From Monday's press release, with graphs to follow in upcoming posts:
Achievement gaps continue to impair Kentucky’s
overall education progress, according to an analysis of state test scores
released today by three statewide groups. Kentucky schools are falling
especially short with students with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and
African-American backgrounds. Low-income and Hispanic students also scored well
below their peers.
The analysis, presented in a "Disaggregated
Index Report," was developed by the Council for Better Education, the
Kentucky Association of School Councils and the Prichard Committee for Academic
Excellence to monitor school performance while Kentucky made a three-year shift
from the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System to the Unbridled Learning
system based on new state standards and assessments. 2011 is the last year of
that transition, and the last year the three groups will issue this type of
report.
The Disaggregated Index is based on a formula
similar to the one used in past years by the Kentucky Department of Education
to compare student results based on race, income, and other factors. The
partner groups applied the formula to state test scores results, and found
that:
- Of all
groups studied, only Asian elementary and middle school students and
gifted students at all levels have reached a score of 100, equivalent to
the average student being proficient in all tested subjects under the
state’s old standards
- No other
student groups are on track to reach 100 by 2014
- Students
of both sexes and all ethnic backgrounds are improving, but improving too slowly
- Students
with limited English proficiency had flat or declining results at all
levels
- On the
0-140 scale used in the analysis, gaps of 10 points or more separate
African-American students, students with disabilities, migrant students,
and students with limited English proficiency from their classmates at
every level.
"The goal is to deliver proficiency for
each and every child," said Ronda Harmon, executive director of the
Kentucky Association of School Councils. "These disaggregated index
results allow schools to evaluate strengths and tackle weaknesses now, before
the new assessment scores arrive."
"The gaps remain painful and too many of
those gaps are growing wider, reminding us that we still have major work ahead
to provide an equal quality of education for all Kentucky’s children,” said Fayette
County Superintendent Tom Shelton, president of the Council for Better
Education. "Plus, to be competitive in the global economy, we need
every single student to be learning at very high levels aiming to meet
Kentucky’s new goals for college and career readiness."
Stu Silberman, executive director of the
Prichard Committee, saw the report as “a call to action for all Kentucky adults
on behalf of all our children.” Silberman added that the point of the report
was to see the trends clearly and encourage all stakeholders to keep attention
on raising performance during the testing transition.
The full report is available at www.kasc.net, along with results for each
school and district in Kentucky and an earlier report on overall results and
subject-level trends released by the same groups in September.
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Updates and data on Kentucky education!