The state’s education department is planning to develop a system to measure the academic readiness of kindergartners.

The Kansas State Board of Education this week voted to instruct the Kansas State Department of Education to develop a system designed to identify children who need extra support in their early education.

Jim McNiece, a Wichita Republican and chairman of the state board, says the state has long recorded education outcomes but has not concentrated on children who need help when they are young.

The board also adopted a five-point framework for school accountability designed to help individual children.

Education commissioner Randy Watson says the state will have to rework its accreditation system to fit the new framework.