Governor to sign CATS overhaul; reaction mixed

This from the Mesenger Inquirer:

Students in Kentucky public schools will take the current core content test within the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System this spring, but CATS will start going away over the next three years.That is the gist of Senate Bill 1, which Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday he will sign into law.The legislation, which passed both chambers of the 2009 General Assembly on Friday, charges the Kentucky Department of Education with developing new standards and a new test for the 2011-12 school year based largely on lawmakers' mandates.Since Friday, educators and advocates from all sides have been finding parts of the new assessment plan to like and dislike.

"The short term is really a mess," said Robert Sexton, the Prichard Committee's executive director. "We are very concerned about the next three years. ... If we can get through that, the end product will be a better system."School accountability will be drastically cut down while the new standards and tests are being created...

..."There's some good and not-so-good sides to it," Daviess County Public Schools Superintendent Tom Shelton said. "I'm really surprised there hasn't been more outcry to this."Shelton, who was in Frankfort on Friday when the last-minute discussions on the bill were taking place, gave the Daviess County Board of Education an update at a Friday night board retreat held at the central office."

Quite frankly, the legislature shouldn't be deciding this," Shelton said. "They should set the standards, and the department of education and local districts should be creating this."Shelton said he would have preferred to leave CATS intact until 2014, the target year for all Kentucky schools to have helped students achieve proficiency in the tested subjects."If I was among the public, I would be saying, 'You promised me proficiency by 2014. ... Now what?' " Shelton said.

Board member Frank Riney asked why there was such a push to change CATS."Is it because a bunch of schools are not going to make accountability by 2014, and now they don't have to face the music?" he asked.Shelton said he believes the lack of public outcry may be because a large number of schools are not in line to achieve accountability.

The superintendent speculated the reasons behind the push were more political."We'll find ways to make it work as we always do," he said. "We'll also find ways to make sure other areas not tested are not forgotten, because as you know, if it's not tested, it's not taught."Shelton, who is the president of the Council for Better Education, said legislators got mixed messages from education groups.

The Kentucky Education Association supported Senate Bill 1.Three other groups -- Kentucky School Boards Association, Kentucky Association of School Administrators and Kentucky Association of School Superintendents -- could not reach consensus on where assessment should go, Shelton said."I think legislators said, if the educators can't agree, then we have to do this," he said.

Owensboro Superintendent Larry Vick said the new assessment plan has some good features, including reducing the amount of testing and changing the way writing portfolios are used."I support teaching writing and we will continue to stress writing, but the writing portfolio is not as reflective of students' abilities as it is teachers' coaching, which is perfectly legal under the current system," Vick said.

Vick also is encouraged by components in the plan that will focus on aligning high school and college coursework."There is no reason for a child ever to have to go to college and take a remedial course," he said. "We can coordinate much better with what they need to know to go to college."

Vick also is concerned about the interim years and accountability."Right now we have more questions about the system than answers," he said.

Sandy Hayden, an art teacher at the Owensboro 5-6 Center, said she, too, wants to learn more about the assessment changes. She serves on the state's core content advisory committee for visual art."Personally, my greatest concern is with the possibility/reality of the arts being removed from the test," she said in an e-mail message. " I fear programs will be removed (from study) because they are not 'on the test.' "Hayden said Kentucky's testing system was meant to improve education, but in the end it has been our "own worst enemy." ...

Angela Gunter, a senior writing teacher at Daviess County High School, said she's excited about the changes."I think the on-demand test given to seniors is a much better tool for me as an instructor and measure of student ability than the portfolio," Gunter said in an e-mail message.

"It is comparable to the writing portion of the ACT ... ."Gunter also said she will be happy to be able to refocus some class time she is spending on portfolio preparation toward specific students' needs for college writing.

Bonnie Watson, a writing specialist at the Owensboro 5-6 Center, thinks the assessment changes will be good for education. She, too, prefers the on-demand writing test at the end of the year as a true assessment of students' writing."If teachers are teaching the writing process throughout the year, students should be able to perform on the test at the end of the year," Watson said. "I've seen that to be the case here at the 5-6 Center. We teach the children how to write, and their scores reflect that. ..."

Former Commish Finalist Likes SB 1

One of the finalists for Kentucky Education Commissioner, the last time around, commented in today's Messenger-Inquirer about proposed legislation to change the CATS assessment.

Owensboro Superintendent Larry Vick likes a lot of the provisions in Senate Bill 1, including use of a norm-referenced test.

"A lot of people say with a multiple choice test you can't have higher-level thinking, but some well-designed tests are fairly complicated and involve concepts," Vick said. "We need a balanced assessment."

Vick ...[is] hoping lawmakers do more than just focus on CATS...

Vick said Senate Bill 1 is moving in the right direction and is an improved bill from last year. The easy part, though, is redesigning the test, he said.

"The harder part, which no one has talked about yet, is the assessment system," Vick said.

