A history lesson to remember

As we wrap up the 2014-15 school year, I have high hopes for the future of our high school graduates in Kentucky. We will have a higher percentage of students successfully complete high school in four years than at any point in the history of the Commonwealth. Of those who graduate from high school, we will have the highest percentage of students reaching college- and career-readiness in the history of the Commonwealth. This is an amazing testament to the hard work and dedication of educators, parents and students in Kentucky. 

Given these amazing results, I feel it important to remind readers of the recent important events in education history that have helped Kentucky reach these significant milestones.

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 was and remains the foundation of our work. KERA became reality based on significant business support and support from the Prichard Committee to reform education in Kentucky. By any measure of student success, KERA has been the basis for improvement. 

While KERA moved Kentucky from the cellar of state rankings to about the midway point, there was continued concern voiced through the late 1990s and 2000s about how prepared high school graduates were for college and career. Too many high school graduates were taking college placement tests and finding out that they needed to take remedial courses prior to taking credit-bearing college courses. The college remediation rates were as high as 80 percent in a number of our technical colleges. Remediation is a significant cost for students and colleges, and students who need remediation are much less likely to return to college after their first year than students who are ready for college when they enroll. 

In 2009, the Kentucky General Assembly came together again, as they did in 1990, and passed significant education reform legislation – Senate Bill 1. This legislation required the Kentucky Board of Education to set a goal to reduce by 50 percent by 2015 the percentage of high school graduates who were not ready for college-level work or prepared with the skills necessary to enter a career that would lead to a job that pays a living wage. In 2010, the percentage of students ready for college level work was 34 percent. A goal was set for at least 67 percent of high school graduates to be ready for college and career by 2015. From all indications, Kentucky will reach this goal with the Class of 2015.

In order to reach our goal, Senate Bill 1 required new standards, assessments, and accountability systems. 

Throughout the 2009 session of the General Assembly and during the interim session of 2009, all of the stakeholders in Kentucky were aware and supportive of Kentucky adopting and implementing the Common Core standards for English/language arts and mathematics. It was very clear that a student must master these basic standards in order to achieve college- and career-readiness. Certainly, local districts could exceed the standards, however, not every student in Kentucky needs to take AP Chemistry, AP Calculus or other high level coursework in order to reach the college- and career-ready level. Acceptance into a top tier university requires students take more rigorous courses, however taking these courses is a decision students and their parents must make depending on college- or career-plans. 

Senate Bill 1 asked Kentucky educators to implement standards, assessments and a new accountability system so more students would reach college readiness. The universally accepted definition of college readiness is that a student would reach a level of performance that would enable the student to enter credit-bearing course work at a two-year or four-year university. The measures include ACT, Compass, and the state placement exams used by all public higher education programs – KYOTE.  All Kentucky higher education institutions agreed on these measures and the scores needed for high school graduates to reach college readiness. 

As parents talk with their students in grades 3-8 about the end of year K-PREP assessments and the high school end-of-course assessments, it is important to note that each parent and student will receive an assessment report in the fall. This assessment report will enable parents to know if their student is on track to reach the college- and career-readiness level upon graduation. It is very important for students that parents have a discussion with their child’s teacher and school officials concerning student performance and how to support students in reaching college- and career-readiness by high school graduation.

Over the next few months, there will be a lot of political discussion and debate about the Kentucky’s academic standards, assessments and accountability systems. While we can certainly revise the systems and make them stronger, it is important that parents recognize that the systems are working. More students are graduating from high school with the skills needed for college and career success. 

Lots of politicians will tell you what they are against, however, it is difficult to find out what they really support, and if what they support has a track record of success. Hopefully, this brief history lesson will help filter the political rhetoric from the reality of proven systems that are successful in helping more children reach college- and career-readiness and emerge from high school ready to take the next step in life.

Graduation rate moving in the right direction

In recent years, the high school graduation rate became a critical measure of success for our schools and districts across the nation. The National Governor’s Association developed a common definition for high school graduation rates, the cohort rate, and No Child Left Behind required all states to report the cohort graduation rate so a common report would be available for comparison.

President Obama and Secretary Duncan added incentives for schools and districts to improve graduation rates through programs such as School Improvement Grants and Race to the Top.

Two leading national organizations developed a collaborative model to focus the nation on improving graduation rates. America’s Promise Alliance, led by General Colin Powell and his wife Alma, joined forces with the Alliance for Excellence in Education, led by former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise. The collaboration led to an effort called GradNation and a national goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020. GradNation produces an annual report which is available online. Here are some highlights from this year’s report.

