FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Kentucky’s new school accountability system awarded the highest five-star rating to 56 schools, while 89 schools lagged at the other end of the scale with the lowest score.
The vast majority of public schools - 643 of them statewide- fall into the mid-range, three-star category, according to the report released Tuesday by state education officials.
The report classified an additional 50 schools as needing improvement. That category - labeled as Comprehensive Support and Improvement - lists schools in the bottom 5% at each level (elementary, middle and high school). High schools with graduation rates of less than 80% also receive the need-of-improvement designation.
Schools identified as needing comprehensive support are expected to develop improvement plans that will be reviewed and approved by the state. The schools will receive additional state support and will be eligible for extra resources.
Meanwhile, 11 schools statewide were identified as being in need of targeted support due to the “very low level” performance of one or more groups of students, the report said.
The assessment results also showed wide achievement gaps in reading and math among white and black elementary school students, with black students lagging behind.
Kentucky’s new rating program is the result of a requirement that states update their school accountability systems as a result of a federal education law passed by Congress in 2015. It also stems from passage of a state-level education measure in Kentucky in 2017.
The overall mixed performance among schools shows there’s room for improvement, Kentucky Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis said in a release.
“As usual, there are Kentucky schools and districts that are improving,” he said. “But the data also show that as a whole, our system is not yet ensuring each and every student … is empowered and equipped to pursue a successful future.”
The five-star rating system considered several factors in assessing schools, including:
-Reading and math proficiency.
-Proficiency in social studies, science and writing.
-Academic growth of students over one academic year.
-Transition readiness (historically known as college and career readiness).
-Graduation rate.
Schools were rated with one to five stars, with five being the highest performing.
Five-star schools were spread across Kentucky. They’re situated in some of the state’s least-populated counties as well as in Louisville, the state’s largest city.
Under the new system, a 5- or 4-star school’s rating can be lowered by one notch if it has one or more significant achievement gaps among groups of students. That led to the adjustment of ratings for several dozen schools, education officials said. The majority of those schools have work to do to ensure that students with disabilities are learning at higher levels, officials said.
Education officials also expressed concerns about wide achievement gaps in reading and math among elementary school pupils. Assessment results showed that 16.6% of white students are scoring at the novice level in reading, compared to 40.2% of black students. In math, 11.7% of white students were at the novice level, compared to 32.4% of black students.
Performing at the novice level means students demonstrate “little to no understanding of the academic content at grade level,” Lewis said.
“Novice means academic emergency,” Lewis said. “These results are unacceptable, but wholly predictable. We cannot continue to use the same approaches we have always used with these students yet expect a different result.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.