USD 475 part of new pilot approach to statewide assessment and accountability
Geary County USD 475 joins five other Kansas districts implementing quarterly through-year assessments in place of a single end-of-year test for the 2026–27 school year.
Actionable Assessment Data
Meet Astra: Curriculum-aligned, standard-specific,
delivered in time to change instruction
Our Vision and Mission
Our mission is to build assessments that turn student data into instructional action. Whether through Astra—our flagship through-year system in Kansas—or through direct partnerships with assessment vendors, districts, and states, IAS delivers assessment data educators can actually use to guide instruction, accelerate learning, and improve results.
Our Kansas Work
Astra: a through-year assessment system built in Kansas, specifically for Kansas
Astra is IAS's flagship assessment product—a quarterly benchmark platform aligned to each district's scope and sequence, developed in partnership with the Kansas districts. We release every assessment item and deliver standard-by-standard reports on each student's item responses within days of each administration. Our quarterly composite scores explain 70–90% of the variance in end-of-year KAP scores.
Ad Astra Per Aspera
In the News
Recent coverage of Astra and the Kansas pilot.
Kansas receives federal approval to pilot innovative through-year assessment system
KSDE announces U.S. Department of Education approval to pilot a through-year assessment system under the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA)—the assessment KSDE is deploying is Astra.
Six Kansas districts to pilot new quarterly testing program
Coverage of the six-district cohort and how quarterly assessments will replace or run alongside KAP starting in the 2026–27 school year.
Six Kansas school districts to adopt new assessment system
Local reporting on the launch of Kansas's federally approved through-year assessment pilot.