SOURCE: CBE press releaseThe Council for Better Education, based on testing results released today, has expressed grave concern that Kentucky is not on track to deliver proficient high school graduates and provide an efficient system of common schools by 2014.
In a report released today and available at http://www.kycbe.com/, the Council notes that average student performance declined at almost half of Kentucky high schools from 2007 to 2008. At another third, scores improved, but at a pace too slow to reach statewide proficiency goals by 2014. Only one high school in six improved student work enough to meet those state goals on schedule.
The Council also found that results by group either declined or improved too slowly to meet state goals. Female and white students showed weak progress, as did students who participated in the free-and-reduced-price lunch program. Results declined for male students, for African-American, Hispanic, and Asian students, for students who did not participate in the lunch program, and for students both with and without disabilities.
Roger Marcum, the Council’s president, addressed the results, saying: “These are very disturbing results. We urge all CBE members to take strong action to change these trends, and we call on the General Assembly and other state leaders, as well as the citizens of the Commonwealth, to ensure that our schools and districts have the resources and support they need to deliver student proficiency by 2014. Our children’s futures and our shared future as a state are in danger if we do not deliver for each and every child in the coming years.”
The Council for Better Education represents 168 of Kentucky’s 174 school districts in efforts to ensure full implementation of Kentucky’s constitutional commitment to our students and our common schools.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
CBE REPORT: KENTUCKY IS NOT ON TRACK FOR HIGH SCHOOL PROFICIENCY
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3 comments:
How valid is this projection by simply taking the difference in the two years scores and adding/subtracting that difference to reach 2014?
Looks like a lot of math not grounded in substance to make that a valid paper to be sending out for headlines.
I'm always skeptical when student achievement scores are compared from one year to the next. It's best to look at a longer period of time when you can. And right now, because of this CATS interim period, you can't.
But the conclusions certainly appear to be true and the Ky Board has been looking at such data for a while now. We're not going to make the state goal.
Adding to CBE's "headlines" is what they left out.
That's the fact that NCLB goals won't be hit either. As we approach 2014, Kentucky's backloaded design will make progress even more difficult.
It seems to me that the state's that will be celebrating are the few who hit both their state and national goals.
Irregardless of whether the state board is studying the prospects of schools meeting the goal which I am assured some type of statistical manuever will make most of it happen, it is not responsible for an organization to make such bold claims on such flimsy data. Perhaps if they had couched it in terms of the KDE research or other items it would appear to a blatant grab for some media. In their data, I have discovered the secret to increasing scores - quit taking the test. A high school that has been closed for over year is projected to e scoring in the 90 to 99.9 category.
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