Professional Development: Kansas

Analysis of Kansas's policies

Kansas requires that teachers should receive copies of their evaluation documents. The state also specifies that local boards of education should develop plans for professional development programs "based on identified needs at the individual, building and district levels."

Citation

Kansas Statutes 72-9005; 72-9604

Recommendations for Kansas

Require that evaluation systems provide teachers with feedback about their performance.
Although Kansas requires teachers to receive copies of their evaluations, this only ensures that teachers will receive their ratings, not necessarily feedback on their performance. As such, the state should require that evaluation systems provide teachers with feedback about their classroom performance.

Ensure that professional development is aligned with findings from teachers' evaluations.
While Kansas does demonstrate an intent to customize professional development based on individual teachers' needs, the state does not go far enough in ensuring that such activities are informed by teachers' evaluations. The state could take its policy a step further by ensuring that districts utilize teacher evaluation results in determining professional development needs and activities.

State response to our analysis

Kansas recognized the factual accuracy of this analysis.