Kentucky Teacher

Lt. Col. Steve Darnall informs JROTC cadets at McLean County High School about an upcoming competiton against other JROTC programs in the state.
Photo by Amy Wallot, March 12, 2013

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

When 1st Sgt. Sonny Long became Army instructor at Harlan County High School five years ago, he had a freshman in the JROTC program who was in trouble from the first month of school. He skipped classes, argued with everybody, used tobacco constantly and was often in detention.

“I couldn’t hardly stand to be around him much myself,” Long said.

As a sophomore, the student made big improvements while in JROTC class but was still getting in trouble in other classes. The next year, Long gave him a higher rank and explained to the student that he would be held responsible for all of his actions, not just in JROTC. The result was that the student didn’t spend much time in detention, earned higher grades and exhibited newfound self-esteem. By his senior year, the student had learned how to interact with other people, lead them and earn their respect.

“I had over 15 teachers and two principals tell us that we had performed a miracle with him. He was thought of as the most likely student to drop out of high school when he was 16 years old,” Long said. “He graduated high school and is Read the full story

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 Read the full story

Gov. Steve Beshear recently made several appointment to several education-related boards and commissions.

The following members have been appointed to the School Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability Council to serve for terms expiring April 20, 2014:

• Holly Bloodworth, of Murray, is a teacher for Murray Independent Schools. She represents teachers. The appointment replaces Patrice McCrary, whose term has expired.
• Phyllis O’Neal, of Marion, is principal of Calvert City Elementary School. She represents principals. The appointment replaces Denise A. Whitaker, whose term has expired.
• Thomas R. Guskey, of Lexington, is a professor at the University of Kentucky. He represents professors with experience in assessment and measurement. The appointment replaces Edward B. Reeves, whose term has expired.
• Jerry T. Green, of Pikeville, is superintendent of Pikeville Independent Schools. He represents superintendents. The appointment replaces Lu S. Young, whose term has expired. Read the full story

To assist schools and districts in explaining the Unbridled Learning Accountability Model, Kentucky Department of Education staff has developed a one-page overview that can be found by clicking here.

Additionally, parent brochures on the new system have been developed by KDE communications staff. 

The brochure on school accountability can be found by clicking here, and the one on testing can be found by clicking here. 

Schools and districts are welcome to download and share the overview and brochures with parents and their communities.

Commissioner Terry Holliday

A few short weeks ago we received the news we had been waiting for – Kentucky was selected as one of the first states granted flexibility under No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Since the White House announced the waiver process in September, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) team and its partners have worked many hours to prepare and negotiate the waiver and flexibility from the rigid requirements of NCLB.

The goal from the beginning has been to have one accountability system rather than two — state and federal. Having two accountability systems was confusing to parents and schools. Also, the federal system began to lose credibility due to the details of NCLB.

The waiver will allow schools and districts some funding flexibility with regard to Title I and other federal dollars that were once tied to tutoring and other services mandated by NCLB. This flexibility, which will allow money to be reallocated to other efforts aimed at bolstering student achievement, comes at a very important time. State budgets for education have been reduced, and schools/districts will be looking at ways to redirect existing dollars to address the components of Senate Bill 1. Read the full story

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) announced today that Kentucky’s application for flexibility under federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind (ESEA/NCLB) has been approved.

The application and related appendices may be seen on KDE’s Unbridled Learning page, here.

“Kentucky is once again leading the nation in the area of public school accountability,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “This federal flexibility opens a new chapter in the Commonwealth’s work to ensure a well-educated citizenry. I congratulate our teachers, administrators, state agency staff, Kentucky Board of Education members, legislators and education partners on this great accomplishment.”

“The granting of this request means that Kentucky can continue the forward momentum that began with the passage of Senate Bill 1 in 2009,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “The accountability model that we will use for state and federal purposes provides in-depth information about every school and district, so that we can focus our resources on the areas of greatest need and challenge our students and educators to constantly improve toward the ultimate goal of college and career readiness.” Read the full story

Editor’s note:  Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), enacted in the 2009 Kentucky General Assembly, requires a new public school assessment program beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Kentucky Teacher is doing a series of stories explaining the Unbridled Learning: College/Career Readiness for All assessment and accountability system this month. This article focuses on accountability. The system is subject to United States Education Department approval and may be changed prior to adoption.

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

Melanie Santiago answers a question for James Rutledge and Antoneo Watkins during her freshman civics class at Western High School (Jefferson County). Santiago is a graduate of Western High School. Photo by Amy Wallot, Nov. 30, 2011

Anyone can understand Kentucky’s Unbridled Learning assessment and accountability system if they understand the basic concept, according to one of its designers.

“We’re going to give schools one score, tell them they’re better than a certain percentage of schools and tell them we want to improve that percentage each year,” Office of Assessment and Accountability Associate Commissioner Ken Draut said. “At the highest level, it’s a very simple system.”

In late summer 2011, the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) approved an even simpler accountability system it was ready to use. Under that version of the plan, schools would have received a score and been placed in one of three categories: needs improvement, proficient or distinguished. But they would not have had an annual improvement goal for accountability. However, waiver guidelines from federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act regulations require the state to enact annual measurable objectives (AMOs) for schools and districts.

That caused Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff to redraft parts of the accountability system, Draut said.

“What we wanted to do, of course, from the beginning was move our single state accountability system into this area to take the place of the NCLB accountability system, so we would have one accountability system model, not two,” he told the board in December. “That’s caused problems over the years.” Read the full story

Commissioner Terry Holliday

It was my great pleasure to participate in the 2012 Kentucky Teacher of the Year announcement two weeks ago. 

As I told those who gathered for the ceremony at the Capitol Rotunda, the handing out of the award is my favorite day of the year.

I am proud and grateful for the hard work these and many other educators around the state undertake on behalf of Kentucky’s children.

We ask a lot and expect a lot of our teachers in this state, especially these past few years as we overhaul and increase the rigor of our standards and embrace Kentucky’s Unbridled Learning Accountability System.

While some of those who were honored on Oct. 18 received monetary awards for their work, we know those types of occasions are rare in teachers’ careers. Their work is measured not by their pay checks, but by the impact they have on their students and this state.

It is work that is critical to our children and Kentucky, and it is not work we can expect them to do alone. That is why the Kentucky Department of Education is focused on partnering with teachers, and offering them support and resources through various initiatives, including the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning (TELL) Kentucky survey, the Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS), District 180 and many more. Read the full story

The Kentucky Department of Education will release data related to student assessment scores on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

 Three report sections will be made publicly available on that day, posted in the KDE Open House section of the agency’s website. The three report sections are:

Achievement

• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Reports
• Interim Performance Reports
• Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) Combined Reading and Mathematics Proficient/Distinguished Report
• Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) Combined Reading and Mathematics Proficient/Distinguished Trend Rep Read the full story

Kentucky Board of Education members Roger Marcum and Brigitte Ramsey discuss the Commonwealth Diploma during the Kentucky Board of Education meeting in Frankfort. Marcum was named the board’s vice-chair during the meeting. David Karem remained chair. Photo by Amy Wallot, Aug. 3, 2011

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

The structure of Kentucky’s accountability system is complete and has a name – Unbridled Learning: College and Career Ready for All – just in time for the beginning of a new school year.

The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) approved regulations during its Aug. 3-4 meeting that establish which Program Reviews schools are responsible for and when those Program Reviews will be included in accountability. The board also settled on what percentage each area in the three-pronged accountability system will count, as well as the rewards, supports and consequences for schools’ and districts’ results.

Read the full story