Ingalls USD 477 is a 230-student, 1A high school district in southwest Kansas, midway between Dodge City and Garden City. It's one of the smaller school districts in Kansas, but Education Commissioner Randy Watson highlighted Ingalls's big improvements on the State Board of Education's Kansans Can outcomes.  

Since 2017, Ingalls has cut the percentage of students scoring the lower level on state assessments (Level 1 or Limited) in math, English Language Arts, and science in half, from nearly 30% to about 15% in each subject.  

Ingalls increased the percentage of students scoring at Levels 3-4 (Effective to Excellent for postsecondary readiness) from 35-40% to 45-50%. The state average for public and private schools has declined since 2017, especially after the COVID pandemic in 2020.  

Meanwhile, Ingalls has maintained nearly a 100% four-year high school graduation rate and has improved its effective postsecondary rate (the percentage of a class that graduates and has completed or remained enrolled in a postsecondary program after two years) from 70% to 82.4% in four years.  

Ingall's five-year average postsecondary effective rate for 2016-2020 is 73%, far above the "predicted rate" of 58.1 to 61.5% based on the district's student risk factors, meaning the district is exceeding other areas with similar rates of poverty, mobility, absenteeism and disabilities. 

I've been visiting districts recognized for their success in Kansas Can outcomes to learn what they are doing to get those results. I sat down with Superintendent Randy Rockhold, Elementary Principal Skyler Lightner, Secondary Principal Ted Brown and four teachers in the district.  

They described a passionately committed staff that looked at data on how the district was doing and resolved to improve, with the support of the students, parents, community and school board.  

They shared a lengthy list of programs and strategies; many were adopted after the Southwest Plains Regional Education Service Center conducted a district needs assessment five years ago. Superintendent Rockhold stressed that the needs assessment created change in the district only because the staff was willing to embrace it personally.  

“Every person we have on the staff has a heart for children that is incredible.” Rockhold said. “When we went through our needs assessment, it was very personal for these people. They weren't looking at what someone else was doing. Each person looked at what they personally were doing and what they needed to prioritize to make sure they met the needs of students. Our initial needs assessment was very gloves off. It was very introspective. From that, we started moving forward and we're continually reassessing. I think everyone feels like they can be vulnerable, without any consequence other than positive consequence. That makes a huge difference.”  

The district leaders indicated the single most crucial factor in the district's success is the relationship with each child which creates an individualized approach. “We have a mentoring program K-12,” said Rockhold. “Every child is mentored every two weeks, not by our counselor or social worker, but by their classroom teachers for elementary students or by one of their teachers for secondary students.”  

Throughout our conversation, educators would return to the mentoring program as the key to student success, from identifying problems that affect academic learning to helping students reflect on their interests in postsecondary planning. Focusing on the mentoring effort is tied to the second major initiative: restructuring the school calendar and daily schedule to give teachers more time.  

“The needs assessment made it very clear that our staff had not been given the support or the training to do all the things that we were asking them to do,” said Rockhold. “Prior to our needs assessment, our staff development time was two days a year. Our staff were seeking the things that they needed, but it was all on their own, based on their priority and on their own free time. Our teachers said they needed time and support for multiple things. First, to collaborate to improve teaching. Second, so that they could be trained and then have time to go back and reflect upon how to use that training. Third, time to all be involved in the Student Assistance Team process so that more people are involved in decisions about student needs.”  

“We were fortunate we had teachers willing to tell us what they needed, and we had a school board that was supportive enough to give us the time,” Rockhold said. “When we started this process, we added 13 staff development days and now we have 17 days throughout the year for our staff to learn, collaborate, work on student assistance teaming, to develop an implementation plan for themselves and students and then continually review, look at the data, see where it's taking them and evaluate. That's a huge part of our progress.”  

Adding time was aided by a district calendar that had operated on a four-day week, Tuesday through Friday, for many years. The change made every other Monday during the school year a professional development day for teachers.  

Teachers I spoke with said the mentoring program and a larger focus on building relationships was critical.  

“I would agree about the mentoring piece and establishing relationships with students,” said middle and high school math teacher Susan Bailey. “I think it’s key to getting students to want to learn something from you, whether math, or social studies or English or science. We build relationships that go beyond school; I’ll see them in the community, I’ll talk to them in the parking lot. I know their families.”  

Because I’m interested in how schools are changing to change their outcomes, I asked if the effort to build relationships was different. “I've always tried to establish relationships with my students, but it seems like we are making it very intentional now, and that’s changing the expectations of students,” Bailey said.   