The 2013, graduation rate for the nation was 81.4 percent which is on target to reach 90 percent by 2020. Kentucky had a graduation rate of 86.1 percent, which was well above the national average and among the top ten rates in the country. Kentucky’s class of 2014 reached an all-time high grad rate of 87.4 percent, which will probably place Kentucky among the top five states in the nation.

Hispanic/Latino and African American students are beginning to close the graduation gap. Historically they have not graduated at the same high rates as most of their counterparts.  However, in 2013, Hispanic students registered a 75.2 percent graduation rate and African American students recorded a 70.7 percent rate. Again, Kentucky again outperformed the nation with a 2013 graduation rate of 79.8 percent for Hispanic/Latino and 78.4 percent rate for African American students. According to state data, these rates continued to improve in 2014 with an 84.4 percent rate for Hispanic and 79.4 percent rate for African Americans.

Perhaps the report’s most exciting news for Kentucky was the results for economically disadvantaged students. Most researchers know that Kentucky has one of the highest percentages of children living in poverty and one of the highest percentages of children qualifying for free- and reduced-price meals.

Despite these challenges, the GradNation report revealed that Kentucky had the highest graduation rate in the nation for economically disadvantage students – 85 percent! It is a strong testament about the expectations of parents, communities and students; and a strong testament to the terrific work that teachers and school leaders do every day.

While the GradNation report should give Kentucky a reason for celebration, we must continue to work to address the challenges of those students who are not reaching graduation. Under the leadership of Governor Beshear and the advocacy of First Lady Jane Beshear, Kentucky raised the dropout age from 16 to 18. The new policy takes effect in nearly all 173 school districts in August with the beginning of the 2015-16 school year. This effort coupled with improvements in alternative schools, career and technical education, early warning systems, high school transition courses and many other strategies that our schools are implementing will certainly result in continued improvements for our high school graduation rate.

I feel certain that, when it comes to graduation rates, Kentucky will continue to be a top performing state and will continue to help more students achieve a bright future.

Education and the State of the Commonwealth

It was my honor to attend the State of the Commonwealth speech this week when Gov.Steve Beshear made his 8th and final such address. A written copy of the full speech is available online, as is a video and audio recording courtesy of KET.

It was very exciting to have the Governor list the amazing accomplishments in Kentucky that have taken place over the last seven years. He emphasized health care, workforce development and business climate accomplishments in the speech. And when citing progress, he often mentioned education, which has been realized with the vision and hard work of many – from the Capitol to the classroom. Some of the education highlights can be found below. 

“In education, we have energized reform efforts to focus on rigorous standards, aligned assessments and better preparing students for life after high school.  Unfortunately, for decades our education performance was cause for embarrassment.  And universities and employers alike were sounding the alarm: Kentucky students, they warned, were simply not prepared.  Today, student performance has improved tremendously, college and career readiness has skyrocketed and our graduation rates are climbing. 

“Back in 2011, education experts measured our college and career readiness rate at 38 percent.  In 2012, it jumped to 47 percent ;in 2013, 54 percent; and in 2014, to 62 percent. Meanwhile, our high school graduation rate in 2013 improved to 86.1 percent. That’s 12th, nationwide. And it’s better than all but two of our neighbors.” 

Note: in 2014, our graduation rate climbed to 87.4 percent and most certainly will place KY in top ten of states.

Gov. Beshear went on to talk about the significance of early childhood initiatives and the importance of education to the state’s economy.

“Step one in building a stronger workforce has focused on our youngest children. Too many Kentucky children were getting a poor start in life. Too many children were entering school with preventable health problems, undeveloped minds and little engagement in life around them. And as we all know, kids who start out behind rarely catch up. 

“So we worked to create an environment where every child – regardless of whether he or she is born in the inner city, in a mountain hollow, on a farm or in the suburbs – every child is given the opportunity to succeed. 

“To do this, we dramatically improved access to health care for children in low-income families. We targeted dental problems. We increased enrollment in preschool programs. And we developed a screener to gauge whether early education programs were preparing our kids to hit the ground running on day one of kindergarten. 

“In this session, we need to continue our momentum by adding accountability and transparency to all of our early childcare facilities. I will again seek legislation to implement the goals of what’s called the All-STARS plan – Accelerating Learning Statewide Through an Advanced Rating System. All-STARS addresses safety, continuing education for staff members, nutrition and age-appropriate curriculum. Look, we have health ratings for restaurants. Aren’t our children just as important? All parents deserve to know the quality of the place where they drop off their kids. 

