Student performance, college/career-readiness and the number of students graduating
from high school are improving, according to data released today by the Kentucky Department of Education.
“The numbers show, without a doubt, that we are making progress,” said
Kentucky Education Commissioner
Terry Holliday. “The gains we are seeing are the result of a lot of
hard work by our teachers, administrators, and our students with the
support of parents, community members and our education partners – they
all share in this good news.”
Overall student performance showed improvement from 2013 with the
percentage of proficient and distinguished
students increasing in most subjects at every grade level; students in
groups that have historically had achievement gaps also are performing
at higher levels across multiple content areas and grade levels.
Additionally
in 2014, the college/career readiness rate jumped to 62.3 percent – up
from 54.1 percent
last year and 47.2 percent in 2012. The four-year graduation rate is up
as well – from 86.1 percent in 2012-13 to 87.4 percent in the 2013-14
school year.
“With Senate Bill 1 in 2009, lawmakers charted a course of education
reform that included rigorous standards,
aligned assessments and a balanced accountability model, with a focus
on better preparing our students for life after high school. Well, that
plan is clearly working; we must stay the course and not lose sight of
our goal – providing a world-class education
so that every child in Kentucky public schools is proficient and
prepared for success and graduates from high school ready for college
and career,” Holliday said.
The state exceeded its 2014 accountability goal of 65.3 with an overall
score of 68.7 out of 100. A total
of 641 schools and 95 districts are performing at the highest levels –
classified as either proficient or distinguished, while 860 schools and
79 districts met the requirements to be considered progressing.
This is the third year the state has reported results from Kentucky’s Unbridled Learning for All Assessment
and Accountability System.
ACCOUNTABILITY
The Unbridled Learning: College/Career-Readiness Accountability model
is based on the Kentucky
Board of Education’s strategic priorities: Next-Generation Learners,
Next-Generation Instructional Programs and Support, and Next-Generation
Professionals. In the past, accountability has been based only on the
components of the Next-Generation Learners measure.
In the 2013-14 school year, accountability expanded to include the
Next-Generation Instructional Programs and Support measure and the
Program Review component. In future years, the last measure,
Next-Generation Professionals, will be added to accountability.
Various component scores in each area are calculated and weighted to produce an overall score
for that measure.
This year, as in the past, public schools and districts earned points, on a scale of 0 to 100, based on
how well they did on the five Next-Generation Learner components:
·
Achievement
– student performance on tests in reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing
·
Gap
– performance (percentage of proficient and distinguished)
of students who are members of traditionally underperforming groups
(ethnic minorities, special education, poverty and limited English
proficiency) compared to the goal of 100 percent proficiency in all five
subject areas
·
Growth
–
individual student’s score compared to the student’s academic peers to
determine if typical or higher levels of growth have occurred in reading
and mathematics
·
College/Career-Readiness – high school graduates who successfully
meet an indicator of readiness for college and/or careers
·
Graduation Rate
– the percentage of on-time graduates as measured by a Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Formula
|
NEXT-GENERATION LEARNERS COMPONENT SCORES1
|
|
|
Year
|
Achievement
|
Gap
|
Growth
|
College/Career
Readiness2
|
Graduation Rate
|
|
Total Score3
|
|
Elementary
|
2012
|
69.6
|
40.5
|
60.4
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
57.3
|
|
2013
|
69.9
|
42.1
|
59.9
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
57.6
|
|
2014
|
72.6
|
45.4
|
59.8
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
59.3
|
|
Middle
|
2012
|
67.4
|
37.9
|
60.4
|
44.1
|
n/a
|
|
53.5
|
|
2013
|
69.0
|
39.9
|
59.9
|
47.2
|
n/a
|
|
54.9
|
|
2014
|
70.6
|
41.9
|
59.9
|
47.8
|
n/a
|
|
55.9
|
|
High
|
2012
|
56.7
|
28.9
|
58.5
|
51.9
|
77.8
|
|
54.8
|
|
2013
|
60.7
|
33.7
|
57.2
|
60.8
|
86.1
|
|
59.6
|
|
2014
|
62.0
|
34.9
|
56.3
|
72.2
|
87.9
|
|
62.7
|
1
These figures represent point totals, rather than percentages.
2
College/Career-Readiness includes the bonus calculation for accountability.
3
Total Score is calculated using a formula that weights each component.
This
year, schools also received points (on a scale of 0-12) for Program
Reviews in Arts and Humanities,
Practical Living and Career Studies and Writing. Mandated by Senate
Bill 1 in 2009, Program Reviews are an ongoing, year-round process where
school personnel assess the characteristics of an instructional program
on four standards: Curriculum/Instruction,
Formative/Summative Assessment, Professional Development and
Administrative/Leadership.
Program Reviews are designed to ensure schools offer quality learning opportunities in each of the program areas.
Although 2014 is the first year Program Review scores are included in accountability, data was collected
in 2013 and a baseline established.
4 comments:
If we ever refine our practice to the point that those Growth numbers improve, our state scores will sky rocket. All the hard work is paying off.
How in the world do 2/3 of the schools in the state rank their program reviews as being at the highest level!?!?!?!
This is a perfect example of why we shouldn't consider self evaluation as part of this process.
With 25% of your accountability score now coming from program reviews, it is no wonder so many schools performance indexes jumped.
Why bother with closing gap when you can just declare your entire school free and reduced? Why bother with increasing growth or academic index when you can just puff up your program reviews? Next year's trick will be for teachers to create low student growth and achievement expectations on their TPGES so that next new accountability factor can be used to inflate your school score.
Overall School basically means nothing any more it is so convoluted with data. Unfortately the public doesn't understand that and schools get beat up in the paper as they compare schools like some sort of sports section of the paper.
Darn it my school has achievement above 90 and somehow that means so little that instead of being recognized for that we are labeled a "focus school" WTH?
I wonder if we could use 360 evaluations model? Have other schools in the district come and evaluate your evidence gathered for program reviews. Create a system of control and accountability while providing a common language for inter school collaboration.
The last I think we need to be doing is expecting schools to be responsible for evaluating one another. We are already investing a lot of time in these program reviews in house. Expecting educators to leave the classroom and spend more time on someone else's program review isn't in the cards for us, especially if you are a small school with fewer resources.
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