by Mark Tallman

With an enrollment of around 6,700 students, Salina USD 305 was the 16th largest school district in Kansas last year. Its percentage of low-income students and students with disabilities is nearly 80%, putting it in the top quarter of districts based on the percentage of high-need students.

However, Salina is outperforming expectations for its size and student demographics. In 2024, test scores for students scoring at benchmark levels on reading and math assessments were 6.4 percentage points higher than expected, ranking 7th among the 54 public and private school systems with enrollments between 1,600 and 10,000 students.  

Furthermore, from the graduating class of 2018 to the class of 2022, Salina’s postsecondary effective rate rose slightly – by 0.2 percent – but remained 7.1 percentage points higher than expected during a period when college attendance dropped during the COVID pandemic. The district ranked 12th out of 54 systems. The postsecondary effective rate is the percentage of each senior class that graduates on time and has earned an industry-recognized credential, a technical certificate or academic degree or is enrolled in a postsecondary program two years after graduation. 

I visited Salina to talk with the leadership team about how the district is getting high results.

Targeting funds for the maximum benefit. To start with, district leaders say improvement has followed investments in funding to support students with the greatest needs. As a district with a high percentage of low-income students, Salina receives significant aid through the federal Title I program and received a large infusion of one-time funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program in response to COVID-19. Because its low-income population has been increasing, state “at-risk” funding based on the number of students eligible for free meals has also increased.

“I feel this district did a very good job of investing in staff for high needs at-risk students,” said Lisa Peters, Executive Director of Business. “We added over 70 FTE (positions) with our ESSER dollars. They were academic interventionists, behavioral interventionists and additional teachers in the classroom. We had a lot of additional resources to put more staff in those (high need) buildings (where students need more help).”

Although ESSER funds are not ongoing, Salina was able to maintain many of the new positions by shifting dollars from other areas; for example, not filling positions vacated by retirements. The district has focused available dollars where they can get the greatest return. Leaders say these efforts benefit from careful planning and accountability.

“Each building had to come up with a plan before the dollars were allocated and then go over that academic plan and how those positions were used on a daily basis,” said Peters. “Then there was identifying the students that were going to be served with those dollars, and a reporting piece on the back end.”

Visible Learning and MTSS implementation. Not only did Salina invest more funding to assist students, the district also made sure teachers had the professional development they needed – ranging from state LETRS literacy training to addressing student behavior and implementing “Visible Learning” practices.

Visible Learning draws on the work of educational researcher John Hattie. It emphasizes the need for teachers and students to clearly see the purpose of lessons and how to measure success.

"Visible Learning is looking at the things that you do in the classroom and making sure that you're focused on the ones that have the most impact, what has basically the highest effect rate," said Deputy Superintendent Dr. Shanna Rector. “We knew that we had to bolster our Tier 1 across our district. One of the things they say is very important is to make sure that students know what they're learning and how they're going to be successful."

In the state’s Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) framework, Tier 1 refers to the core curriculum provided to all students. Tier 2 involves individualized remediation or enrichment for students who need additional support, while Tier 3 offers the most intensive services for the highest need students. When Tier 1 instruction is strong and effective, fewer students will need Tier 2 services – and those who do  receive more focused, impactful interventions.

"You can't only focus on the students who need more,” said Rector. “You have to make sure that you have a very solid base across your foundation, because you're never going to be able to meet the needs of all students if you haven't been able to meet the needs of the majority of the students with what you're doing."

Special education and grow-your-own programs. Like many districts, Salina has struggled to fill teaching positions and has encouraged its staff members and students to seek teaching positions, often through non-traditional routes like restricted licenses and the new Teacher Apprenticeship Program (TAP). The need is especially strong in special education, but the effort has also yielded some unexpected benefits.

“We started hand-picking people from within our ranks that otherwise would have probably never have pursued a teaching license or moving into special education,” said Jeff Hayes, Executive Director of the Central Kansas Cooperative in Education (CKCIE), which provides special education services to 12 districts and is hosted by Salina. “We looked for people to say, you can be a special education teacher, you can be an at-risk interventionist. These are often non-traditional people who love Salina, who are rooted here and know what they are getting into. We are finding these people do as well or better than those coming out of a traditional college-based teacher education program.”

Eryn Wright, Executive Director of Human Resources and Legal Services, agreed.  “It really has reframed for us the idea of what it takes to be a great teacher. Ten years ago, we were looking more at their training. Now we're looking more at the quality of the person, their work ethic, how goal-oriented they are, their relationship with kids.”

Postsecondary Success through partnerships. Salina district leaders cited two major factors that helped maintain their postsecondary effective rate. One was approval of a bond issue for facilities that expanded the types of Career Technical Education (CTE) courses and pathways available. The second was partnerships with local postsecondary institutions.

“Over the last 10 years, we have really strengthened our relationship with Salina Area Technical College,” said Deputy Superintendent Rector. “They have strengthened their offerings, and that partnership has contributed to our effective rate. We also have developed deeper partnerships with –K-State Salina. There is a much more dynamic conversation about what we can do at the high school level, and what they can do at the postsecondary level and how we meet in the middle to meet students’ needs and give them opportunities.”

Other programs supporting student success. Another change over the past 10 years has been the transition from half-day to full-day kindergarten. Salina was one of the last districts in the state to make the change due to limited space. Since then, the district has focused on kindergarten readiness, with pre-K programs in all elementary buildings – blending state pre-K funding, Special Education, preschool at-risk and Head Start programs.

Salina has also increased the number of counselors, social workers and student support services and partnered with external agencies like Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the Central Kansas Mental Health Center to provide additional support for high-needs students. Leaders say they are working to balance academic success with the broader needs of students.

"One of the things that's really shifted is more talk around the individual focus of the particular student,” said Eryn Wright. “We're thinking more dynamically about what needs to happen for this student to be successful."

First-year superintendent Heath Hogan summarized the work that has contributed to both higher-than-expected test scores and strong postsecondary success: "The goal is not just about academic instruction, but helping kids have a voice in their own education."