Leaving in Droves?

A commenter recently suggested we might look into how many KDE employees are bailing out of the department. "In droves," it was suggested. "The new commish's leadership style seems to be the issue. The word is that KDE staffers, school district finance officers, and superintendents are about to revolt due to a major lack of support."

Aside from the obvious fact that too few people have too much work, I wasn't sure what to attribute any defections to. Given the budget cuts of recent years, hearing that employees are leaving the department is a bit like hearing there's speeding at Indy. It may well be true that some people are leaving KDE because the workload is overwhelming to them. There’s a great deal of pressure to produce, under the mandates of Senate Bill 1.

The chart above strips out the faculty of Kentucky School for the Deaf and Kentucky School for the Blind, leaving Frankfort-based staff alone. It presents downward trend data since 1998.

KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross told KSN&C,

"What I’ve observed in the past four or five years is that our workforce has gotten smaller. The primary reason for this is budget cuts – in 2008, an executive order from the Governor mandated that the state workforce be reduced, and that was to be done through attrition. What that means is when there are positions open, sometimes we can fill them, sometimes not. All positions must be heavily justified."

In 2006 and 2007, there were a large number of retirements due to the impending elimination of a retirement provision. So it benefited those who could retire to do so before the benefit expired. With those retirements, KDE lost a lot of institutional knowledge, which means there aren’t people who can serve as mentors.

Because of the impact of the school year on the department, KDE tends to have clusters of staff who leave at the same time, some with similar lengths of work experience.

As of August 31, KDE had 550 full-time employees, with 325 of those based in Frankfort.

From July 1 to August 31:

• 13 appointments to positions were made.
• One person transferred to another position.
• One person was promoted to another position.
• 25 people left KDE.

Only two positions were scheduled for interviews during that time. Drawn from 233 applicants, 22 candidates are vying for the positions.

Another issue that affects our staffing is the use of MOAs – individuals who work on contract with KDE for a period of time, usually a year or two, and then return to their school districts. In the past, MOA workers sometimes had their contracts extended indefinitely, but because of increased focus on personnel by the Governor’s Office and the Personnel Cabinet, we’ve had to tighten up our protocols for MOAs. This has led to some short-timers – people who may only be here for a year, then they’re replaced by other contract workers. This may be what a lot of school officials are seeing as turnover and “flight.”

Gross is reminded of "the time when KERA was passed, and all of our positions were abolished, with new positions re-established the next day. There were many comings and goings during that time, and it took a while for the dust to settle."

Gross kept detailed information about internal hirings and separations and finds that the numbers of people leaving in 2007 and 2008 overall, were about twice as many as in 2009 and 2010 overall.

She remembers when she first began working at KDE in 1986 and the department had about 800 employees.

Software "update" affects Kentucky computers

This from Fox41:

Antivirus vendor McAfee Inc. confirmed that a software update caused its antivirus program for corporate customers to misidentify a harmless file.

The Kentucky Department of Education says the issue has likely affected nearly every school district in the state. It says school districts are being advised to shut down workstations that are affected by this update. Late Wednesday afternoon, McAfee came up with a temporary fix for the problem.

The Education Department says it not aware of any privacy breaches related to the issue.

Jefferson County Public Schools spokeswoman Lauren Roberts tells Fox 41 News that several JCPS computers have been affected. She said affected computers display a message that they have been infected and JCPS is warning users not to reboot.

The website for the Bullitt County Public School system displayed the following message as of 12:50 Wednesday afternoon:

"We are experiencing problems with a state-wide virus attack. Computers are shutting down on their own. We are investigating the problem...For updates, call 869-TECH."

Fox 41 contacted Bullitt County Public Schools, but a spokesperson declined to comment.

Kentucky State Police Lt. David Jude said Wednesday that state police personnel have been instructed to turn off computers while technicians try to resolve the problem. Jude says the problem has not interrupted the ability of state police to respond to complaints.

In Shepherdsville, city Police Capt. Kenneth Bernardi said his department was advised to turn off their car terminals.

McAfee has posted a replacement update for download.

KDE Spokeswoman Lisa Gross issued the following guidance by email late this afternoon:

I’ve just been alerted that a temporary fix has been designed for the issues that school districts (and other users) may be experiencing due to the faulty update received from McAfee for users of the company’s products.

Technology staff in all 174 school districts have been provided with the temporary fix. KDE staff is still actively working with McAfee to find a long-term solution to the problem.

...This issue has likely affected nearly every school district, but is not limited to school districts.

...We are not aware of any privacy breaches related to this issue.

Hat tip to KSBA.

Leadership Audits Catch JCPS Off Guard

Leadership audits target

10 Kentucky schools

A couple of weeks ago, I had a nice chat with an inquisitor - oops, I mean "auditor" - on one of the state's new leadership audit teams. This former K-12 and higher ed educator has been on audit teams before. But this one, he says, is different. This one's out for blood.

Perhaps this is exactly what should happen. Some of our state's lowest performing schools have been that way for a long time now. Proposed changes that work at the margins have not shown success in moving student achievement in a positive direction. Maybe it's time, in some cases, to close or restructure schools, fire leadership and ineffective teachers...to consider new options.

This is clearly where the Obama administration is driving school reform and Kentucky is on the bus.

Politics K-12 reported that part of President Barack Obama's plan for reauthorizing NCLB includes a menu of interventions he would like to see states use in the schools struggling the most. "All of the options call for fairly dramatic interventions, and nearly all of them would require that a failing school get rid of its principal." The feds encourage differentiated consequences that involve a more nuanced look at a low-performing school's performance. For example, schools where students are struggling across the board would be subject to a different set of consequences than schools that are having trouble with only one NCLB target. It's a "tiered" approach to judging how schools are doing and an enhanced set of remedies for fixing their shortcomings.

Last week leadership assessments got underway at 10 of Kentucky's lowest-performing schools, including Fern Creek, Shawnee, Western, and Valley high schools, Frost Western Middle in Jefferson County.

This from Toni Konz at C-J:

“This is some very serious stuff,” said Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education. “It's quite different from the kind of assistance we've provided in the past — the consequences are much higher.”

Under House Bill 176, which the General Assembly passed in January, the state had to identify its lowest-performing middle and high schools, based on last year's test scores, and outline a range of interventions aimed at turning them around.

Those interventions include: replacing the principal and site-based decision-making council, replacing more than half the faculty, closing the school and transferring its students to higher-performing schools or restarting the schools under the management of a private or nonprofit operator.