“Step two in building a stronger workforce has been improving our schools so every graduate is prepared for success. That means tougher classes, and keeping kids in class. We were the first state to adopt rigorous Common Core academic standards. We were the second to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards. With Senate Bill 1 in 2009, we changed our testing system to make our schools more accountable. And we raised our graduation age from 16 to 18. We’ve also smoothed the transition from two-year colleges to four-year degree programs to save students time and money. 

“And recognizing that the four-year university path isn’t the best route for everyone, we’ve made our career and technical programs more rigorous and applicable to real-life jobs that demand high-level technical knowledge. These aren’t the so-called ‘shop classes’ of yesterday but modern training with a tough academic foundation. 

“We’re also working to improve the talent pipeline through modern apprentice programs like KY FAME, which combines work experience in advanced manufacturing with college classes. More than a dozen Central Kentucky manufacturers are participating in KY FAME, and it will be expanding soon. 

“We need to move quickly to implement the recommendations of the Dual Credit Task Force, helping students earn their degrees quicker and at less cost.”

In closing, the Governor talked about how to build a stronger Kentucky and the excitement about the progress Kentucky has made.

“A stronger Kentucky is also why the First Lady and I worked with Representatives Jeff Greer, Carl Rollins and Derrick Graham and Senators Mike Wilson, David Givens and Jimmy Higdon to raise Kentucky’s drop-out age and keep our kids in school. …

“My friends, we can hold our heads high once again. Because Kentucky is back, and we’re back with a vengeance. Once again, we are the talk of the nation.  And I’m not referring only to things like basketball, bourbon and horse-racing.  In the public and private halls of power, where the issues of today are being hammered out, Kentucky has become – once again – a national example of leadership and success. 

“In education, we’re the state that has completely turned its school system around – and other states continue to seek help in following in our footsteps. …

“So during this legislative session, we have a choice. 

“We can let ourselves get way-laid by things like partisan bickering, pending elections and Twitter-feed rhetoric. We can retreat, back-track or second-guess our progress.  Or we can accelerate Kentucky’s considerable momentum by remaining focused on the job before us. Join with me in continuing to improve our health, our workforce, our families and our economy. Join with me in continuing to build a Kentucky that is strong, vibrant, competitive and innovative. 

“Kentucky is back – and we’re not going to let up now.”

Moving in the right direction

The Kentucky Department of Education just released the third year of results under the Unbridled Learning College/Career-Readiness for All accountability model, and while we still have much work to do, the data show we are moving in the right direction and there is much reason to celebrate.

The eyes of the nation have been focused on Kentucky since we became the first state to adopt new English/language arts and mathematics standards, as mandated by Senate Bill 1 (2009). While we saw a big drop in student performance that first year, as expected due to the increased rigor of the standards, we are starting to see some significant progress, as predicted, in student performance evidenced by results on the Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP). Kentucky students are proving to the rest of the nation that the standards are working and helping to better prepare them for college and careers.

Since teachers first taught the new Kentucky Core Academic Standards in the 2011-12 school year, the percentages of students performing at the Proficient and Distinguished levels in reading and mathematics are up between two and nine percentage points, with the largest gains coming at the elementary level, followed by middle school. Gains at the high school level, however, have not been as strong and, in fact, are nonexistent in math. We believe there are several reasons for this. First, we have only one test in reading and one in math at the high school level through our End-of-Course system. Second, these classes are not as well aligned with the new standards as those at the earlier levels. And finally, students have not benefited from the strong foundation laid by more rigorous coursework in elementary and middle school, so there may be some learning gaps. We will be addressing all of these issues in coming months.

We also saw some positive news with our student groups that traditionally underperform compared with their peers. The percentage of students in this “gap group” (African American, Hispanic, Native American, special education, poverty and limited English proficiency students) scoring at the top levels of Proficient or Distinguished is up in most cases from when we implemented Unbridled Learning three years ago. Granted, we still have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction.

In addition, the four-year high school graduation rate is up from 86.1 percent in 2012-13 to 87.4 percent in the 2013-14 school year – another positive move.

As the name states, our ultimate goal under this system of assessment and accountability, created as a result of Senate Bill 1 (2009), is to ensure all of our students graduate from high school ready for the next step in life – whether that is a two-year or a four-year college, a postsecondary training program, the military or the workforce.  We’ve made great progress toward that goal in the past five years.  

When we first started measuring the readiness of our students, only about a third (34 percent) had the knowledge and skills needed to be successful at the next level. Today, I’m happy to report that we’ve nearly doubled that number, with a college/career-readiness rate of 62.3 percent. We estimate that this amounts to a cost savings for students and parents of nearly $15 million – money they’ll save by not having to enroll in non-credit-bearing postsecondary remedial courses.

