Registration Open for 2026 Kentucky Continuous Improvement Summit
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Cognia invite you to a two-day event designed to elevate your impact in education. Mark your calendars to attend the 2026 Kentucky Continuous Improvement Summit on September 21-22 at the Central Bank Center in Lexington! Mike Rutherford, 2026 Continuous Improvement Summit keynote, will engage participants with conversations on high-performance teaching and learning, leadership development, creating and leading team-based organizations and results-based organizational improvement. Whether you’re looking to enhance your professional learning, strengthen existing relationships or tackle unique challenges with fresh strategies, this conference is for you. Don’t miss this opportunity to spark new ideas, gain insights from KDE leaders and join Kentucky’s continuous improvement movement! Visit the 2026 Kentucky Continuous Improvement Summit registration webpage to register.
Comprehensive Improvement Planning for Districts and Schools
The process of developing a comprehensive district improvement plan
(CDIP) and comprehensive school improvement plan (CSIP) provides an opportunity
for stakeholders to work together to envision the learning environment that
will support the goals they have for their students and staff.
The process and timeline
for comprehensive district and school improvement planning outlined in 703 KAR 5:225 remain unchanged, but the Cognia Improvement Platform (CIP) has been redesigned to create a more user-friendly expereince and stronger alignment across the four phases of improvement planning. Contact your district's system platform administrator for assistance with accessing the CIP.
While comprehensive improvement planning is a continuous process and
plans may be reviewed and revised at any time, the timeline below identifies
the elements included in each phase of the planning process and their
statutory due dates.
Phase One Aug. 1 - Oct. 1
| | |
Phase Two Oct. 1 - Nov. 1
| - Needs Assessment
- District Assurances
| - Needs Assessment
- School Assurances
|
Phase Three Nov. 1 - Jan. 1
| - District Goals, Objectives and Strategies
- The Superintendent Gap Assurance
| - School Goals, Objectives and Strategies
|
Phase Four Jan. 1 - Dec. 31
| - Nontraditional Instruction (Due May 1)
- English Learner Plan for Districts (Lau Plan) (Due May 1)
- Professional Development Plan (Due May 1)
- Progress Monitoring
| - Professional Development Plan (Due May 1)
- Progress Monitoring
|
The CIP not only helps fulfill improvement planning requirements, but it also functions as a comprehensive tool for supporting other reporting obligations for districts and schools, including the following:
- School Safety Report (Due Oct. 1)
- District Safety Report (Due Nov. 1)
- District Trauma-Informed Approach Plan (Due Nov. 1)
- Local Indicators of Quality (Optional - Due April 1)
Tools for Building Effective CSIP/CDIP Components
In brief, continuous improvement should involve reviewing data, diagnosing needs, setting goals, and planning strategies that can be deployed through actionable steps, or activities. When schools concern themselves solely with compliance, they have lost the spirit of continuous improvement.
Goals and Objectives reflect measurable student achievement, and student achievement is determined by the processes, practices and conditions found within a school. We believe that all practices, processes and conditions are attributable to one or more of the Strategic Key Core Work Processes (KCWP) below:
Once a strategy is identified, schools can begin to determine the actionable steps or classroom activities that will be undertaken to effectively address critical needs. These activities should be monitored quarterly for progress.