Will Wells Will Wells, who began his third year as superintendent of the Oldham County school district this fall, oversees more than 12,000 students in 16 schools along with a preschool, arts center and career-focused education center. The career center is home to one of the district’s most exciting initiatives, the new OCS Engineering Academy, which launched in [...]
New Kentucky Board of Education members Debra Cook and Samuel Hinkle were sworn in by Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd during the board’s annual retreat in Frankfort.Photo by Amy Wallot, Aug. 6, 2014 The two newest members of the Kentucky Board of Education, Samuel D. Hinkle IV and Debra L. Cook, were sworn in last month. We asked for [...]
The U.S. Department of Education (USED) has awarded grants to three Kentucky school districts to support counseling programs in elementary and secondary schools. More than $14.7 million was awarded to 40 school districts in 20 states, USED announced Thursday. Campbell County was the only district in the nation to receive two grants, which totaled $722, 261. Erlanger-Elsmere Independent will get [...]
Moving Kentucky into the top tier of states in key areas of education by 2020 will require a hard push for improvement in the next six years, according to a new report from the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence. The 2014 update of the Committee’s “Top 20 by 2020” found Kentucky’s performance in six categories to be on track to [...]
Casey Allen Casey Allen recently marked the start of his third full year as superintendent of the Ballard County school district, but that short tenure has seen a number of improvements around the district and a refocusing on the schools’ relationships with the community they serve. The district receives strong support from the small county of about 8,000 [...]
Chrissy Jones The Franklin County school district has the goal to be “the preferred school district in Kentucky” and is committed to putting kids first. The district wants to ensure all students are college- and career-ready, which involves students learning in ways that encompass 21st-century skills. This includes engaging our students in learning which challenges them to work [...]
Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday announces the Kentucky Core Academic Standards Challenge in August 2014 during a press conference at Woodford County High School.Photo by Amy Wallot, Aug. 25, 2014 On Monday the Kentucky Department of Education, in cooperation with education advocacy groups across the state, kicked off the Kentucky Core Academic Standards Challenge, a process for collecting [...]
Kentucky public high school graduates turned in another strong performance on the ACT college-entrance exam, making significant gains over the past five years. While Kentucky public school graduates still trail those nationwide, the performance gap is narrowing. From 2010 to 2014, Kentucky public school students registered from a half-point to more than a full-point gain in every subject and nearly [...]
Donald Shively As befits a former chemistry teacher and assistant football coach, Paducah Independent Superintendent Donald Shively is adept at using numbers to gauge the progress of the district. In looking at the big picture, Shively likes the progress that’s been made toward students being college- and career-ready when they graduate. “We’ve gone from having 34 percent of [...]
Gov. Steve Beshear has made appointments to two education-related boards. The governor appointed nine new members to the School Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability Council (SCAAC). The 17-member council advises the Kentucky Board of Education on the design of the testing and accountability system. The new members are: Shannon Treece, of New Castle, is principal at Eminence Middle and High School. She [...]