Overall Scores Rise for High Schools, Not for Lower Levels

In Kentucky's Unbridled Learning system, overall scores are the quickest summary of results for a public school, district, or the entire state. An overall score combines multiple measures to calculate a single number on a 0 to 100 scale that sums up student and program performance.

For our state as a whole, the high school overall score rose 1.5 points from 2014 to 2015, but the elementary and middle overall scores declined.

Below, you can see the main components that went into the changes at each level.

At the elementary level:

• Achievement indicates KPREP scores for all students in all tested subjects.
• Gap Group shows KPREP results for students in historically under-served subgroups: students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, have limited English proficiency, or have identified disabilities, along with African American, Hispanic, and American Indian/Native Alaskan students.
• Growth reflects how students' reading and math scores this year compare to scores for students with similar results the previous year.
• Program reviews reflect schools' analysis of the quality of their programs for primary students, arts and humanities, practical living/career studies, and writing.

At the middle school level, those four indicators are combined with:

• Readiness results  from the grade 8 Explore assessment.  

At the high school level, the four elementary indicators are combined with:

• Readiness results from indicators that include ACT and a battery of other tests to show that students are ready for college and/or career, with bonus points if a student is ready for both.
• Graduation rates (using a four-year rate for 2013 and five-year rates for 2014 and 2015).