The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) released its annual school report card for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Every year, the state statute and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act require an extensive report on education statistics, which shows room for improvement within the Kentucky education system.
“It’s a transparency tool to give a snapshot of school accountability and how Kentucky students are performing on state exams,” Fox56 said.
The report looks at various data and measures schools based on a combination of academic and school-quality indicators. This includes attendance, behavioral incidents, dropout and retention rates, access to technology and many other sets of information.
“The data that you will see in the school report card release paints a complex picture for the Commonwealth’s education community. We see progress in some areas, especially at the elementary school level,” Interim Education Commissioner Robin Fields Kinney told Fox56 Tuesday before the release.
According to The Kentucky Department of Education, the color-coded system provides an overall performance rating that ranges from red (lowest) to blue (highest).
“The overall performance rating color is based on a score that is determined by combining data from all available indicators. The overall score is used to determine the state’s lowest-performing schools by grade level, as required federally,” KDE said.
Regarding what the reports directly compare, there is little past data to go off of this year. According to Fox56, Kentucky updated its state exams in 2019, but because of the pandemic interfering with ‘old fashioned’ testing administration, only the past two years of data are accurate comparisons.
“In these percentages, some trends emerge, but they are not distinct,” Fox56 said. “Overall, there is broad improvement among elementary students, but higher-level math and science scores are stagnant or dipping on average.”
Kinney noted to Fox56 the hard time they are having recruiting in those areas.
Another issue Kinney addressed in the KDE report was the long-time recovery from the pandemic shutting down normal schooling. It forced educators and administrators to change the way they operated, and its impact has shown in other testing results.
“This will be a multi-year recovery period that requires all of us to think differently about how we are educating our students,” Kinney said. “KDE and our local districts and schools have been proactive in getting students back on track. Federal, state and local funds have been dedicated to address learning loss. We remain committed to supporting our districts and teachers on this journey.”
The report also cited more than 198,000 Kentucky students “qualified as chronically absent last school year.” That is just under 30 percent of the students in the state.
“We must address the issue of chronically absent students, as their continued absence hinders their educational progress and overall well-being,” Kinney said to KDE. “Every child deserves the opportunity for consistent attendance and a chance to thrive in the classroom. It is crucial that we work together and find solutions to combat chronic absenteeism.”
“Families are encouraged to consider their student’s results within the context of the variety of potential learning disruptions they may have encountered, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” KDE said.
Students will also be receiving individualized reports later this fall.