The Kentucky auditors will scour every inch of the school community and recommend one of four intervention options. Then it will be up to Superintendent Sheldon Berman to select which of the four options Jefferson County will implement during the 2010-11 school year.

Recently, Obama and Duncan applauded a decision made in Rhode Island to fire an entire faculty that failed to agree to a restructuring plan.

JCPS Director of Testing and Accountability Bob Rodosky told C-J he was caught off guard by the audits. “It came as a surprise to us," he said.

Rodosky said he hopes the auditors will take into consideration some of the improvement strategies the district has already put in place at several of the schools affected.

“We understand that some of these schools have struggled, and we've tried to find solutions,” he said. “We just want to make sure that the solutions we've tried have been given a chance.”

But Rodosky said the district isn't sure what the outcome will be.“The auditors are looking at things differently than what they've done in the past, so we aren't sure what to expect,” he said.

My sources suggest that good intentions and modest efforts are not likely to earn much sympathy from the auditors.

KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross told C-J that Kentucky is asking for approximately $50 million in School Improvement Grants. Each of the 10 schools are eligible to receive $500,000 per year for up to three years to implement the improvement strategies outlined in the new law but only if they agreed to participate in the leadership-assessment process this year. This is a lot like volunteering for a root canal, or perhaps a colonoscopy.

Western High principal David Mike said Friday he was preparing for the auditors visit to his school, which takes place next week.

“I am very worried about it,” he said.

He should be.

Photo from Monty Python: "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

Some Movement on Charters in Kentucky

The Commissioner responded last week to doubts about Kentucky's eligibility for Race to the Top funds saying,

The focus of the turnaround schools requirement is on improving student achievement outcomes. That is something everyone in Kentucky can support. We have had experience in Kentucky working with turnaround efforts that we need to build upon.

In my previous experience as a local superintendent, I have worked very well with charter schools. I think Kentucky should keep an open conversation going about the best possible solutions for raising achievement and closing achievement gaps. I feel certain the conversation will include all of the options espoused by Sec. Duncan....

...I do believe we will be able to respond to these [turnaround] criteria.

The issue of charter schools is listed as a “selection criteria” under the reform area of “Turning Around Struggling Schools.” As such, Kentucky's lack of legislation enabling charter schools will count against the state, but it will not make Kentucky ineligible to apply for the Race to the Top fund. The other selection criteria in the “Turning Around Struggling Schools” reform area relates to intervening in low-performing schools. It is our opinion that our efforts since the Kentucky Education Reform Act with regard to interventions in low-performing schools could give us “bonus” points on our application and thus offset the charter school issue.

Lack of charter schools could cost state stimulus funds

This from the Paducah Sun: (subscription)

Kentucky education officials hope the state will qualify for a share of nearly $5 billion in federal education funds intended to help pay for programs that encourage innovation and accountability....

Criteria for funding is still being developed but Duncan said preference will be given to states that have charter schools. That could cause problems for Kentucky, one of 11 states without them...

However, [Lisa Gross of the Kentucky Department of Education] said the state is reviewing the charter school concept that began in Minnesota in 1991.

“We are looking at charters — the pros and cons, financing, oversight and etceteras,” she said. “We’ve not had a position on those in the past, mainly because they’ve not had a lot of attention in the state.”

State Sen. Ken Winters, R-Murray, believes that the legislature may begin debate on charter schools at next year’s legislative session. He is chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Like Gross, Winters believes Kentucky should qualify for some of the funding because of innovative programs that accomplish the same goals as charter schools.

He specifically mentioned Senate Bill 1, passed recently, that has incentive programs to teach engineering, improve test scores, increase participation in advance placement courses and encourage students to begin their college education early by taking equivalency tests to qualify for college credit.

“There are no laws that specifically prohibit charters, but there would have to be legislation introduced and regulations promulgated that would outline how they’d be set up, who has oversight, how funding is managed and other items,” Gross said.

The only potential problem is that they could not be private schools because of a constitutional prohibition against using public funds for private education.

She said the department of education has no plans to recommend charter school legislation to the General Assembly, but that could change if the state determines it isn’t eligible for “Race to the Top” funds.

Meanwhile, some education officials nationwide feel Duncan is using strong-armed tactics to force the expansion of the charter school concept....

Hat tip to KSBA.

Governor's Office Verifies Statement on School Councils

It took some lawyers hunting for it, but this morning Jay Blanton with the Governor's office informed KSN&C that they found the regulation that verifies Education Cabinet Secretary Helen Mountjoy's assertion that,

"Every school in KY which is meeting the learning achievement goals set for it can apply and receive a waiver from any state regulation other than those mandated by federal statute, those concerning health and safety and those concerning the state’s system of assessment and accountability."

Working with KDE and the Governor's office, at some length yesterday, KSN&C tried to verify the claim but was only given KRS 160.345 which governs school council configurations; and KRS 156.072 which grants some waivers from reporting requirements if the local superintendent goes along - nothing that verified the statement above.

KDE spokesperson Lisa Gross told KSN&C that "neither Kevin Noland nor any other staff recall any districts asking for waivers under KRS 156.072 since it was enacted in 2000."

This morning, however, the governor's spokesperson, Jay Blanton, sent along a little "more info" in the form of KRS 156.160. It would seem to this non-lawyer that they found what they were looking for all along.

KRS 156.160 deals with the "Promulgation of administrative regulations by Kentucky Board of Education" Voluntary compliance and Penalties. At section Two, it reads,

(2) (a) At the request of a local board of education or a school council, a local school district superintendent shall request that the Kentucky Board of Education waive any administrative regulation promulgated by that board.

Beginning in the 1996-97 school year, a request for waiver of any administrative regulation shall be submitted to the Kentucky Board of Education in writing with appropriate justification for the waiver. The Kentucky Board of Education may approve the request when the school district or school has demonstrated circumstances that may include but are not limited to the following:

1. An alternative approach will achieve the same result required by the administrative regulation;
2. Implementation of the administrative regulation will cause a hardship on the school district or school or jeopardize the continuation or development of programs; or
3. There is a finding of good cause for the waiver.
(b) The following shall not be subject to waiver:
1. Administrative regulations relating to health and safety;
2. Administrative regulations relating to civil rights;
3. Administrative regulations required by federal law; and
4. Administrative regulations promulgated in accordance with KRS 158.6451, 158.6453, 158.6455, 158.685, and this section, relating to measurement of performance outcomes and determination of successful districts or schools, except upon issues relating to the grade configuration of schools.

(c) Any waiver granted under this subsection shall be subject to revocation upon a determination by the Kentucky Board of Education that the school district or school holding the waiver has subsequently failed to meet the intent of the waiver.

