District Celebrates School Improvement Progress

Lawrence Public Schools achieved its highest graduation rate (89.6% in 2022) since the state of Kansas began using the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate in 2010. All identified racial and ethnic subgroups of students (African American 89.8%, American Indian/Alaskan Native 89.3%, Asian 100%, Hispanic 83.7%, Multi-Racial 85.4%, and White 90.4%) showed improvement.

At the conclusion of the district’s five-year Kansas Educational Systems Accreditation (KESA) cycle, the district received high praise from the Kansas State Department of Education’s Outside Visiting Team (OVT). The team lauded the district’s work to align foundational structures of continuous school improvement and it’s progress toward achieving its goals. (With a pause of the KESA process in 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this accreditation cycle actually represented six years.)

Among some highlights from the KESA report, the district noted a significant increase in the number of students taking at least one Jayhawk Blueprint course for dual high school and college credit. That number climbed from 89 students in 2017-2018 to 617 students in 2022-2023. In addition, during this same period of time, students earned 239 business and industry certifications.

Chief Academic Officer Patrick Kelly said that Individual Plans of Study are another area of growth. “These didn’t exist in the district in 2018. Today, 31% are complete and 44% are in progress,” he said. The district’s goal this year: 80% completion and 20% in progress.

Postsecondary success positions district graduates to meet workforce demands of the Kansas economy with the tools they need to successfully transition into their postsecondary studies and careers.

The OVT cited among district strengths: vision, alignment, and processes; equity and inclusion; leadership; commitment to continuous improvement; and data-driven decisions.

“You have an outstanding school district for the students in your community. There is much to celebrate,” said Jill Lachenmayr, a member of the OVT. “Your equity and inclusion work is simply outstanding. All that you have accomplished in this area is impressive. Lawrence has made tremendous progress over the accreditation cycle.”

The OVT’s report listed the following areas for growth: determining goals for the next KESA cycle, the purchase of social emotional learning curriculum following a pilot program, use of data to inform and guide instruction toward kindergarten readiness, and continued implementation and refinement of the process supporting Individual Plans of Study.

The school board approved the purchase of Character Strong, a PreK-12 social emotional learning curriculum, in April. Read more about it on Page 6.