“All these teachers have this very, very intentional time (for mentoring),” said secondary principal Ted Brown. “Students see them as not just teachers, but as part of their world. It's different when a person that you care for and have a relationship with is asking you to do something. We see that when they take their state tests. Before, they knew the test didn’t really affect them as students. But now they see this is going to reflect on our school, it’s going to reflect on my teacher, who I care about. So, I want to do my best, so they're seen in the best possible light.”  

“I don't know what other school districts do, but we share the data with the kids who have generated it,” said Bailey. “We give tests (like Fastbridge assessments) several times a year. We share the data with kids and talk about what progress they have made or need to make. Some of them are extremely competitive. They want to be that number one kid in the class.”   

Bailey and other teachers also praised the curriculum and learning tools the district has recently provided.  

“The Summit learning platform is something I used even before I came here,” said English teacher Stephanie Wick, in her second year at Ingalls. “It allows me to ensure that students fully comprehend the skills they need. Students get intentional, personalized feedback and can go back and fix their mistakes before moving on. I can look at a class and see exactly which skills the entire class is missing. It allows you to group students to help fill in those gaps. It's probably the best curriculum system I've ever taught in as far as feedback goes.”  

“We started a new curriculum for English Language Arts called Core Knowledge for Language Arts (CKLA) this year,” said third grade teacher Terri Meis. “I was very hesitant early on because the vocabulary of it is so rich and so deep. But I think if you walked in my classroom, you would be amazed to hear my third-grade kids talking about what we call ‘larger than life’ words. They love it. I hear parents saying they can't believe this kind of language talk is happening. Kids love to go share their words with (principal) Mrs. Lightner; something that is mind-blowing to me.”  

“Last year, we adopted a new math curriculum called Illustrative Mathematics,” continued Meis. “It has kids thinking about problem-solving strategies. And I always stress with my kids that sometimes we learn the most from our mistakes, talking about where you went wrong and why this does not make sense. And then they begin to get it. That's been very, very intentional.”  

“What has definitely been a new thing for us is that we look at data now,” she said. “What are we going to do with this? We have all these pieces and now we have time to make sense of where we go with those pieces. That's been fun and challenging but also very rewarding.”   

Second-grade teacher Jennifer Beach agreed. “I just like the push to make our students think outside the box and have that rich vocabulary. It was hard at first, but they love it. It's just making them better students.” 

The educators agreed the process has brought growing pains but has been worthwhile. Only some people were enthusiastic initially, but the results won the skeptics over.   

‘It’s like the fear of the unknown,” said Meis. “You kind of get in a normal routine. You can wonder if you're the person for this job when you're pushed a little beyond anything you know how to do. But they (district leaders) believe in us and have given us the time to make this work. I tell my kids that I'm learning about these things right along with you. They think that’s kind of cool, that we’re learning together.”  

Like other districts I’ve visited, Ingalls uses a Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) to assess student needs and provide time to target specific support or interventions based on data collected through assessments and other input.  

All these efforts support improved academic learning, one of the Kansans Can outcomes. I wanted to learn how Ingalls is addressing other goals.  

One is kindergarten readiness. USD 477 has a full-day preschool program for four-year-olds. State at-risk funding provided enough for a half-day program, but it has been supplemented by district funding to offer a full-day program. When a change in state law allowed districts to add three-year-olds, Ingalls did as well.  

“We have now added three-year-olds into the program for in-district students because we saw a community need with a local daycare closing,” said elementary principal Skyler Lightner. “We know the struggle that daycare is for families. We have just one licensed childcare provider in Ingalls, and of course, those spots are always filled. So, to support our community, we expanded our preschool program because the state was going to start doing the partial funding for three-year-olds.”  

The district also offers “Learn and Play” programs with the Russell Childhood Development in Garden City, the umbrella agency for eight childhood programs in 19 Southwest Kansas counties. “They provide those needs such as speech therapy and occupational therapy, but these Learn and Play programs focus on those early learning standards, learning through play, learning fine motor skills,” said Lightner. "They meet twice a month here at our school, we provide this space, and our preschool teacher is the one who facilitates that. It’s for children birth to five and their parents. It's set up to help parents learn how to be intentional with their child’s development and play based at home.”  

Another Kansans Can goal is helping students with social and emotional learning, which has raised concerns that this emphasis distracts from academic learning. But Ingalls educators say addressing social and emotional issues like mental health and suicide prevention has been vital to improving academic success and meeting student needs.   

“We looked at our data about five years ago and what would surprise people is that our kids were far more likely to have a plan, have attempted, or considered suicide. We were off the charts in the wrong direction,” said superintendent Rockhold. “It shocked us. We had teachers cry for three days when we presented the student survey data.” He noted a problem with access to mental health services in southwest Kansas. “It's hard to find mental health support out here. Unless you are taken into intake, you’d probably be forced to wait 8-10 weeks to get in for services.”  