Good. That clears that up.

In practice, it's nowhere near apparent that this approaches the kind of flexibility to waive regulations and board of education policies that would typically be offered charter schools. But Gross says, "Districts have asked for waivers of provisions of regs, which they can do under KRS 156.160" and that was the case with the example Gross cited yesterday regarding Ft. Thomas and the approval of common transportation carriers.

Now the state is only left with the larger problem of getting Education Secretary Arne Duncan to see things that way, from his point of view. And that doesn't appear to be happening.

Bad Memories: Who's Looking Out for the Public's Interest?

At the end of this morning's Herald-Leader story on the search for a new education commissioner for Kentucky was this one-liner:

[KDE spokesperson Lisa] Gross said it's unclear whether the names of finalists will be made public.

In this morning's Courier-Journal, however, KBE Chair Joe Brother told Toni Konz that the board simply hasn't decided yet.

"I do expect that at some point one or more finalists will be publicly vetted, "he said.

ONE or more?

This is always a tricky issue and the board is wise to protect the identity of persons who apply for such positions - up to a point. It serves no legitimate purpose to cause disharmony in the school districts or other venues from which candidates are derived. Some argue that an open process would constrict the number of candidates who are willing to step up to the challenge of running a large and vitally important public organization.

However, at some point, the public's interest in knowing and having the opportunity to vet and provide input on candidates outweighs any individual candidate's interest in anonymity.

In the board's last search (Jon Draud, late 2007) three finalists were publicly identified and citizens were given a couple of weeks to provide feedback to the board before a final decision was made.

But announcing one finalist only will be seen as a dodge that is sure to give the public the sense that the decision has already been made and the opportunity for public input is insincere.

The Kentucky Board of Education would be wise to name their three finalists, once again.

As a reminder to board members who may actually be flirting with an anonymous search process, lets review how that worked out in early 2007.

• Before the hiring of the previous state school commissioners, Thomas Boysen, Wilmer Cody and Gene Wilhoit, (and later, Jon Draud) the state school board released the names of the finalists so the public and interested groups could weigh in and have a say in the selection process.
• Gene Wilhoit resigned in September 2006 and Ray & Associates was hired to conduct a search that December. Ray & Associates advised the board to keep everything confidential, citing the reasoning mentioned above.
• On April 1, 2008 the Kentucky Board's search committee held its first meeting where they decided to follow Ray's advice.
• As early as April 7 Mark Hebert reported that the Commissioner search was being conducted in secret. Search committee member Bonnie Lash Freeman told Hebert that the board was aware that it was the first time a commissioner would be chosen entirely behind closed doors and that the board hadn't discussed the possibility of backlash from taxpayers. She refused to say whether any of the three finalists had asked that their names be kept secret. KSBA advised the board to name 2, 3 or 4 finalists. KEA advised "more transparency." That's when KSN&C got involved.
• On April 10 KBE said the names of finalists might not be released to the public.
• By April 16th Governor Fletcher involved himself and the process became politically charged. Sources tell KSN&C that Fletcher was posturing; believing that the board was really intending to name finalists all along, but for some reason, thought it best to present a secretive front.
• On April 18th the board named three finalists - and appeared to have lost control of the process in doing so.

Things went pretty much downhill from there.

By the 19th, KSN&C had posted numerous pages of research on the finalists, and by the 24th, advised the board to choose Mitchell Chester, now Commissioner in Massachusetts while expressing concerns about the other finalists, Barbara Erwin and Richard LaPointe.

Public vetting can help the Kentucky Board of Education avoid past problems and make a better decision. But only if they are sincerely listening and remain open-minded until time for the final decision arrives.

Sounds Easy. Wanna be Interim Commish for a Month?

Interim Education Commissioner Elaine Farris has accepted a job as superintendent of Clark County Public Schools. Farris’ new contract begins July 1, but a new commissioner isn’t expected until Aug. 1. So now the Kentucky Board of Education must find a new Interim Commissioner to fill the spot for the month of July.

Lisa Gross, director of communications for the Kentucky Department of Education told the State Journal,

“The board will talk about how they want to proceed (in naming an interim commissioner),” she said. “They have not made a decision. They have some time, but I suspect that they’ll talk about it as quickly as possible.”

The board meets in Frankfort May 12 and 13 for its annual retreat. Gross said the board doesn’t usually take action at its retreat, but could discuss the interim commissioner position.

“Because we’re a state agency, we need someone who has the authority to sign off on things – personnel actions, things that are purchased by the agency,” she said...

Figuring Out What Gets Tested

“If they’re not going to score it,

and if it’s not going to count for anything,

I don’t know why we should waste our time.”

Supt Rich Crowe, Frankfort

From district to district, and perhaps from school to school within districts, this spring's testing is certainly going to be different. Many districts will drop from having one too many accountability scores - down to having one too few. Where accountability scores exist at all, they will be calculated locally.

Fayette County Superintendent Stu Silberman seemed to get the ball rolling by declaring that Fayette County would proceed as usual by scoring writing portfolios, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.

"The students already have put a lot of work into them, and we need to honor their commitment," Silberman said. "It's up to each individual school, but we've suggested that they complete the portfolios, grade them and give the students their grades and feedback."

Silberman also said the district expects to calculate and make public its own "academic index" based on this spring's testing, whether the state publishes a performance index or not.

On one hand, word about what and how the assessment is going to be different is still being filtered out to schools. According to KDE spokeswoman, Lisa Gross, so far the only guidance sent to districts from KDE is this chart. On the other hand, assessment time will be here before we know it. School folks are scrambling.

Adding to the confusion is the arts & humanities and practical living/vocational studies portions of the KCCT. As Gross confirmed, "the arts & humanities and practical living/vocational studies portions of the KCCT will still be sent to schools by our testing contractor, and they can administer them if they wish." Some teachers of these subjects have apparently been told that they can design their own tests from these questions.

This may have led other teachers to wonder if other sections of the test might be reconstructed by teachers - and they can not.

The Kentucky Board of Education meets next week. Additional guidance to school districts is likely to follow.

In Hopkins County, The Messenger (subscription) reports,

Schools' preparations for this year's state assessment are getting some last-minute revisions...."We got some inklings of it before we got the final version of Senate Bill 1," said Hopkins County Assistant Superintendent Linda Zellich. "We were pretty sure early on that things were going to change with the writing portfolio. What we're really surprised about is ... the timing issue, that it went into effect immediately."

Dan Evans, the district's assessment coordinator, said ..."If they want to revamp the testing system, certainly there are some things that need to be changed, but throwing things out that we've worked all year on makes no sense."

