(FRANKFORT, KY) – Members of the Teachers Advisory Council discussed the latest on assessment and accountability, including how the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is helping schools prepare for the first administration of the SAT, during the council’s meeting on March 18.
Kentucky is in the first year of administering the SAT after KDE awarded a contract to the College Board to administer the state’s college admissions exam. The testing window began March 2 and lasts until April 10.
Shara Savage, director of KDE’s Division of Assessment and Accountability Support, told council members about training sessions KDE has hosted to assist educators and district leaders with the transition to the SAT. The department teamed up with College Board to provide eight trainings at the education cooperatives in November 2025, bringing in a total of 487 educators from across the state.
KDE and the College Board also held four sessions of office hours where 325 educators participated, going over different aspects of SAT administration, along with a webinar on accommodations that had 480 educators in attendance and other training sessions with district assessment coordinators.
Savage said KDE and the College Board will continue hosting office hours in March and April to discuss topics related to administration of the SAT, along with hosting a webinar to discuss SAT scores and information reporting to students and educators. More information about resources for educators is available on KDE’s College Admissions Exam webpage.
“We think that Kentucky is well-prepared for the SAT … and the information that we’re hearing from the field has been very positive,” Savage said.
Savage also provided an update to council members on where Kentucky schools are with the administration of state assessments this spring, including the Kentucky Summative Assessment, the Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessment, the WIDA ACCESS test for English learners and kindergarten screener assessments.
Jennifer Stafford, associate commissioner of KDE’s Office of Assessment and Accountability, explained the latest with House Bill 257, legislation related to assessment and accountability aimed at encouraging districts to work closely with their communities to establish priorities for their schools and help ensure students have access to vibrant learning experiences.
Strategic Dashboard
Susan Strange, strategic program manager in KDE’s Office of the Commissioner, provided an overview of KDE’s strategic dashboard, including information on KDE’s five-year plan for 2024-2029 and menus with more detailed information about specific goals in the plan.
The website lays out each goal: reimagining assessment and accountability, reducing chronic absenteeism, improving early literacy and early numeracy education, educator recruitment, improving KDE customer satisfaction, improving process management and building up leadership.
For the goal of reimagining assessment and accountability with vibrant learning experiences in mind, the dashboard includes details about Kentucky districts that are somewhere in the implementation process of creating a local accountability system that focuses on vibrant learning, working with their community and local indicators of quality.
The reducing chronic absenteeism section has data on Kentucky student attendance, including spotlights on socioeconomic and regional factors, along with resources KDE has produced to help improve attendance in schools. The other goals feature similar data snapshots, along with resources and other relevant information.
“All of these are set up in a way that makes it easy for the user to use it,” Strange said.
Strange said Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) members asked how teachers would use the strategic plan, so the plan was unveiled to Teachers Advisory Council members to get feedback. Some of the discussion during the meeting centered on efforts to showcase the dashboard and communicate with districts on how it can be used.
Non-Voting Kentucky Board of Education Member Applications
GlyptusAnn Grider Jones, KDE’s director of education policy, went over the requirements for the open teacher member position and asked for Teacher Advisory Council members to serve on a special committee to independently review applications for the non-voting teacher position and make recommendations to the KBE.
In other business, council members:
- Discussed school nutrition with Lauren Moore, director of KDE’s Division of School and Community Nutrition.
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