“So, the school had to create a way to give more support,” he said. “Every teacher was doing everything they could within the schedule and the calendar that we had. But when we became intentional with it, it allowed them to do more. If students have an issue, they don’t have to wait because we have mentoring, we have a social worker, and we have a counselor right in our school. We have 232 kids, and now we have two people that are full time to help with those issues.”  

“I just think some of the taboos about asking for help, to admit I'm struggling, is gone,” said third-grade teacher Meis. “Because of our mentoring, kids know they have a lot of people they can go to. They don't have just one person. You've got a dozen people in your boat that are here for you.”  

A third focus of the Kansans Can vision is helping students to develop an Individual Plan of Study to prepare for life after high school. This encourages students to graduate high school and complete some postsecondary program; a technical certificate, a two-year degree, or a four-year degree and beyond. Moving more students to higher educational achievement on average results in higher earnings, less unemployment, and lower poverty rates. It also meets Kansas's workforce needs for economic growth.  

Ingall's educators say they have many options for high school students to start postsecondary education, despite its small size and rural location. Students can complete technical certificates in areas like nursing while in high school through half-day programs at Dodge City Community College.  

Ingalls participates with six other districts in the Southwest Kansas Interactive Consortium Academic Network (SKI-CAN) to share staff and offer higher-level courses through a live, online format. It offers dual credit courses in algebra, physics, calculus, trigonometry and English composition, in which students receive credit toward both high school and college through DCCC.  

“The network allows us to share the staff among all seven districts without each having to have a teacher in that area. The courses are all live, so students interact with the teachers and the teachers go and visit the sites and the kids,” said Rockhold. “They have office hours where students can zoom in with the teacher to get support.”  

Ingall's students can also take courses for credit from other colleges. “Anything our kids would want to take they can access either through SKI-CAN or through online dual credit opportunities at Dodge City. If there is a program or a class that Dodge doesn't offer, then we get a waiver, and we find another institution.” Ingalls has worked with Garden City and Hutchinson Community Colleges, and Fort Hays State University to provide online courses.  

“Another thing that we've done in the recent years is a big uptick in work-study opportunities,” said secondary principal Ted Brown. “It gives students a chance at making some money and gives them experience so they can either decide maybe that is what they want to do, or definitely that's something they can cross off the list.”  

To participate in a work-based learning opportunity, students must be involved in a related career pathway. “They have to present to the board of education beforehand, which gives them more valuable experience,” said Brown. “They must have letters from their employer and the school saying they're in good standing and from their parents. It's almost like a little interview, and they have to get these reference letters.”  

The number of students taking part in college credit and work-based learning has grown dramatically over the past five years, as marked by Ingalls’ rising postsecondary effective rate. “We didn't have many college credit courses. My first three years here, we didn't have a single kid in work study or an internship,” said Rockhold. “Now it’s almost universal that students graduate with college hours, if not a certificate already earned.”  

When I asked what it took to make the change, educators stressed increasing academic rigor, so students are prepared for college-level work, expanding opportunities through SKI-CAN offerings, and encouraging students to excel. “I think one thing that we've done here is we are pushing kids more,” said Brown. “If we see a kid with potential in math or English or what have you, we're going to push them ahead and work with their parents to build a high school schedule with the option for college courses or work-based learning.”  

There has also been a change in how the school talks with students. “I think I used to feel that you need to get a college degree in order to be successful,” said high school math teacher Bailey. “I’ve changed my mind on that. I tell students they will have to have some training after high school, but it can be a tech school or an internship or a journeyman. Kids are focused on making money, and you can make a lot of money as a plumber or an electrician or a welder. Those are good-paying jobs. That has helped more students consider technical college an option.”  

High school English teacher Stephanie Wick agreed that helping students see how the coursework connects to their future is essential. “Just knowing those kids and knowing what they want helps me relate. Showing them that, yes, you may hate writing this essay for me for English. However, you're going to use this presentation skill in your future career. You're going to have to be able to research independently. That's showing them how what we do in class will apply to real life. That's the success.”  

Although the state of Kansas allows high school students to take postsecondary technical courses at no cost, students usually have to pay for the cost of tuition and fees for postsecondary academic courses taken in high school through dual or concurrent enrollment. Federal financial aid is only available for students who have graduated from high school, so the cost of these courses can be a barrier for low-income students. Ingalls leaders say they have been able to overcome that barrier. 

“I would say that we find some way to help about a third of our students that take college courses with costs,” said Rockhold. “There's always some resource that we've been able to find. We've gone to local churches, foundations, banks, and the community college several times. We found ways to get it worked out through an individualized approach that connects with that individual student.”   

Brown agreed. “We've never had a kid not take a college class because they couldn't pay for it since I've been here. That's a remarkable thing about our community.”