Zellich said she believes it will be the district's recommendation to score portfolios locally this year and provide feedback to students and teachers. The portfolios are "effort intensive" but "yield some good work," she said."There's no doubt ... that students' writing skills have improved," Zellich said...

..."It still remains very confusing to us," she said. "We're still not sure what we're going to do and when we're going to do it. That creates some anxiousness on our part because we want to know, our principals want to know and the public wants to know...

The Paducah Sun (subscription) reports that,

McCracken County students will be tested this spring in arts and humanities and practical living/vocational skills even though the legislature has attempted to change school testing... The McCracken school board passed a measure Thursday night allowing the district to continue testing on arts and humanities and practical living as well as the writing portfolios.

Paducah Assistant Superintendent Vickie Maley said she has talked with principals, and Paducah schools likely will score their own writing porfolios. As for the rest of the test, she said administrators are waiting to see the final outcome at the state level...

Eleanor Mills Spry, assistant superintendent for Murray Independent Schools, is attempting to stay positive about the changes. “One of the most positive aspects gathered from the legislation is that schools will have fewer days of assessment, which, in turn, provides additional instructional time for students.”

In northern Kentucky, Walton-Verona Schools Deputy Superintendent Gene Kirchner had to assuaged potential concerns about the district decreasing its focus on art and humanities.

"We will focus on the core skills that all children need to be successful (reading, writing, arithmetic) without sacrificing those things which create well rounded individuals (Science, Social Studies, Arts/Humanities, Practical Living/Vocational)," Kirchner said in the e-mail."We wanted our people to understand that our expectations haven't changed even though there's no state assessment (on the subjects)," Kirchner said.

In Hardin County,

Nannette Johnston, superintendent ... said once the bill is signed district officials will to decide what to do with the portions of the test that are discarded, such as the writing portfolio. Individual districts still can do their own assessments of these areas, and Johnston said she and others will decide what pieces will help them monitor student performance.

Jayne Risen Morgenthal, superintendent of Elizabethtown Independent Schools, said the quick turnaround between the possible changes and this year’s scheduled testing.
“I think the timing could have been better,” she said. ... Overall, Morgenthal is happy with the bill, but waiting for instructions has been difficult, she said.

In Pike County, schools Superintendent Roger Wagner is playing it safe. He notes that the legislature still has two days remaining in which to consider legislation. Should Governor Beshear veto this bill outright, or use line-item veto on the bill, it will go back to the legislature for review.

"Until he signs the bill, it is not law, and the current CATS testing laws stand
in place,"

Wagner said. Of course, SB 1 passed both houses without dissent and the Governor has said he will sign the bill.

“I can’t anticipate what the Governor says he’ll do,” Wagner said. “We’ll know
more at the end of the month.”calling, changes to testing law has created,
“a lot of confusion with everyone.”

SB 1 has gotten a mixed reception at Murray Independent and Calloway County schools.

Eleanor Spry, superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Murray Independent, said Wednesday that there are a lot of unknowns about the move so schools officials aren't planning any response until more information can be obtained.Spry said the district honors the intent of the CATS system and its predecessor and will continue to move toward a goal of academic achievement.“If instruction was important then, it still continues to be important whether you assess it or not” she said. “ So we value our teachers. We value the instruction they give and what they teach our kids.

Calloway County Schools Superintendent Steve Hoskins said the testing process is evolutionary“It's probably time to evolve now. It's advantageous to regroup. ... However Hoskins believes writing portfolios should continue to be an important part of the curriculum.

In Floyd County Superintendent Henry Webb sees the decision to modify the testing as a positive change

.“We are not going to see too many changes in the interim,” Webb said. “I think the changes are going to be beneficial for both students and staff. It’s a good move to eliminate the portfolios from the accountability process. I’m pleased with the changes that have been made, and I think it will continue to help us move forward.”

The State Journal reported last week that reformers' worst fears may already be coming true in some places.

Superintendent Rich Crowe told the Frankfort Independent Board of Education last week that he’s inclined to focus on curriculum areas that actually count toward the ratings. Scoring of writing portfolios may be scaled down. “If they’re not going to score it, and if it’s not going to count for anything, I don’t know why we should waste our time,” Crowe said.

Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before

Kentucky Board of Education Sets Interviews

This from the Herald-Leader:

The state has sent out requests for proposals from national search firms, and a number have responded.

Here we go again.

Kentucky Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross said the state education board plans to interview up to four of those firms at the March 5 meeting.

A couple of meetings ago, in one of several unguarded moments, Doug Hubbard alluded to a certain company that would not get his vote. Since Hubbard failed to mention any names, we are left to guess who he meant.

If things go well, the board probably will name one of the companies later that day to lead the search, she said.

And if things don't go well, the board will rehire Ray & Associates who will advise the board to keep the public uninformed while they sift through potential commissioner candidates from Kentucky and across the country, all the while assuring the board that a paired down list of finalists were fully vetted and the board should feel free to believe anything they have to say. Then, the board will congratulate itself.

But I'm confident that won't happen this time around.

The bigger question is - Who's interested? The biggest question is - Who's interested that can move Kentucky forward?

The board will be operating as a committee of the whole. That's going to slow the process down somewhat - but that's OK if the public is kept informed and the process results in the selection of a high quality candidate.

Just like making changes to the CATS assessment: Take you time. Get it right. Then, try not to change again for a long while.

Auditors can't account for student testing

This from H-L:

IMPOSSIBLE TO TRACK SCHOOLS' CONTRIBUTIONS

FRANKFORT — State auditors told a legislative committee Tuesday that they couldn't determine exactly how much it costs to run Kentucky's Student Assessment Program because some figures are unavailable.

Representatives from State Auditor Crit Luallen's office said their audit showed that state level expenditures for the student-testing program totaled $18.6 million in fiscal 2008, including $6.4 million from Washington.

But auditors told members of the Government Contract Review Committee that there is essentially no way to calculate how much local school districts contributed, leaving the total program cost unclear.

"There isn't a mechanism to be able to determine the cost at the local level for the assessment testing," said Brian Lykins, director of special audits in the auditor's office.

That was just one of the audit's findings that drew sharp questioning from the review committee, much of it coming from Republican members...

...Education department spokeswoman Lisa Gross said later Tuesday that the department generally agrees with the audit.

"It actually will be very helpful to us, because we will use this to strengthen our internal processes," Gross said.

