NEA National Rankings - Kentucky (2007-08)
Number of public school students: 26th
Number of public school teachers: 28th
Pupil-teacher ratio: tied for 13th
Per-pupil expenditures: 32nd
Average teacher salary: 27th
Percentage of public school revenues from local sources: 37th
Percentage of public school revenues from state sources: 20th
Percentage of public school revenues from federal sources: 6th
Per-capita spending on education: 50th [based on 2005-06 figures]
NCES National Rankings -- Kentucky
Percentage of high school dropouts: 24th highest of 46 states reporting (2003-04)
Percentage of freshmen who graduate from high school: 24th highest of 50 states and the District of Columbia (2004-05)
Percentage of student ethnicity: (2004-05)
- Native American: 43rd
- Asian/Pacific Islander: 48th
- Black/African American: 26th
- Hispanic: 46th
- White: 7th
Percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals: 10th (2001-02)
Percentage of students in schools served by Title I, schoolwide: 5th (2004-05)
Percentage of teachers who hold master's degrees: 6th (2004-05)
NAEP
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is also known as "The Nation's Report Card." NAEP has been conducting assessments since 1969. NAEP's 2007 math and reading assessments showed that Kentucky's 8th-graders made progress from 1998 to 2007 in those subjects.
Kentucky 4th-grade readers started out two points below the national average in 1992, equaled the national average in 1994, and moved three points above it in 1998. In 2007, the score was 222, two points higher than the national average.
In math, Kentucky's 4th-graders' average score was 235 in 2007, four points below the national average. For Kentucky 8th-graders, the average score was 279, one point below the national average.
NAEP also assesses science, with the most recent administration in 2005. That year, Kentucky's 8th-graders' average score of 153 was seven points above the national average. Kentucky 4th-graders scored an average of 158 in science, nine points above the national average. From 2000 to 2005, Kentucky was one of nine states or jurisdictions that had a significant score increase in science at the 4th-grade level, and one of eleven that had a significant score increase at the 8th-grade level.
NAEP assessments follow the subject area frameworks developed by the National Assessment Governing Board and use the latest advances in assessment methodology. NAEP assessments include multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. NAEP does not report scores for individual students or schools.
NAEP bases its results on a sample of students and provides data at the state and national level. States and districts receiving Title 1 funds are required to participate in state NAEP in reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8 every two years. State participation in other state NAEP subjects (science and writing) remains voluntary.
To learn more about Kentucky's progress, visit the State Profile for Kentucky on the National Center for Education Statistics Web site.
Education Week - "Quality Counts"
For its 13th annual “Quality Counts” report, Education Week looked at state efforts to meet the needs of English-language learners (ELLs).
The 2009 edition reflects Education Week’s decision to change the annual rating publication to a biennial one. This year, states are rated in three areas: the Chance for Success index, which is based on 13 indicators; transitions and alignment; and school finance. Researchers did not seek updated information on the teaching profession or standards, assessments and accountability – updated data in those categories will be presented in 2010.
Kentucky’s rank among states in the Chance for Success category was 40th. The five highest-ranking states in that category were Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maryland. Since the Chance for Success category looks at variables such as income, parental education, employment and adult educational attainment, Kentucky did not fare well in that category.
In the Transitions and Alignment category, Kentucky’s rank was 22nd. The five highest-ranking states were Maryland, New Mexico, West Virginia, New York and Tennessee. Kentucky did not meet criteria for a formal definition of school readiness; assessment of school readiness; interventions for students who are not ready for school; use of statewide assessment results for college placement/admissions/scholarships; or career-tech diplomas.
In the School Finance category, Kentucky’s rank was 35th. The five highest-ranking states were Rhode Island, Wyoming, Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut. Kentucky lost ground in this category due to low per-pupil expenditures (only 12 states had lower average amounts, and Kentucky’s average was nearly $1,300 less than the national average) and in the percentage of students in districts at which the per-pupil expenditure is at or above the U.S. average (only eight states had lower percentages).
Technology
Imagine a system of education technology that serves 650,000 students, 41,000 teachers, 1,300 schools, 176 district offices, 69 secondary vocational schools, 700 family resource centers and the staff of the Department of Education.
Next, imagine that system providing:
• one high-performance, networked computer for every six students
• one high-performance, networked computer for every teacher and an ability to access the network from home
• all teachers with training and support
• every school with a building-wide, full-function local area network
• every classroom with at least four to six active network drops delivering data services, Internet and e-mail
• a cordless phone in every classroom
• video in every classroom
• instructional software available to every desktop from the network
• every school directly connected to the wide area network
• every district office with complete local and wide area networking
• every district with a standard, fund-based accounting system
And then imagine that education-technology system striving for these goals:
• to ensure equal access to technology for all students, teachers, and administrators
• to enable students to use technology to become independent life-long learners
• to empower teachers to use technology as a tool
• to develop a network for voice, video and data that will connect all computers in every classroom, school and district to global networks
• to prepare Kentucky's children to work in the Information Age
How cool would it be to have an education-technology system like that? Ask any Kentucky educator, because that's what Kentucky has today.
The Kentucky Education Technology Systems (KETS) is a direct result of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. Within the work of KETS, Kentucky established a Master Plan and a KETS Implementation Plan that guides the continuing work of the Office of Education Technology (OET). That office provides a deep reservoir of services to a broad constituency of clients throughout Kentucky education, including students, teachers, parents, administrators, school council members, district personnel, finance administrators and KDE staff.
Some of the services OET provides include Electronic Messaging, Financial Management Systems, the KETS Help Desk, extensive Networking and Security systems, Purchasing and Standards services, the Direct Engineering Program and a School Management System for data tracking.
To learn more about Education Technology in Kentucky, please read on…
Visit the Administrative Resources Technology Page.
Visit the Instructional Resources Technology Page.
Visit the Kentucky Virtual High School.
Read the 2007-2012 Master Plan for Education Technology.
Read the "Survey of Technology in the Schools - Status report on Kentucky" conducted by the Milken Exchange on Education Technology.
Check out some Research on Technology Use in Schools.
"Technology Counts"
Much like Ed Week’s annual “Quality Counts” report, "Technology Counts" looks at states and provides narratives on particular items of interest. The issue also “grades” states based on their P-12 technology systems.
The theme of this year’s issue is online learning and the expansion of that to all students, not just the high-achievers or those in wealthy areas.
“Technology Counts” graded states in two main areas:
- Use of Technology; i.e., student standards for technology, virtual schools (Kentucky’s grade was an A-.)
- Capacity to Use Technology; i.e., teacher standards for technology, technology coursework requirements (Kentucky’s grade was an A.)
States’ access to technology also was graded, although the data used was outdated, giving Kentucky a B.
States also got an overall grade and ranking. Kentucky’s overall grade was a B+, and the state ranked 5th nationwide.
In 2008, Kentucky’s overall grade was a B+, placing it 3rd in the nation (tied with three other states).
ACT Scores – All High School Seniors
(Kentucky's number of 12th-grade ACT test-takers has grown from 24,942 in 1990 to 31,728 in 2008.)