"How do we hold people accountable? How do we assess the results?"I think the Senate has made a real compromise based on last year's discussion. Now we should take a couple of years and thoughtfully develop a new approach to assessment."

It is unclear why Vick thinks no one is talking about the assessment system. It is also too soon to know if Vick will be in the commissioner mix this time around.

Book details Owensboro Public Schools history

This from the Messenger-Inquirer by way of KSBA:

“A History of the Owensboro Public Schools,” which highlights the development and growth of the school system over 137 years, will go on sale Monday.

The 372-page book is available in hardback for $35 and softcover for $25.

“A lot of people contributed a little piece of information, a memory or a photograph,” said Julie Ellis, the district’s public relations coordinator.

Ellis and former Superintendent Bill Chandler spent large blocks of time over four years gathering pictures and reading, summarizing and relaying information for the book.

“It’s a relief to see it completed,” Ellis said.

Tuesday at a board of education luncheon. “It’s an accomplishment to get it all together into a researchable document. Hopefully it will be helpful for people for years to come.”

The project started as an attempt to help students and others who came to the board office to do research. The board and administration wanted to provide researchers with some basic information.

“Dr. (Larry) Vick also suggested starting archives, and we had a room upstairs devoted to it,” Ellis said. “And then the project grew from 150 pages to 372. We had to finally stop.”

One of Ellis’ sons had compiled a history of OPS for a research paper at Owensboro High School, and that formed the basis for her research...

Results for Flash Poll # 4

Wherein we asked:

Who should the Kentucky Board of Education select

as the next Commissioner of Education?

Survey said...

Jon Draud 31%

Richard Hughes 2%

Larry Vick 2%

James Warford 0%

None of the Above 62%

And as usual, this poll is wholly unscientific; n = 35.

KBE decides to meet November 25 to consider final decision.

BOARD INTERVIEWS CANDIDATES, DISCUSSES NEXT STEPS

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – During its two-day meeting in Covington, the Kentucky Board of Education interviewed four finalists for the position of Commissioner of Education and discussed the next steps in the selection process.

The four finalists are:

· Jon Draud, state representative for the 63rd District and a former superintendent of the Ludlow Independent school district

· Richard Hughes, a professor at Morehead State University and former superintendent of the Hardin County school district

· Larry Vick, superintendent of the Owensboro Independent school district

· Jim Warford, executive director/CEO of the Florida Association of School Administrators and a former chancellor for Florida’s public schools

The board reviewed its selection process and agreed to continue gathering additional information. The board also indicated that, at this time, it would not seek additional applications for the position.

Chairman Joe Brothers indicated that the board would meet on Sunday, November 25, at 4 p.m. in Frankfort to consider making a final decision.

The process to select a commissioner of education began when the board identified the desired characteristics of a successful candidate. A nationwide search was conducted to recruit candidates, and the board strongly encouraged Kentucky candidates to apply. The board solicited and received input from stakeholder groups, the general public and references. More than 50 applications were received, with approximately half from Kentuckians. The board narrowed the applicants to a list of semi-finalists, then selected four finalists for interviews.

SOURCE: KDE press release

Larry Vick article in the Messenger-Inquirer

Owensboro Public Schools superintendent

in seventh year at city schools

Larry Vick, in his seventh year as superintendent of Owensboro Public Schools, is one of five finalists for Kentucky education commissioner...

... "I'm honored to be selected as a finalist," Vick said when contacted ... at home.

"I'm looking forward to talking to the state board about my ideas for moving the state forward to that 2014 goal."

... "We've had good results in Owensboro, and I feel like I could share some of our methodology that could be employed by the state," Vick said...

...[Regarding the Erwin selection:] "I felt like I couldn't let that happen again," he said. "But if I didn't think I could do the job, I wouldn't have applied."

Two or three superintendents that Vick would have liked to have seen apply for the job did not, and that opened the door for him, he said.

The state board sent two to three e-mails encouraging Kentucky superintendents to apply, Vick said.

That was a signal to him that board members would take a strong look at candidates from those ranks...

...Before coming to Owensboro he was superintendent of the Paris (Tenn.) Special School District, a K-8 public school system. Owensboro has about 4,300 students in preschool through 12th grade.

The district is meeting all of its No Child Left Behind goals. For the last two years, it has been identified by Standard & Poor's School Evaluation Services as one of 18 "outperforming" districts from 171 in the Kentucky comparison group.

This from the Messenger-Inquirer. (Subscription)

Brothers wants the Public and the Media to Help Vet Commish Finalists

Education board picks semifinalists
Top Ky. post may be filled in weeks

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Four of the five semifinalists for the state's top education post are current or former Kentuckians.

The Kentucky Board of Education identified four of the candidates for education commissioner last night and is expected to announce the fifth candidate's name as early as today, pending confirmation that the person wants to continue in the process.

The four candidates who were identified are current or former superintendents...