Education job awaits Rasche after resignation from state House

This from the Paducah Sun (subscription):

State Rep. Frank Rasche, D-Paducah, said he will resign his House seat to accept a position as a policy adviser and legislative liaison in the Kentucky Department of Education.

He anticipates resigning by the middle of August but said the timetable depends on how long it takes to process his employment paperwork. “I’ve been offered a job and have accepted the job, but won’t resign until I’m sure everything is finalized,” Rasche said. He doesn’t anticipate any problems but said the paperwork can take up to four weeks to process.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Education confirmed Rasche has spoken with Commissioner Jon Draud about accepting a top-level position. Lisa Gross said there could be an announcement in a few days.

Rasche was first elected to the 3rd District House in 1992 and has been chairman of the House Education Committee since 1999. He also is a former member of the Paducah Board of Education.

The seat is expected to remain vacant for the rest of the year because no legislative sessions are scheduled. Lawmakers meet between sessions to study issues but have no authority to take official action...

Fayette Co Director linked to new Testing Allegation

The Peggy Petrilli story is beginning to create some spin offs.

Since the Fayette County school district "substantiated" numerous allegations made against Petrilli in a 42-page report, several Kentucky School News & Commentary readers have suggested that when Petrilli went off the reservation in pursuit of the almighty test score she had plenty of company - some at the highest levels of district administration.

Yesterday, KSN&C confirmed one testing allegation that was made against an as yet unnamed district director, which in Fayette County is tantamount to an assistant superintendent.

This comes after the Office of Educational Accountability was apparently sent an anonymous complaint of testing irregularities alleging,

...The release ... of the 9 month investigation of the State accountability testing practices, irregularities in student retention, and gross violations of SBDM law, by the Principal of Booker T Washington Academy over a two year period, and the revelations in that investigation that these same illegal and unethical practices occurred in that Principal's previous school for years is a direct indictment of the leadership responsibilities of the district superintendent, school board, school directors, and SBDM coordinator. It also rasies (sic) serious concern about the leadership practices being allowed to exist in other schools in our district...

OEA Investigations Division Manager Bryan Jones said that the OEA will neither confirm nor deny anything specific to an on-going investigation - including whether they have even received a given complaint. But OEA "is aware" the allegation is out there.

OEA investigator Doug Terry confirmed that, for the OEA, anonymous allegations are not a problem. Terry said,

...yes we do investigate anonymous complaints and treat those the same as identified ones. The EAARS committee thought if we didn't investigate those it may have a "chilling effect" on the process as most are afraid of their positions if identified.

Pursuant to KRS 158.647 the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee (EAARS) is empowered to review administrative regulations and advise the Kentucky Board of Education concerning the implementation of the state system of assessment and accountability. Its members are Kentucky legislators.

KDE also investigates anonymous complaints KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross said.

Yesterday a FCPS teacher (and KSN&C reader) suggested that the problems substantiated by Fayette County against Petrilli were simply part of a "mentality that is pushing teachers and principals to their ethical limits."

The teacher described her enthusiasm for teaching and optimism about helping students succeed. But over time the teacher came to believe that "success" in Fayette County means higher test scores. “The last two years in particular, things have been spiraling out of control as the district pushes and pushes to get scores higher and higher,” the teacher said. A "whatever it takes" mentality is pushing teachers and principals to their “ethical limits.” The teacher described two incidents in recent weeks that illustrate the frustrations some teachers feel.

KSN&C was able to substantiate" one of the allegations yesterday.

The allegation comes from the recent testing period and involved a district director who reportedly came into a classroom minutes after students completed the day's testing and began looking through student test booklets. The classroom teacher apparently advised the director that testing protocols did not allow this. But according to the report, the director stated that he was “checking for completion” and continued to look through the booklets. Teachers are required by regulation to report any test administration anomalies to the [Building Assessment Coordinator] BAC who is consequently required to inform the [District Assessment Coordinator] DAC. The director was reportedly “told to stop doing this, but there was no write up.”

KSN&C asked District Assessment Coordinator (DAC) Carolyn Martin how she would advise a director who might ask if reviewing student test booklets was appropriate. She responded,

I would explain that there is only one purpose for looking through student test booklets and that is to ensure that stray marks have been erased (as indicated on the last page of the Test Administration Manual—“Checklist for Test Administrators”). That can be handled in a scanning manner by thumbing through the booklet. However, that should be handled by school staff and then only by those who have been trained on the Administration Code.

In fact, the incident involving the director was reported. Gross confirmed that,

[KDE] Staff is aware of an issue in Fayette County and is in discussion with district staff. No formal report has been received as of today.

Gross confirmed that over the years KDE has received allegations "about staff at all levels of school and district employment" from many districts So the fact that a director is implicated does not break any new ground.

KDE's process for resolving this allegation is the same as in the Petrilli matter.

The process that we follow for allegations is that staff reviews the allegation and any supporting material included; makes phone calls or personal visits to conduct interviews and gather more information; makes a determination based on evidence gathered; and develops correspondence for superintendents, principals and other school administrators connected to the issue outlining the findings. If findings indicate that scores should be adjusted, staff works with the Office of Assessment and Accountability to make that happen... Gross advised patience as well. "We don't set specific timelines for completion of investigations -- this is a busy time of year for those, since testing just ended."

In the course of the inquiry yet another revelation occurred. This was not the first time allegations were fielded by the state regarding Petrilli. Terry explained,

...I know we did get some complaints last year, but I believe we punted back to the Fayette County Board and KDE to investigate since most of those were testing irregularities.

As for KDE, Gross recalls the allegations as unfounded. Documents have been requested.

KSN&C has not yet learned where in Fayette County those testing allegations went to be resolved. Martin said the cases did not come to her.

Meanwhile, Marcie Lowe the executive staff director for the Education Professional Standards Board confirmed receipt of the Fayette County allegations against Petrilli.

"Yes, we have received a complaint and it is under review at this time."

More on Pendleton County School Bus Fatality

1 Dead, 12 Injured In Pendleton Co. School Bus Crash
Dozen People Sent To Hospital

FALMOUTH, Ky. -- One student was killed and a dozen more people were injured in a northern Kentucky school bus crash.

The crash happened Thursday morning shortly after 7 a.m. when the Pendleton County Schools bus and a dump truck passed each other on state Route 22 near Ballinger Road.

Authorities confirmed that 15-year-old Danny Wood was killed in the crash...

