Kentucky Department of Education

 

Kentucky's P-12 Achievements

Last Updated on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 5:01 AM

Has Kentucky made progress in P-12 education over the past two decades? See information about the state's forward momentum here.

See information related to state-mandated academic assessments below.

How does Kentucky stack up against the nation? Find details on tests and rankings below.

State-Mandated Assessment and Accountability

 

Kentucky's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) reported statewide test results as percentages of students scoring at any of four performance levels: novice, apprentice, proficient and distinguished. Kentucky's goal under CATS was to reduce the number of students performing at the lowest of these levels (novice and apprentice), while increasing the number performing at the higher levels (proficient and distinguished).

 

Since Kentucky implemented CATS in 1999, students at all grade levels have shown progress, with performance trends going up in all subjects. In addition, elementary, middle and high schools are reducing the percentage of novice-level learners every year.

 

Kentucky also reported results as content-area academic indices that are computed on the basis of a weighted average of student performance at each level.

 

Legislation passed in the 2009 session of the Kentucky General Assembly dismantled CATS and directed the Kentucky Department of Education to develop a new system of assessment and accountability. Work is underway on that system, but the results from CATS are still valid and reliable and may be used to highlight progress.

 

Summary

 

With few exceptions, the percentage of Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) novice learners at all school levels has decreased, and the combined percentages of proficient and distinguished students has increased each year since CATS' inception in 1999. Steady improvement is therefore shown in content-area academic indices since 1999, although some content areas show greater improvement than others.

 

Because of changes to the testing and accountability system in 2006, comparisons between prior years and the 2007 and 2008 data are invalid.

 

Elementary School Progress

 

The Elementary School Accountability Index increased from 87.7 in 2007 to 88.5 in 2008. This was a gain of 0.8 points.

 

The Academic Index goal for each content area is 100, with a maximum possible index of 140. In 2008, there were four content areas in the 90s -- reading, mathematics, science and the writing portfolio. There were three content areas in the 80s -- social studies, writing on-demand, arts & humanities and practical living/vocational studies. There was one content area in the 70s -- writing on-demand.

 

The highest percentage of students performing at proficient and distinguished levels was in the writing portfolio, where 69.5% were proficient and 5.9% distinguished.

 

The lowest percentage of students performing at proficient and distinguished levels was in arts & humanities, where 31.9% were proficient and 21.2% distinguished.

 

Middle School Progress

 

The Middle School Accountability Index increased from 79.0 in 2007 to 79.9 in 2008. This was a gain of 0.9 points.

 

The Academic Index goal for each content area is 100, with a maximum possible index of 140. One content area – reading – was in the 90s. There were six content areas in the 80s --  mathematics, science, social studies, writing portfolio, arts & humanities and practical living/vocational studies. One content area – on-demand writing – was in the 70s.

 

The highest percentage of students performing at proficient and distinguished levels was in reading, where 69.5% were proficient and 5.9% distinguished.

 

The lowest percentage of students performing at proficient and distinguished levels was in writing on-demand, where 34.5% were proficient and 5% distinguished.

 

High School Progress

 

The High School Accountability Index increased from 78.7 in 2007 to 78.2 in 2008. This was a loss of 0.5 point.

 

The Academic Index goal for each content area is 100, with a maximum possible index of 140. There were three content areas in the 80s --  reading, arts & humanities and practical living/vocational studies. There were four content areas in the 70s -- science, social studies, writing portfolio and writing on-demand. There were one content area in the 60s -- mathematics.

The highest percentage of students performing at proficient and distinguished levels was in arts & humanities, where 38.5% were proficient and 25.2% distinguished.

 

The lowest percentage of students performing at proficient and distinguished levels was in writing on-demand, where 25.9% were proficient and 3.8% distinguished.

 

For more information about CATS scores, including the highly detailed Kentucky Performance Reports for every school in Kentucky, please explore the links below.

 

Kentucky Performance Reports

CATS Web Pages

CATS Briefing Packets

School Report Cards

 

National Rankings - Kentucky

When rankings of states in the area of public education are discussed, Kentucky is often noted as being ranked near the bottom overall. That is misleading.

While there are no credible overall rankings of states in P-12 education, there are rankings based on a number of specific variables.

(Please note that these rankings do not reflect current year data, but rather the most recent year available. Information for these rankings was gathered from the National Education Association and the National Center for Education Statistics.)

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.)

Kentucky/National Averages

2008: 20.9/21.1

2007: 20.7/21.2

2006: 20.6/21.1

2005: 20.4/20.3

2004: 20.3/20.9

2003: 20.2/20.8

2002: 20.0/20.8

2001: 20.1/21.0

2000: 20.1/21.0

1999: 20.1/21.0

1998: 20.2/21.0

1997: 20.1/21.0

1996: 20.1/20.9

1995: 20.1/20.8

1994: 20.1/20.8

1993: 20.1/20.7

1992: 20.0/20.6

1991: 20.0/20.6

1990: 19.9/20.6

 

SAT Scores

 

2008

Kentucky's average verbal score: 566

Kentucky's average math score: 573

Kentucky's average writing score: 550

Kentucky participation: 6% (graduating public school seniors)

 

2007

Kentucky's average verbal score: 562

Kentucky's average math score: 566

Kentucky's average writing score: 547

Kentucky participation: 7%

 

2006

Kentucky's average verbal score: 559

Kentucky's average math score: 564

Kentucky's average writing score: 549

Kentucky participation: 8%

 

(2006 was the first year in which SAT assessed writing.)

 

2005

Kentucky's average verbal/math score: 558/560

Kentucky participation: 8%

 

2004

Kentucky's average verbal/math score: 555/558

Kentucky participation: 9%

 

2003

Kentucky's average verbal/math score: 554/552

Kentucky participation: 13%

 

2002

Kentucky's average verbal/math score: 550/552

Kentucky participation: 12%

 

2001

Kentucky's average verbal/math score: 550/550

Kentucky participation: 8%

 

For more information contact:

Lisa Gross
500 Mero Street, 6th Floor CPT
Frankfort, KY 40601
Phone: 502-564-2015
Lisa.Gross@education.ky.gov