The board decided to make a list of semifinalists public after a botched attempt to hire an education commissioner this summer.

The board's choice then, Illinois educator Barbara Erwin, resigned in July -- three days before she was to start -- amid questions about her background...

[James] Warford, 58, was raised in Shelby County and obtained his bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University. He is currently chief executive officer of the Florida Association of School Administrators. "I can't think of a greater personal or professional honor than to return to my home and continue the education reforms under way in Kentucky," Warford said last night from his Tallahassee, Fla., home. Warford said that as the K-12 chancellor of the Florida Department of Education for two years he was directly involved in leading education reforms in the state. But it is the Kentucky teachers and principals he had as a poverty-stricken child growing up that motivate him to want to return to the Bluegrass State, he said. "I think on a personal level I understand the importance of education for the children in that state," he said. "I know something about having lived it." Warford said he was an applicant during the school board's summer search but did not get this far in the process.

[Larry] Vick, 59, said he has been superintendent of the Owensboro Independent Schools for the past seven years. He has also served as superintendent in two Tennessee school districts, all for a combined 34 years of experience as superintendent. Vick grew up in Tennessee, just south of Murray, Ky., and obtained his master's degree from Murray State University. "I feel like we're at a crucial state in Kentucky moving toward proficiency in 2014," he said. "I feel like if selected I could help the state move forward toward proficiency."

[Jon] Draud, 69, was superintendent of Ludlow Independent Schools from 1978 to 1997 and has also been a teacher, principal, school board member and college professor.
He has been a state representative since 1999 and is vice chairman of the House Education Committee. Draud said last week that the reason he ran for the state House was to help improve education in Kentucky. "I feel that I can bring a lot to the table and help improve education in Kentucky," he said last week. "I know I can do a good job and work well with the board. I have done so in the past."

[Richard] Hughes, 61, retired in 2006 after serving as superintendent of Hardin County Schools for four years. Before that he served as superintendent of Montgomery County Schools and has been a principal, teacher and coach. He is a native of Hazard. With more than 600,000 students in Kentucky public education, Hughes said he believes education commissioner is the most important job in the state. "To be able to be leading and overseeing that enterprise is just a great challenge and very important," he said. "It would be an honor for me to serve in that position." Hughes said he applied during the summer search but did not get this far in the process.

After yesterday's special meeting, Brothers said the board wants the public and the media to help vet the candidates to avoid the problems it had with the last search. "We're counting on the entire state and those educators in our communities in the commonwealth to help us," he said.

This from the Courier-Journal.

Kentucky Board of Education names 4 out of 5 finalists

FINALISTS NAMED FOR COMMISSIONER POST

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Kentucky Board of Education has selected five finalists to for the position of Kentucky education commissioner.

During a special-called meeting today, the board announced the names of four of the finalists. The remaining finalist’s name will be released after that individual is contacted and confirms his or her continued interest in the position.

The four names released today are:

· Jon Draud, state representative for the 63rd District and a former superintendent of the Ludlow Independent school district

· Richard Hughes, a professor at Morehead State University and former superintendent of the Hardin County school district

· Larry Vick, superintendent of the Owensboro Independent school district

· Jim Warford, executive director/CEO of the Florida Association of School Administrators and a former chancellor for Florida’s public schools

“These candidates best represent the qualities that this board believes are essential for Kentucky’s next commissioner of education,” said Board Chair Joe Brothers. “We had many outstanding applicants, and these are extremely qualified and able.”

Pending final background checks, the full board will interview the finalists and deliberate on the selection in closed session on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 13 and 14, at the Embassy Suites Cincinnati RiverCenter in Covington.

The public is invited to comment on the finalists by accessing this Web site:
http://education.ky.gov/FormServ/?ID=NextCommissioner

SOURCE: KDE press release.

And this from the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Draud in running for state post

EDGEWOOD - State Rep. Jon Draud has made the latest cut in Kentucky's search for a new education commissioner.

Draud, an Edgewood Republican, said Sunday night he is one of five people still being considered for the position. The State Board of Education met Sunday afternoon and reduced the list of potential candidates from nine. Draud said in a phone interview he was told he is still in the running...

..."I'm looking forward to meeting with members of the board," said Draud, a five-term lawmaker and the retired superintendent of the Ludlow schools. "I feel like I can work well with them. And if I don't get the job, I hope they do pick someone from Kentucky."

Cliff Wallace of Grant County, the former superintendent of the Williamstown and Pendleton County school systems, said Draud would make "an outstanding commissioner."

"I've known Jon for 30 years," Wallace said during an interview late last week. "As a legislator, he always follows through with what he says he is going to do. "He knows all or most of the superintendents in the state, he knows the problems and issues school districts face, and he knows the issues from the legislaitve side. So hiring him would bring some continuity; Jon knows the school systems and he knows the legislative process."About the only downside is we would be losing a good legislator," Wallace said.