Education Commissioner Terry Holliday I recently had the opportunity to testify before the Senate Education Committee about the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and mathematics and the Next-Generation Science Standards, adopted in our state and collectively known as the Kentucky Core Academic Standards. The hearing was on Senate Bill 224, which would abandon the standards and [...]
Education Commissioner Terry Holliday As I noted in my column last month, the 2013-14 school year is going to be a busy one with many new and continuing initiatives. Since that column ran, two reports have been published that underscore our work in two areas – teachers (their training, professional learning and their working conditions) and state education [...]
Education Commissioner Terry Holliday All in all, the 2013 session of the General Assembly was a very productive session for education. The major initiative of the Governor, First Lady and the Kentucky Board of Education was the passage of the graduation bill. This bill allows local school systems to raise the dropout age from 16 to [...]
Education Commissioner Terry Holliday Throughout the commonwealth, educators are working diligently and with a sense of urgency to ensure ALL Kentucky’s students are college/career-ready when they graduate high school. They know it is an economic imperative not only for their students but also for our state. Together, we have made great strides this past year, as we worked [...]
Education Commissioner Terry Holliday No matter how busy my schedule gets as Kentucky’s education commissioner, I am always interested in receiving feedback. That’s one of the many reasons I meet regularly with staff, connect through social media and visit schools around the state. The comments, questions and ideas I receive from all of these and many other activities [...]
The Kentucky Department of Education will release the results of the first Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) next month. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday I know there is great anticipation – and maybe anxiousness – about what the results will reveal. Kentucky educators are drawn to teaching by the belief they can make a positive difference in [...]
This time of year has always been a period of excitement for me. As a former high school band director, this was time spent in preparation for the upcoming football and marching band season. As a principal, it was time for focusing staff on instruction and expectations for the school year. As a superintendent, it was time to make certain [...]