Pendleton Co. School Bus Crash
9 A.M. Live Report From Bus Crash Scene
Raw Sky 5: One Killed In School Bus Crash
Raw Video: 10am News Conference On Bus Crash
Images: Pendleton Co. School Bus Crash Scene
Noon Coverage: Pendleton Co. Crash Kills 1, Injures 12
Ground Video: School Bus Crash Scene

This from the KyPost.com:

Parent: Crash "A Tragic Ordeal"

Ricky Maxwell was sitting at the kitchen table of his Pendleton County home Thursday morning when he received a call that no parent ever wants to get.

On the line was his 15-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who his wife had just dropped off to take the bus to Pendleton County High School.Over the phone, Elizabeth said the bus had been in an accident.

Maxwell, wearing only pajamas and a bathrobe, jumped into his car and headed to the scene.

He's been a paramedic for 14 years and thought he could help.When he arrived on the scene, he saw a triple-axle dump truck on its side. Down the road was the school bus with the rear portion of the driver's side of the vehicle heavily damaged.Ten injured students were in a nearby house and police were evaluating their conditions as life squads were heading to the scene...

This from KyPost.com:

State To Investigate Crash

The fatal school bus crash in Pendleton County will be examined by state education officials to ensure there are no shortcomings in state transportation safety standards.

Kentucky Department of Education transportation safety officials were en route to Pendleton County Thursday to talk with the driver of the bus involved in the fatal crash and school officials, according to department spokeswoman Lisa Gross.

She said such reviews are routine after a serious school bus accident and that they helps the department know if standards for buses need to be reexamined, [o]r if there are problems with bus routes or other concerns to be dealt with at the state level.She said the department does not keep a central database on bus accidents around the state but that the state’s bus safety record is good.

She said the last death stemming from a school bus accident occurred some four or five years ago in western Kentucky in a crash in which the school bus rolled over and a student was ejected...

...Gross said the Pendleton County accident could prompt calls for seat belts on school buses -- something not required in Kentucky. She said the commonwealth follows the federal recommendation on seat belts, which is to not equip school buses with them...

Hat Tip to Brad @ KSBA:

Re-examining CATS

This from the News-Enterprise:

State task force will review standardized testing system

Possible changes to Kentucky’s standardized testing system hasn’t met any resistance from local school officials.

Jon Draud, Kentucky Department of Education commissioner, is forming a task force to review the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System and assess whether any changes need to be made.

The task force will be formed after the current legislative session ends. It will be made up of legislators, educators and other education experts from groups such as the Southern Regional Education Board, according to a news release from KDE.

It hasn’t been decided who will be on the task force, although the department received a lot of interest from people willing to serve, especially from teachers, Communications Director Lisa Gross said.

“They came forward and offered to be a part of it,” Gross said.

Employees of Hardin County Schools and Elizabethtown Independent Schools are willing to be part of the task force, district administrators said.

“We’d certainly like to participate in some capacity,” Elizabethtown Superintendent John Millay said.

No specific areas of CATS have been named as aspects that might be changed. CATS uses test scores in seven subjects, dropout, graduation and attendance rates, portfolios, the ACT, PLAN and EXPLORE tests, along with alternate tests for disabled students, to assess schools and districts.

Draud said in the news release there are “legitimate concerns” for some parts of CATS. Gross didn’t specify which parts.

“I don’t think there’s anything that’s off-limits,” she said of what might be reviewed by the task force.

Robert King, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Hardin County Schools, said he would like to see the test show more of how students have improved, instead of whether they had met a specified goal. A student could make great improvement, but if it’s not enough to meet that goal, it doesn’t count for anything on the test, he said.

CATS’ scores feed into No Child Left Behind, a national initiative which requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. It provides goals for every year, leading up to 2014.

Millay said if serious changes are being considered for CATS, it’s good that Draud decided to form a task force.

The Elizabethtown superintendent said it’s a good time to review the assessments.

“2014 is right around the corner,” he said.

What Stinks?

This from C-J:

Many House Democrats say

$19 billion plan is inadequate

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Many House Democrats expressed disappointment -- and in some cases anger -- over the lean state budget produced yesterday by a conference committee after all-night negotiations.

"I think so little of it, this will be the first time in 28 years that I'm not going to vote for the budget," said Rep. Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. "It's a terrible document. It doesn't adequately fund education, doesn't adequately fund human services, it doesn't do anything for our infrastructure."

While support in the Senate seemed solid, Stumbo's concerns were echoed by many other House Democrats on the eve of today's vote in both chambers.

Some said they were disappointed that their representatives on the committee didn't push harder for a House revenue package, including a cigarette tax increase, that would have generated about $760 million over the biennium...

...Teachers and state workers will get raises of only 1 percent in each of the next two years. Funding for state universities will be cut by 3 percent. Programs in education, health and social services also will be cut.

Rep. Harry Moberly, the Richmond Democrat who is chairman of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee, said the budget is "totally inadequate."

"I think we will go backward in education," he said.

Moberly said the House version barely allowed the state to make progress over the 2008-10 budget period. But the final budget falls well short because the Senate refused to agree to the cigarette tax increase, he said.

Still, he said, "I'm going to hold my nose and vote for it" because failure to pass a budget would force a special session...

...As for public education, the only additional revenue in the budget is the 1 percent annual raises for teachers and other school workers.

It retains cuts in the Senate version for the extended school-tutoring program and professional development for teachers, as well as other programs.

Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross said the 1 percent annual teacher raises are appreciated but will still leave Kentucky behind surrounding states.

"We really have to have a huge percent increase to get us up to the level of surrounding states," she said.

Brent McKim, president of the Jefferson County Teachers' Association, said, "We are particularly disappointed that this (abandons) the commitment to raise our salaries and to reach the average of surrounding states." ...

No NCLB Flexibility for Kentucky

It looks like Kentucky won't be among the first ten states to fix the unreasonable portions of No Child Left Behind. That's too bad.

The time lost to the Barbara Erwin debacle may have cost Kentucky a great opportunity to revise its NCLB benchmarks.

But the way things worked out, Jon Draud had been Commissioner for about five minutes when the US Office of Education issued an invitation for qualifying states to come up with a revised plan. ...and the General Assembly was about to meet.

It is not assured that the feds previous approval of Kentucky's testing system would be enough to qualify, but KDE may not be in a position to respond anyhow.

KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross told Kentucky School News and Commentary there are "no formal plans to apply for this round of flexibility," but state education leaders "will be discussing it."

With only one regular meeting before the deadline," the timeline is likely too short for the Kentucky Board of Education to review and make a decision by May 1," Gross said.

Unfortunately, some of our hardest working teachers will have to wait a little longer for a more reasonable accountability system.

This from the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration is trying to address one of the most common complaints about the No Child Left Behind education law: It treats schools the same, regardless of whether they fail to meet annual benchmarks by a little or a lot.

