Kentucky Teacher

In a special video edition of Commissioner’s Comments, Education Commissioner Terry Holliday thanks Kentucky teachers for all their hard work this school year, including their efforts to close achievement gaps and incorporate the new Common Core State Standards into thier lessons. He also offers a few words about the upcoming K-PREP tests, and urges Kentuckians to express their thanks to teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Day on May 8.

(Note: Video plays in IE9 and Firefox. It also will play in Chrome using the following plug-in:  http://www.interoperabilitybridges.com/wmp-extension-for-chrome).

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, Ph.D., has been named as a member of a high-profile national commission to raise standards for teacher preparation across the nation.

In order to help ensure that every classroom in the nation has an effective teacher, a national Commission on Standards and Performance Reporting will develop rigorous accreditation standards for educator preparation that will raise the bar for preparation providers, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) announced today. CAEP is the new accrediting body being formed through the unification of two organizations charged with assuring quality in educator preparation — the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC).

The commission will ensure increased accountability through a focus on outcome data and key program characteristic data. CAEP has pledged to use multiple measures in its evaluation system, including new sources of data from state longitudinal databases. CAEP standards will also give increased attention to recruiting and admissions to help ensure a supply of candidates who are motivated to enter the teaching workforce and have characteristics associated with teaching success and who are prepared in areas in which they are needed. Read the full story

First-grade student Tayshaun Carter and Commissioner Terry Holliday practice high and low notes with tone bells during Kim Black's music class at Murray Elementary School Jan. 11, 2012. Photo by Amy Wallot

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday had visited six classes at Murray Elementary School when he commented to teachers and administrators that he was getting the feel for a full day’s work.

“I guess this is what it’s like every day for teachers,” he said.

It was only 9:40 a.m.

The commissioner still had another six or so hours and two schools to visit before completing his day-long visit to the Murray Independent school district Wednesday.

Holliday visited the district after personnel there cast the winning bid for the “Extra Holliday” item in a silent auction sponsored by the Kentucky School Public Relations Association (KYSPRA). The win entitled the school district to Holliday’s presence for an entire day, with an agenda of district officials’ choosing.

Murray school officials took full advantage of their win, giving Holliday an in-depth look at their schools, classrooms and students. 

At the elementary school, Holliday helped out with bus and car duty, breakfast and the morning news, and he participated in Spanish, reading, music and mathematics classes. He also visited Murray Middle School, one of the preschool classes and Murray High School, then concluded his day attending a district leadership team meeting. Read the full story

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday has been appointed to serve a four-year term on a national board charged with setting policy for the nation’s only assessment of student achievement in subjects like mathematics, reading, writing and science.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced Holliday’s appointment to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) this week.

The board sets policy — including what subjects will be tested and the content and achievement levels for each test — for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card. Read the full story

By Education Commissioner Terry Holliday

At the August Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) meeting, my annual evaluation was completed. Over the past month I have seen that many local boards and superintendents are completing the same process. The KBE has also expressed an interest in local board evaluations.

Over the past two years I have mentioned the issue of superintendent evaluations on numerous occasions at speeches and in my weekly blogs. This is a perfect time for local boards and superintendents to look carefully at the goals and measures for superintendent evaluation and local school board self-evaluation of key processes. Read the full story

Videographer Clint Goins, right, pins a microphone to Education Commissioner Terry Holliday before filming a welcome back message to students and teachers recently. The video was made at Second Street School (Frankfort Independent). Photo by Amy Wallot, July 7, 2011

Kentucky teachers face some changes when they return to the classroom for the 2011-12 school year. In a special video edition of Commissioner’s Comments, Education Commissioner Terry Holliday extends a back-to-school welcome to all Kentucky educators and outlines some of the changes that take effect this school year as the result of the state’s Unbridled Learning initiative.

Welcome back message

Recent issues in Atlanta, Pennsylvania and other areas have raised the profile on cheating on tests. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is taking a proactive stance on this issue. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday recently discussed this topic in his blog. The view the blog, click here.

Specific actions that Kentucky is taking in this area are:

1. Writing a request for proposals for a Test Security Audit to learn how to improve security. The audit will review our current test security procedures and provide us with additional ideas to improve security.
2. Building into new test vendor contracts forensic processes to uncover inappropriate activities.
3. Continuing with the regulatory steps of having all educators trained on test procedures and having all educators read and sign a Code of Ethics document.
4. Continuing with having an investigative unit within KDE to deal with inappropriate test allegations.
5. Considering a possible legislative proposal for the 2012 session.
6. Implementing a balanced accountability model and teacher/principal effectiveness system that does not focus solely on test scores.

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday, and William Hacker, commissioner of the Kentucky Department for Public Health, recently sent a letter to all Kentucky superintendents encouraging the passage and implementation of a 100 percent tobacco-free school policy. This letter exemplifies the partnership between health and education to help improve the health status of students, their families, school staff and community members.
For more information, contact Irene Centers with the Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program; Victoria Greenwell with the Kentucky Department for Public Health’s Coordinated School Health; or Jamie Sparks with Kentucky Department of Education’s Coordinated School Health.

Letter to Kentucky superintendents