Kansas has received a one-year extension of a waiver that gives it more flexibility in meeting some of the provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

The U.S. Department of Education also granted an extension Thursday to Indiana. Kansas first was granted a waiver in 2012, but was told last August it was at “high risk” of losing it because the state hadn’t taken enough steps to use student achievement data as part of teacher evaluations.

Interim Kansas Education Commissioner Brad Neuenswander said he was “pleased.”

The Kansas Department of Elementary and Secondary Education says education evaluation systems will incorporate the student data as a “significant” factor this year. But those student growth measures will not be used to make personnel decisions until the 2017-18 school year.