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings plans to announce Tuesday that she wants states to submit proposals for assigning different consequences to schools based on the degree to which they miss annual progress goals.

...Educators have complained that the consequences for failing to hit yearly progress goals are the same for schools in which one group of students misses the mark as it is for schools in which many groups or many grades fail to hit targets.... ...The new initiative will allow states to distinguish between "on-fire schools and those with a smolder," Spellings said in an interview Monday.

...Only a limited number of states — 10 in all — will be able to participate at first. Spellings said states must submit proposals by May and that only carefully thought-out plans would get a green light. "Not every state will meet the core principles that are required," she said. "This is complicated stuff that requires sound data systems, good reporting systems." ...

...The six-year-old education law is up for renewal in Congress, but lawmakers trying to advance it haven't gained much traction. Without congressional action, the existing law remains in place. Spellings said she didn't think her efforts to improve the law through administrative action would further stymie efforts on Capitol Hill. "Plan A continues to be getting a good law done as soon as possible," she said.

Audit shows CATS Assessment Challenges Persist

Martin Cothran of the Family Foundation issued a challenge to the reliability of including writing portfolios as part of the CATS accountability process. In doing so, he points out a persistent problem.

His claim focuses on the soft underbelly of the CATS assessment, an accountability process that relies on reasonable minds to agree on what constitutes good writing. It's certainly not a perfect science.

In a press release posted on his blog, vere loqui, Cothran reports that "closely held" 2005-2006 audit results show Kentucky's frustrations with inter-rater reliability when it comes to assessing writing portfolios.

“The audit seems to suggest,” said Cothran, “that about 75 percent of the portfolios ranked as “distinguished” in 2005-2006 were graded too high, and almost half of portfolios rated “proficient” were given higher grades than they deserved...

The Family Foundation supports the use of portfolios for instructional rather than assessment purposes. They also support Senate Bill 1 which proposes to test writing mechanics without asking students to write.

Cothran's suggestion that the audit reports are "closely held" seems to lack justification. KSN&C asked for and received the current 2006-2007 report from KDE without objection or inquiry within an hour this morning. By law, KDE must audit portfolios annually to monitor the degree of inter-rater reliability and the report is public record.

There is broad agreement that writing is an important skill. But, accurately assessing such a complex skill is challenging at best. It is unlikely that such an assessment would ever produce reliability numbers that rival, say, mathematics exams. It's the nature of the beast.

And, as Cothran accurately points out, most of the difficulty lies in scoring the best portfolios.

KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross told KSN&C,

As students become more refined writers, it is sometimes more difficult for two scorers to agree completely on their ability levels. The complexity of their work can cause a score to be "on the edge," meaning that another scorer could consider the work to be of slightly higher or slightly lower quality...What the overall audit results tell us is that we need to enhance scorer training and ensure that everyone is comfortable with the analytic model.

The results, and human nature, might also imply that close calls get bumped up. The only way to even approach reliability is through carefully described process.

Since the 2005-2006 audit Cothran refers to, the scoring methodology for writing changed from holistic to analytic scoring. KDE says this was done in order to provide more feedback on student performance at the local level. Each piece within a portfolio was assigned scores at the subdomain levels of content, structure, and conventions. The subdomain scores were summed to provide a raw score for each of the 10,000 portfolios audited.

It should be noted that the new audit did not affect school scores, but provided research data. Audited schools received reports regarding their scoring, but school scores were not changed.

The scoring methodology included 100% double-blind scoring where any discrepant scores were overridden by an independent third read. Quality control measures included "read-behinds" on all readers at a rate of 10%. Scoring supervisors conducted read-behinds of the read-behinds, also at the rate of 10%.

KDE reports the overall percentage of inter-rater reliability with a tolerance of + or - 1; what they call exact or adjacent scoring. The results for 2006-2007:

The National View on Kentucky and Senate Bill 1

Linda Jacobson of Education Week (subscription) did a nice job of pulling together a lot of information on Kentucky's consideration of Senate Bill 1.

The testing program tied to one of the nation’s most closely watched education accountability systems is under siege in Kentucky from GOP lawmakers pushing a bill to replace it with nationally standardized tests. The Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, or CATS—stemming from the landmark Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990—covers seven academic areas and includes writing exercises called portfolios. But members of the Republican-controlled state Senate, led by Majority Leader Dan Kelly, say eliminating most of the testing program, which is tied to a high-stakes accountability system, could save the state as much as $10 million a year and give teachers far more time to focus on the curriculum instead of preparing for and administering the CATS...

Jacobson touches on

• Conflicting claims over cost savings - KDE says about "$6 million, out of an annual budget of $11.3 million for the tests now given."
• Since NCLB requires "states to administer tests that are aligned with state curriculum standards" replacing CATS with norm-referenced tests might make it difficult for the state to fully comply. Many states use commercially developed tests and then add items based on state standards.
• Criterion-referenced tests, such as those now used in Kentucky, measure how proficient students are on a set of state standards. Norm-referenced tests, such as CTBS, measure where a child stands in comparison with a sample of peers, with scores reported on a curve that always includes some children at the top and some at the bottom.
• KERA changed curriculum and assessment and served as a model for other states as they joined the move to KIRIS and standards-based approaches to improving schools.
• Complaints made about the KIRIS program—that it didn’t offer individual scores, that it took too long to provide results, and that it didn’t allow for comparisons with other states—are being made about CATS.
• Some policymakers in the state have always been uncomfortable with the fact that the Kentucky tests are meant to measure school performance but cannot be used to compare student to student or state to state.
• The writing portfolios and open-response questions now required under CATS are targeted for elimination.
• Even if administering the writing portions of the test takes significant class time, KDE spokeswoman Lisa Gross said, the change in attitudes toward writing since the passage of the reform law has been dramatic. “Writing isn’t just seen as something we do when we have time,” she said.
• A CPE report showed that "more than half the students entering colleges and universities in the state needed at least one remedial course, especially in mathematics."
• Ky Chamber of Commerce reported "strong connections did not exist between all levels of the education system."
• The percentage of all Kentucky public schools making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law increased to 77.5 percent in 2007, from 65.8 percent in 2006. But most middle and high schools are still not meeting their goals.
• National Assessment of Educational Progress’ shows that in 2007 4th grade math 27 percent of Kentucky students scored proficient, compared with 33 percent for the nation. In 8th grade reading, 25 percent scored proficient level, below the 27 percent of 8th graders nationally.

No Diversity among Kentucky's Education Commissioner Finalists. Should we care?

