The school improvement process is the basis for improving Kansas schools under the Quality Performance Accreditation system. As a part of this process, the First Kansas Curricular Standards for Science were developed in 1993 and are updated every three years. The development of Standards is done by a committee of Kansans appointed by the Commissioner of Education with advice from the State Board of Education.
The Kansas Science Standards are developed to clearly articulate what students should know, understand and be able to do; providing a broad vision of scientifically literate citizens. State Science Standards are intended to be a foundation for local curriculum and not a limit of what district's can do.
The process for developing the Kansas Science Education Standards has been very difficult since 1999. In 2004, the writing process of the committee was stopped in the middle of the development of the standards, leaving an unfinished flawed document. These recommendations are the recommendations of the majority of the appointed committee and reflected the recommendations that would have been made to the State Board of Education if the process had been allowed to continue.