and short surveys on:
- Expanded Mini Tests
- The Visualizer Tool
- How suggested ideas were used in the classroom
- Additional suggestions for resources and guidance documents
Cadre A: Engaged Fall of 2025
- Atchison County
- Leavenworth
- Louisburg
- Pittsburg
- Santa Fe Trail
- Shawnee Mission
Cadre B: Engaged Fall of 2026
- Sterling
- Chase Raymond
- Emporia
- Independence
- Jackson Heights
- Salina
- South Brown
Contributors
As a team, staff from KSDE and Assessment and Technology Solutions at The University of Kansas have provided the project management and technical expertise necessary to provide not only the enhancements to the KAP system, but also the content development for PRISM. Research staff have provided real-time feedback to the advisory group, completing a closed feedback loop that will continue enhancing teacher and student experiences with KAP.
