(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has released the Kentucky Innovation Guide, a new resource detailing the innovative work happening in Kentucky schools to create vibrant learning experiences for students and a sense of collaboration with the community.
In 2021, KDE engaged stakeholders in a series of statewide listening sessions which led to the state’s United We Learn vision. This vision for the future of public education in Kentucky focuses on three key areas to ensure that the state’s students have the equitable and engaging learning opportunities that they need for success:
- Developing vibrant learning experiences for every student;
- Encouraging innovation, especially in assessment and accountability; and
- Creating a bold new future for Kentucky’s schools through collaboration with communities.
Personalized learning provides a valuable framework through which districts and schools can realize this vision. Kentucky has long been a national leader in K-12 personalized learning, and KDE has created a variety of supports for districts and schools. The department and local school districts have also worked with a variety of community partners across the Commonwealth to develop a well-rounded learning experience for students that is centered around the needs of our learners and the community around them.
The Kentucky Innovation Guide outlines several networks and initiatives KDE has either created or partnered with to support districts and schools. It also highlights several Kentucky school districts and their efforts to implement personalized learning, representing the Commonwealth’s broad geographic diversity and approaches to innovation in the classroom.
The guide details action steps to help districts and schools address areas of interest that were gathered through extensive community engagement, including how to create a local portrait of a learner and how to effectively use funding to support personalized learning. The district spotlights illustrate how to approach these action steps, ranging from how districts in Jefferson and Fayette counties meet the needs of their large, diverse student populations through their local portraits to how Allen County Schools has leveraged funding from various grants.
The guide was developed by the KDE Division of Innovation, which is charged with incubating innovative local practices to promote personalized learning.
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