(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education released annual School Report Card data on Oct. 14, as required by statute and under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Due to Kentucky's COVID-19 Assessment Waiver Request to the U.S. Department of Education, the majority of state testing and accountability calculations for the 2019-2020 school year were suspended. This resulted in limited assessment and no accountability data.
Other data remains available to help communities know more about their local schools.“Though there is limited data available, we hope this information will be useful to start conversations between schools, families and community members about how to ensure all of our students are receiving a high-quality education,” said Kentucky Commissioner of Education Jason E. Glass. “We know there still is a lot of work to be done. The Kentucky Department of Education is here to work alongside our districts to provide the supports they need as they continue focusing on student achievement.”
Star ratings are not applicable for the 2019-2020 school year and federal classifications were not calculated. Schools will retain their federal classification based on 2018-2019 assessment data in accordance with the federal waiver.
Since there were no Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) assessments, significant achievement gaps also were not determined. Accountability scores are not applicable to 2019-2020 reporting.
Kentucky’s School Report Card is divided into Key Topic Areas. Highlights include:
Transition to Adult Life/Graduation Rates
Though they are not included in accountability, graduation rates still are reported separately for 4- and 5-year rates and a 4- and 5-year combined average rate. The 4-year Graduation Rate by Ethnicity is highlighted on each organization’s landing page.
Based on the data, Kentucky continues to post one of the nation’s highest graduation rates, with 90.9% of students earning their high school diploma in four years. The 4-year rate was an increase from 90.6% in 2019 and 90.3% in 2018.
Kentucky’s 5-year graduation continues to climb, as well. The rate increased to 92% in 2020 from 91.6% in 2019 and 91.3% in 2018.
Both the 4-and 5-year graduation rate for the All Students group exceed the target goal for 2020, which was 90.8% and 91.8%, respectively.
Overview/Faculty, Staff and Community
According to the KDE’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, Kentucky ranks fifth in the nation for the number of new National Board Certified teachers and eighth in the nation for the total number of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
Results from the 2020 working conditions survey also are included under the Faculty tab on the School Report Card. The data for this section was driven by the results of the Impact Kentucky survey administered by KDE in partnership with Panorama Education.
More than 43,000 educators in the state responded to the survey, surpassing the previous participation record set in 2017 by over 1,500 responses. The three highlighted constructs – School Climate, Managing Student Behavior and School Leadership – are connected to teacher retention and student achievement in Kentucky.
New for the 2019-2020 school year, the Equity tab displays data collected to assess whether students enrolled in schools eligible to receive Title 1, Part A were served at disproportionate rates by inexperienced or out-of-field teachers. All certified teachers are included regardless of content area. Percentages may be higher if a teacher instructs a large number of students in a building.
Education Opportunity/Career and Technical Education Snapshot
The Career and Technical Education (CTE) Snapshot highlights students in the 12th-grade cohort who have completed at least one CTE credit.
Approximately 40% of that 12th-grade cohort achieved completer status, meaning they completed four or more CTE credits in a single career pathway. According to KDE’s Office of Career and Technical Education, students achieving completer status in a single CTE career pathway outperform peers in regard to several postsecondary student outcomes, including percentage employed, wages attained and postsecondary education graduation rates.
New Charts for 2020 – Trend Lines and Progress Toward State Goals
New to the card this year are trend line charts that provide a view of the data over a 3-year period. Trends are available in the Overview section for student enrollment (membership) and select student groups, also for Kindergarten Screener assessment in the Academic Performance area of the card and graduation rate in the Transition to Adult Life area of the card.
Progress toward state goals is reported as measurements of interim progress in the Academic Performance area. Data is limited due to lack of testing for proficiency. However, graduation and English language proficiency measures do include 2019-2020 data.
Financial data on funding, grants, spending and taxes for each school district, as well as school-level spending per student, will be made available in the spring once audited financial data is available. This information will be contained in the Financial Transparency section of the School Report Card.
Under ESSA, each state in the U.S. was required to create an online school report card as part of its statewide accountability system.
Glass said information on Kentucky’s School Report Card should be a resource to spark a conversation about education in local communities. He urged districts and schools to share the link to their School Report Card with their families.