About Our Tests
The Kansas Assessment Program (KAP), a program of the Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), fulfills a mandate from the Kansas Legislature. KAP provides general education assessments, alternate assessments, career and technical education assessments, and an English language proficiency assessment.
General Education Assessments
The English language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science assessments are part of the federal elementary and secondary education legislation. The general assessment:
- measures specific claims related to the Kansas Standards in grades 3-8 and high school,
- reports individual student scores along with each student’s performance level, and
- provides subscale and total scores that can be used with local assessment scores to assist in improving a building’s or district’s programs in ELA, mathematics, and science.
Explore the Kansas Standards on the KSDE website.
English Proficiency Assessment
The Kansas English Language Proficiency Assessment (KELPA) assessment is part of the federal elementary and secondary education legislation for English learners (ELs). KELPA measure English language proficiency in four domains: listening, reading, writing, and speaking. The grade bands assessed include Kindergarten, 1, 2–3, 4–5, 6–8, and 9–12. KELPA assessments are delivered through Kite Student Portal, except for Kindergarten and Grade 1 writing assessments which are paper/pencil forms.
The KELPA assessment:
- measures specific claims related to the Kansas Standards for English Learners in grades K-12,
- reports individual student scores along with each student’s performance levels, and
- provides domain scores and an overall proficiency score that can be used with local assessment scores to assist in improving student learning.
Learn more about the Kansas English Learner Standards on the KSDE website.
Alternate Assessment
Kansas uses the Instructionally Embedded model of the Dynamic Learning Maps® (DLM®) alternate assessment to test students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Alternate assessments are available for English language arts, mathematics, and science. Throughout the school year, teachers select Essential Elements (EEs) linked to the Kansas Standards to provide instruction. Students then use Kite Student Portal to complete assessments related to the selected EEs which measure student progress.
To learn more about the alternate assessment, visit the DLM website as well as the DLM and Essential Elements page on the KSDE website.
Career Pathways Assessment
The Career Pathways® (cPass®) Assessment System measures high school students’ readiness for postsecondary education or entry into the workforce. Utilizing a mix of multiple-choice questions, technology-enhanced items, and performance-based tasks, cPass measures skills both in the classroom and in real-world situations related to career pathways in agriculture, animal systems, and plant systems with the Kite Student Portal assessment delivery system.