Pushing closer to Top 20

This afternoon, the Prichard Committee released its first update on its 2008 challenge to move Kentucky into the top twenty states in the country by 2020.  The full report is available at www.prichardcommittee.org, and here are the core findings:

Most of the new results are good, showing us on track to reach the Top 20 tier of states:

• Reading results are especially exciting, showing both fourth-grade and eighth-grade Kentucky students reaching the Top 20 for the first time.
• Student results are moving up quickly enough to reach the Top 20 by 2020 in fourth-grade mathematics, high school Advanced Placement credit, students starting higher education, and the rate of completing associate’s degrees.
• Our commitment to support student learning also looks strong as we moved forward in teacher salaries, higher education funding and family share of college costs.

However, there are clear grounds for concern in other areas:

• We improved, but too slowly, in the levels of high school and bachelor’s attainment of young Kentucky adults.
• We gained no ground in eighth-grade mathematics.
• We lost ground in preschool enrollment, bachelor’s degree completion, STEM degrees and P-12 funding.