The Kentucky Department of Education today released data related to schools’ and districts’ status under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act; results of the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT); college/career-readiness data and information about achievement gaps.

This data is based on student test score results from the spring 2011 administration and other factors.

Detailed information on AYP, KCCT, college/career readiness and achievement gap data of each Kentucky public school and district is available through the Open House section of the KDE website. 

NCLB results

Data indicate that 42.6 percent — 489 — of Kentucky’s 1,148 accountable public schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the 2010-11 school year under the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

 AYP determinations are based primarily on the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT) in reading and mathematics. Schools are required to have specific percentages of students reaching proficiency or above in reading and mathematics each year and to meet other criteria in order to make AYP.

 According to the data, 489 Kentucky public schools met 100 percent of their NCLB goals for AYP, while 659 schools did not. Of the 659 schools that did not make AYP, 189 made 80 percent or more of their goals. Statewide, 52 percent — 13 — of the 25 target goals were met.

Schools and districts that are funded by the federal Title I program, which provides funds to ensure that disadvantaged children receive opportunities for high-quality educational services, will be subject to federal consequences if they do not make AYP in the same content area in any student group for two or more consecutive years.

For the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, Senate Bill 1, passed in the 2009 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, requires that state accountability for non-Title I schools be based on their Adequate Yearly Progress status. If a non-Title I school does not make AYP in the same content area for two consecutive years, the school will be eligible for state assistance. Data indicate that 206 schools are eligible for state assistance.

“Kentucky’s schools and districts continue to make progress; however, it is apparent that NCLB is broken when 152 school districts fail to meet AYP. This is a signal that the NCLB system is no longer fair, valid or reliable,” Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said.

 Holliday said KDE is “excited about President Obama’s support of state waivers on NCLB.”

” This waiver process will allow Kentucky to emphasize student growth and college/career readiness measures articulated in 2009’s Senate Bill 1,” he said. “Kentucky will remain committed to proficiency for all students by closing achievement gaps; however, we will now have a more valid and fair measure of student growth and a measure of college/career readiness that prepares our children for the future, rather than prepares them for a yearly test.”

Kentucky Core Content Test results

 Results of the 2011 administration of the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT), compared to 2010, show increases in the percentage of students scoring at the highest performance levels (proficient and distinguished) in every subject at the high school level.

For middle schools, all subjects except for reading saw increases.

Average elementary school percentages were lower in reading and mathematics.

College/Career Readiness results

The data this year indicate that, on average, 38 percent of public high school students statewide are ready for college or careers. If bonus points for students who are both college- and career-ready are included, the average is 42 percent. Readiness percentages among schools range from 2 percent to 81 percent without the bonus and from 2 percent to 92 percent with the bonus.

Senate Bill 1 calls for schools and districts to improve the college and career readiness of their students by 50 percent by 2014. The measures reported today will eventually be included in the state’s accountability system for public schools.

Achievement gaps

KDE also is reporting information on how schools and districts are progressing in closing achievement gaps to the goal of proficiency. Average statewide data indicate that, for nearly every student group, the achievement gap has narrowed from 2010 to 2011. All students are expected to reach proficiency in reading and mathematics by 2014.

Senate Bill 1, passed in the 2009 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, requires a new system of assessment and accountability for the state’s public schools, beginning in the 2011-12 school year. For the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, schools and districts are held publicly accountable through their federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) status, and student test performance data is reported annually. For details on the new assessment and accountability model, visit the Unbridled Learning page of the KDE website.