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Learning Standards Standards

What does a student learn in ?

Kansas sets its own course of study in all four core subjects rather than adopting a national framework. The standards are reviewed on a regular cycle by Kansas educators and approved by the State Board of Education. That gives local districts a common spine while leaving room for them to shape what daily lessons look like. The spring KAP tests are built directly from those same standards, so what gets taught and what gets measured come from one source.

  • Kansas Standards
Source: Kansas Kansas Standards
The shape of K-12
A plain-language read of how the state runs school.
What students learn
Reading and writing move from short passages and simple sentences in the early grades toward longer texts and clear, organized paragraphs by high school. Math builds arithmetic fluency in elementary school, then moves into a familiar Algebra, Geometry, Algebra II path in high school. Science is taught as something students do, with hands-on investigations in elementary and middle school before branching into biology, chemistry, and physics. Social studies runs from Kansas and US history into world history, government, and economics by senior year.
How students are measured
The Kansas Assessment Program is the main yardstick. Students take KAP reading and math every spring from third grade through eighth, and again in tenth grade, with science added in grades five, eight, and eleven. Every junior sits for the ACT at state expense, which doubles as a college-readiness check and a transcript line for applications. A small sample of fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders also take NAEP every other winter for national comparisons.
Frameworks adopted, by subject
The standards documents the state writes against in each subject.
Subject Framework Adopted Source
English Language Arts
Kansas Standards
—View
Mathematics
Kansas Standards
—View
Science
Kansas Standards
—View
Social Studies
Kansas Standards
—View
Assessments
The tests students take across K-12, grouped by purpose.

Other

Tests that do not fit the buckets above.

State Summative

Kansas Assessment Program: English Language Arts

KAP English language arts assessment for grades 3 through 8 and grade 10, aligned to the Kansas English Language Arts Standards.

When given:
spring
Frequency:
annual
Official source
State Summative

Kansas Assessment Program: Mathematics

KAP mathematics assessment for grades 3 through 8 and grade 10, aligned to the Kansas Mathematics Standards.

When given:
spring
Frequency:
annual
Official source
State Summative

Kansas Assessment Program: Science

KAP science assessment in grades 5, 8, and 11, aligned to the Kansas Science Standards.

When given:
spring
Frequency:
annual
Official source
National College Readiness

ACT

College-readiness assessment offered statewide to high school students, covering English, mathematics, reading, and science.

When given:
spring
Frequency:
annual
Official source
National Monitoring

NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)

Federally administered sample-based assessment in reading, mathematics, science, writing, and other subjects. NAEP results inform state-by-state comparisons rather than individual student or school accountability.

When given:
biennial in winter
Frequency:
every two years
Official source
Browse by grade and subject
Pick a cell to see exactly what students learn that year.
Subjects covered
4
Grade levels
11
Standards on file
2,189
Assessments tracked
5
Common questions
  • Does Kansas use Common Core?

    No. Kansas pulled out of Common Core and writes its own standards for reading, math, science, and social studies. The state board reviews each subject on a rolling cycle, so the standards shift over time but stay Kansas-made.

  • What's the big spring test in Kansas?

    It's called the Kansas Assessment Program, or KAP. Students take KAP reading and math every year from grade 3 through grade 8 and again in grade 10. Science is tested in grades 5, 8, and 11.

  • Do high schoolers take the ACT in Kansas?

    Yes. Kansas offers the ACT statewide to juniors in the spring at no cost to families. It covers English, math, reading, and science, and the score can be used for college admissions.

  • Which subjects have official state standards?

    Kansas publishes standards for English language arts, math, science, and social studies. Districts build their own curriculum and choose their own textbooks around those standards, so what a classroom looks like can vary from one town to the next.

  • Where can I see what students are expected to learn this year?

    Pick a grade and subject on this page. Each one opens to the Kansas Standards for that grade, written in plain language with examples of the work students are expected to do.

Sources
Every page link goes back to the state's own document.

Frameworks

Assessments