Principals-Advisory-Council-Meeting graphic

(FRANKFORT, KY) – During the Principals Advisory Council (PrAC) meeting on June 9, principals shared their input on upcoming regulatory changes to Kentucky’s assessment and accountability systems with officials from the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).

House Bill (HB) 257, passed during the General Assembly’s 2026 regular session, provides districts the flexibility to work more closely with their communities to establish priorities for their schools and help ensure all students have access to vibrant learning experiences. Representatives with the KDE’s Office of Assessment and Accountability – Associate Commissioner Jennifer Stafford and Division Director Shara Savage – outlined the new legislation and the timeline for implementation while seeking input from PrAC members.

HB 257 includes locally developed indicators of quality – also known as local accountability – and a state accountability system that meets federal requirements. The indicators of quality include flexible options for districts, encouraging more collaboration with their communities to set their own local indicators that reflect what that community feels is important for their students. The KDE How It’s Working in Districts webpage includes several spotlights and videos that highlight the work Kentucky school districts have already done in this effort.

The indicators of quality, which are optional for districts, must include vibrant learning experiences for students.

The legislation makes changes to the current state assessment and accountability systems by:

  • Reducing the state testing time;
  • Using the individual student growth in the accountability system instead of comparing cohorts of students from year to year, while retaining the ability to compare results; and
  • Prioritizing student attendance in the accountability model.

Over the summer, KDE leaders are meeting with stakeholder groups as the department finalizes regulations surrounding assessment and accountability for the Kentucky Board of Education to begin considering in August. Stafford said among the topics to be discussed are how student attendance will play into the accountability system moving forward, how individual student growth is assessed and how each indicator in the accountability system is weighted.

Several principals spoke favorably about the switch to growth as a way to better understand how individual students are progressing year-to-year as opposed to comparing the same grade bands each year.

Jimica Howard, principal of Shelby Academy (Jefferson County), said measuring student growth will help her make adjustments with the young children in her school and keep track of their progress, including many who were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during their early childhood development.

“I believe it’ll give us information on how quickly we’re able to close the gaps that were created during the pandemic, at multiple levels: elementary, middle, high, etc.,” Howard said.

Principals also asked questions about how much chronic absenteeism will be weighted in the new accountability system and how students with excused absences for reasons such as chronic illness or religious practices will be incorporated into the calculations. Stafford said KDE is looking at multiple options on how it would be calculated under the new accountability system, including potential relief for students who are only absent for a part of a day.

In other business, PrAC members heard updates on and discussed: