Accountability
The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) approved the accountability system regulation 703 KAR 5;270, to be implemented based on available data (Status only) beginning with the 2021-2022 school year.
The 2022-2023 school year was the first full implementation of Kentucky's Accountability System.The accountability system's overall performance for each district, school and student demographic group determined by the state indicators shall combine current year performance, called "Status" and improvement from prior year to current year, called "Change." Status and change shall receive equal weights in determining overall performance according to KRS 158:6455.
Fall 2023 Reporting in the School Report Card
For all students as a group and separately for student demographic groups, districts' and schools' overall performance and status and change for each indicator will be displayed on an online dashboard of system results (School Report Card) with color-coded performance levels beginning in the fall of 2023. (Status levels will be reported as very high, high, medium, very low, low; Change levels will be reported as increased significantly, increased, maintained, decreased, decreased significantly)
Overall performance ratings will be reported using a color rating system to communicate performance of schools. Color ratings will include five performance levels from highest to lowest, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.
Resources
2021-2022 Accountability
The U.S. Department of Education (USED) required states to implement school accountability and school identification requirements for the 2021-2022 school year.
The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) approved amendments to 703 KAR 5:270 to include changes required by Senate Bill 158 (2020). The regulation became effective in the fall of 2021.
The new accountability system includes an exclusive list of six state indicators that measure school performance:
- State Assessment Results in reading and mathematics
- State Assessment Results in science, social studies and writing
- English Learner Progress
- Quality of School Climate and Safety
- Postsecondary Readiness (high school only)
- Graduation Rate (high school only)
The accountability system's overall performance for each district, school and student demographic group determined by the state indicators shall combine current year performance, called "Status" and improvement from prior year to current year, called "Change." Change will not be included in indicator performance levels until the fall of 2023.
Overall performance ratings will be reported using a color rating system to communicate performance of schools. Color ratings will include five performance levels from highest to lowest, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.
Since Kentucky received a waiver from federal accountability and school identification, KDE continued to support schools previously identified for comprehensive support and improvement (CSI), targeted support and improvement (TSI), and additional targeted support and improvement (ATSI) in the 2021-2022 school year.
Fall 2022 Reporting in the School Report Card
For the 2021-2022 school year, districts' and schools' overall performance and status for each indicator will be reported in the school report card in the fall of 2022. The accountability indicators are based on Status only for the 2021-2022 school year. (Status levels will be reported as very high, high, medium, very low, low)
Overall performance ratings will be reported using a color rating system to communicate performance of schools. Color ratings will include five performance levels from highest to lowest, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red.
Federal classifications include Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) and Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) based upon accountability indicators. Data from the 2021-2022 school year will be used to identify new schools and determine which previously identified schools are eligible to exit the status.
2020-2021 Accountability Waiver
On Feb. 22, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) invited states to request a waiver for the 2020-2021 school year of the accountability and school identification requirements in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). A state receiving this waiver would not be required to implement and report the results of its accountability system, including calculating progress toward long-term goals and measurements of interim progress or indicators, or to annually meaningfully differentiate among its public schools using data from the 2020-2021 school year.
On March 8, USED provided a template for states to complete and submit for waivers from accountability and school identification. KDE submitted the waiver and on April 22, 202, received USED approval.
With an approved waiver, the state was not required to identify schools for CSI, TSI, and ATSI based on data from the 2020-2021 school year. To ensure transparency to parents and the public, Kentucky will continue to publicly report assessment data, including the percentage of students assessed and not assessed, disaggregated by student demographic group.
Senate Bill 158 (2020)
The passage of Senate Bill 158 (2020) introduced significant changes to Kentucky's statewide school accountability system. Amendments are expected in several areas. The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) has developed a Comparison of SB158 Changes document that provides further detail. At the October 2020 meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE), OAA presented a Comparison of Federal and State Accountability Requirements and Consideration Areas for the KBE.
All modifications made to the assessment and accountability system must be approved by the U.S. Department of Education through our ESSA Consolidated State Plan.
In addition to the changes that impact Kentucky's school accountability system, SB 158 also requires changes to graduation requirements, and revises criteria for determining Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI). Amendments and implementation dates are identified within the legislation.
Visit the Development of School Accountability System page for more information.
2019-2020 Accountability Waiver
As a result of the COVID-19 emergency, The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) received approval from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) for our state waiver, which allowed Kentucky to bypass standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year. At the same time, KDE was approved to be exempted from certain statewide school accountability requirements.
2018-2019 Accountability
In February 2018, the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) approved amending the accountability system regulation 703 KAR 5;270, to be implemented beginning with the 2018-2019 school year. The amended regulation, which included changes based on Senate Bill 175, 2019, was approved by the KBE and became final on May 31, 2019.
Fall 2019 public reporting was the first time that schools, districts, and the state were assigned an Overall Rating of one to five stars, based on the overall score of combined school-level measures and indicators of Proficiency, Separate Academic, Growth, Transition Readiness, and Graduation Rate using the weights approved by the Kentucky Board of Education.
Schools also received federal classifications of Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI).
Results of the 2018-2019 Accountability reporting are located in Open House in the School Report Card.
Background
Kentucky's school accountability system reported for the 2018-2019 school year was grounded in over two years of outreach and engagement efforts with thousands of Kentuckians who brought forth a shared vision of K-12 public education in our state that each and every student is empowered and equipped with the knowledge, skills and dispositions to pursue a successful future. The indicators of the multi-dimensional system, aligned to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), worked together to support several important concepts that promoted a valuable educational experience for all Kentucky's students.
More detailed information is located on the Development of School Accountability page.
Advisory Groups
Many shareholders were involved in the development of the accountability system driven by the guidance of advisory groups comprised of educators, citizens, legislators, testing and measurement experts, and legislative staff.
Kentucky Technical Advisory Committee
School Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability Council (SCAAC)
Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee (EAARS)
Office of Education Accountability (OEA)
Local Superintendents Advisory Council (LSAC)
Legislative Research Commission (LRC)
ESEA State Assessment Peer Review