The Kentucky Department of Education will release test score and school/district accountability data on Friday, Nov. 2.

This marks the first release of data from the Unbridled Learning accountability model, which Kentucky implemented beginning in the 2011-12 school year. The data to be released on Nov. 2 reflects test scores and other information from that school year.

The Unbridled Learning model holds public schools and districts accountable for five primary areas:

• Achievement – student performance on subject-area tests
• Gap – gaps in academic performance among students who are ethnic minorities, have disabilities, are English language learners or come from low-income households and students who do not fit into those categories
• Growth – student academic growth in reading and mathematics
• College/Career Readiness – how well schools and districts prepare students for life after high school
• Graduation Rate – how many students graduate on time

 Each school and district will receive an overall score on a scale from 1 to 100. Those scores will be rank-ordered by district and by elementary, middle and high school levels, then percentiles will be established so that each school and district will receive a percentile rank.

 Schools and districts also will receive overall classifications, based on their overall scores:

• Distinguished – the top 10 percent of districts or schools from the elementary, middle and high school levels (90th percentile)
• Proficient – in the top 30 percent of districts or schools from the elementary, middle and high school levels (70th percentile)
• Needs Improvement – schools/districts falling outside of the Proficient or Distinguished categories and not meeting their AMOs (at or below the 69th percentile)

 The Unbridled Learning accountability model is used for both state and federal reporting purposes. In early 2012, Kentucky received flexibility from the U.S. Department of Education to use this model in place of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) model that had been in place since 2001.

The Kentucky Department of Education has developed several resources that may aid in understanding of the new system.

• a Frequently Asked Questions document that contains information related to the new system and data
• a video presentation, including a PowerPoint document, Q&A and questions from parents, aimed at reporters and editors and describing the data
• A Parent’s Guide to Accountability and A Parent’s Guide to Testing

All of these items are available on the Unbridled Learning page of the agency’s website here.