At the risk of inciting the anti-diversity police:

The good news about the selection of Barbara Erwin was always that she would have become Kentucky's first female Education Commissioner. Granted, Alice McDonald preceded her as an elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in the early 1980s, before KERA. As it turned out, both women ended their associations with Kentucky education in disgrace, of one kind or another. But I'm relatively certain that being a woman had nothing to do with the related foibles, shortcomings or crimes. Perhaps the board felt differently.

Of course, it doesn't really matter if the education commissioner is a man or woman - except for this one fact.

In a field that has historically been dominated by men - first by white male Protestant ministers, and later by white males of broader descriptions - it's good to think that the best person for a given job will always be selected. It is only a problem when particular identifiable classes of persons are systematically excluded time and time and time again; either through lack of equal opportunity, or by systematic political manipulation.

That makes an interest in diversity important for Kentucky - right up to the time when it isn't anymore; when we can point to ample examples of folks being selected for top positions from both sexes and various races.

So how did our board of education do with their selection

of the finalists for Kentucky's Education Commissioner?

Well, we don't really know.

OK. There is the obvious. The finalists are four white guys; so we're not going to break any new ground this time around.

But I say that we really don't know how the board did because we don't know who the other applicants were. We don't know their qualifications; how they interviewed; what they would do in the position... We know some names that have been "out there:" Marcum, Sanders, Snodgrass, Winters...but that's all.

We just have to trust the judgment of Governor Fletcher's appointed board of education that they have selected the four best qualified candidates for the job. Maybe it will all work out fine. But following the Erwin mess, and now with the board's hurry-up offense on the field, it gives me the willies.

Another aspect of selecting a diverse set of candidates has to do with the diversity of the applicants. No applicants of color - no women: no diversity.

A KSN&C reader from The ville told me the other day that the "old girls" noticed. So I asked Kentucky Department of Education Communications Director Lisa Gross to do a little digging. She got some personnel folks to pull the applications and do the best they could to describe the field of candidates the board had to choose from among.

I say, "do the best they could" because this is not quite as easy as one might suspect. The applications do not specifically ask for a person's gender - as sex is a Constitutionally protected class. So how do you know if an applicant is a boy named Sue, or if Sam is short for Samantha?

Lisa says, "Here's what we know:

48 total applicants:

28 males (58.3%)
15 females (31.2%)
5 unknown (10.4%)

Similarly, although the applications do provide a place to indicate ethnicity, it is completely voluntary and a notation on the application says so. Apparently, everybody read the notation.

1 African American
4 Caucasians
43 unknown

Maybe the board got what it wanted. If you start out looking for a candidate from Kentucky, the 8th whitest state in the nation last time I looked, you're pretty likely to get a white candidate.

Now as far as the woman thing goes...there are more old gals out there than there are old guys....but for some reason, none made the cut.

Same exam, two scores

More on the CATS test, this from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Year-to-year comparison difficult

When state accountability test scores are released Tuesday, they'll look a little different from past years.

The Commonwealth Accountability Testing System, also known as CATS, measures students' knowledge in core content areas.

CATS underwent several changes before students were tested this past spring, including redesigned tests, the addition of tests and the addition of grade levels that take those tests.

As a result, a school can't make a straight comparison of this year's score with last year's, according to the Kentucky Department of Education. Therefore, the department will release two scores to each school and district next week.

The first score is the non-adjusted score, the same they've received every year since CATS went into effect in 2000. But that one is more for informational purposes.

The second score - the result of a concordance table, or statistical link - is the one that matters toward each school's goal of reaching proficiency (a score of 100) by 2014.

The concordance table is created by lining up each school's CATS scores this year from highest to lowest. The CATS score growth trend at each grade level from 2000-2006 is then factored in to determine the final score for each school this year...

... "We have different CATS now - the rules have changed," [said KDE Communications Director Lisa Gross.]

Gross likened the table to a bell curve. She gave a baseball analogy as to how it works."Say the Yankees batting average in 2006 was .300, then in 2007 the rules changed," Gross said.

For example, maybe the pitching mound was moved or maybe aluminum bats were legalized.

"Then in 2007, the team average was .330. You can't say they were a better batting team in 2007, but if you line up their average and the other teams' averages in 2007 and compare them to 2006, you can get a sense of where they fall."

And it looks like this year's test data gets an asterisk. Whether or not the dead ball era is over will be known soon enough. If NCLB data run true to form, when CATS scores are released next week a sharper than normal increase is expected - at least for lower performing schools. Higher performing schoools have been warned that their scores may be depressed.

Barb Martin, my old Ludlow High School classmate and present director of assessment and accountability for the Kenton County School District, used an ACT/SAT example.

"If you score a 24 on the ACT, you can get a concordance table to figure out what you would need to score on the SAT to be comparable to that," Martin said. "It's a statistical way of linking two systems that are not exactly the same."

So, the concordance is a way to compare apples to oranges?

I'm not laying this on Barb, but...If the concordance is a technically sound assessment practice, and there's no problem deriving a score for a test one does not take...then I've got an idea.

Let's just establish a concordance between CATS and whatever assessment Massachusettes uses - so we can determine how our students would have scored on the Massachusetts exam - because they just kicked our butts on NAEP.

How well this sits with superintendents and principals remains to be seen.

Gross said her department has gotten "a pretty good reaction" from superintendents. However, some district assessment coordinators haven't gotten
the same reaction from principals.

Schools received their scores this week for review before they're made public Tuesday.

"Some of them are not happy with the information they've received," said Charlene Ball, district assessment coordinator for Boone County Schools.

Then Gross said something very interesting. "Because of the bell curve, schools at the top and bottom will fluctuate the most, with the higher scores likely coming down and the lower scores going up. Those in the middle will likely adjust the least."

Her specific mention of a bell curve, and her description of the statistical effect called "regression toward the mean" strikes me as curious. Is she suggesting that CATS has been put through a normative process?

If so, doesn't that suggest that CATS is no longer a performance-based assessment? More Multiple choice; fewer open response; long gone are performance assessments; math portfolios...

Doesn't the law require the Board of Education to maintain a performance-based system?

And if that's true, shouldn't we all be more concerned that teaching to the test may, in fact, galvanize our students into a restricted curriculum - just as many public school critics currently claim?

Charlene Ball, district assessment coordinator for Boone County Schools said,

"The thing that's so frustrating is that schools see their non-adjusted score, then (the higher-performing schools) see their adjusted score lower," Ball said. "But these are two unrelated tests. There was no way to report scores this year with last year because you'd be comparing apples to oranges."