Readers can see all the results for the state and any school or district through the online School Report Cards. I invite you to take a look for yourself.

Public education in Kentucky is moving in the right direction – thanks to the hard work of our teachers, administrators and students.  We all should take time to celebrate their success, but also consider what the data tell us about how we can help even more students become proficient and prepared for success – college- and career-ready – in the coming year. 

Kentucky’s chapter in the education reform story

This week I had the opportunity to speak to education writers from across the United States at their national seminar in Nashville.  The Education Writers Association includes journalists, researchers, teachers, policymakers and others with an interest in improving the public discourse surrounding education. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of education coverage to create a better-informed society.  Several of the journalists who regularly cover education in Kentucky were in attendance.

The organization asked me to share Kentucky’s education reform story.  By all accounts it is a success, though we still have a long way to go to achieve our goal of college/career-readiness for all.  The following are some of the thoughts I shared with them as the reasons for our accomplishments.

When they write the Kentucky chapter in the book describing education reform, they will certainly mention the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. I hope they will also highlight the era of Race to the Top, Federal Stimulus Funds and No Child Left Behind Waivers. Kentucky’s leadership in education reform is well documented and is part of the culture for education in Kentucky.

The Kentucky chapter documenting the reform period from 2008-2016 should begin with the foundation that was developed through the passage of major legislation in 2009. Senate Bill 1 (SB1) passed with no dissenting votes. SB 1 required new college-ready standards, assessments, accountability systems, and support for educators in implementing. Perhaps the most unique part of the legislation was the requirement for collaboration between higher education and K-12 education on setting college-ready standards.

When the Kentucky chapter is written, a few key initiatives should be highlighted.

1. It really helps to be the first. Kentucky was first to adopt and 
        implement common core state standards, first to assess the 
        standards, and first to implement an accountability system 
        based on the standards. By being first we were able to 
        chart our own course. There was no major opposition since 
        we had 100 percent support from legislators and the 
        Governor. Also, there were no other states for people to 
        compare us to.
2. We worked to develop a broad base of support. We developed 
        a strong communications plan with key partners. Our 
        educators stayed involved and informed through every 
        phase. Parents received communication on why we needed 
        more rigorous standards and assessments and how this would 
        impact their children. Business leaders received packets of 
        materials from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to help 
        them lead the reform efforts in their communities.
3. From the very beginning we made a decision to involve 
        teachers in every step of implementation. We pulled more 
        than 1,300 teachers, principals, and district leaders together 
        every month for two years to help us plan for implementation 
        and monitor and adjust implementation plans. Every school 
        and every school district developed a comprehensive plan 
        for implementation and support for the new standards
4. We made a decision not to rush the teacher, principal, and 
        superintendent evaluation procedures. We heavily involved 
        educators to develop evaluation models linked to the new 
        standards and assessments. As a result, we have widespread
        support this year as every district piloted the new evaluation 
        systems and next year, all teachers, principals, and 
        superintendents will utilize the state evaluation procedures.
5. Finally, our state is committed to a continuous improvement 
        approach. We know we must continue to listen and learn from 
        students, parents, teachers, and community leaders. Just 
        one example of our continuous improvement approach is our 
        Kentucky Core Academic Standards Challenge which will launch 
        in August. We are asking every citizen in Kentucky to read the 
        standards and provide comments and suggestions on how to 
        improve the standards so we reach our goal of every student 
        reaching college- and career-readiness.

Finally, I hope the Kentucky chapter will close with the record of success we have enjoyed. Our high school graduation rate is among the top in the nation and our college- and career-readiness rate has improved from 34 percent to 54 percent since we adopted common core standards. 

Good News on Graduation Rate; Challenges Ahead

Education Week released its annual “Diplomas Count” study this week. The Diplomas Count project is an effort by the Editorial Projects in Education that publishes Education Week and is an ongoing study of high school graduation issues. The report includes national and state level data and can be accessed through the links above. There was some good news for Kentucky in the report and also some continuing concerns that our state must address.

The good news is that the Kentucky graduation rate for the Class of 2010 (the most recent data available for this report) was 77.2 percent -- better than the national average of 74.7 percent. Of particular importance was the fact that Kentucky ranked 3rd in the nation for most improvement in the graduation rate since 2000. Kentucky improved 13.5 percentage points compared to a national improvement of 7.9 points.

Kentucky legislators, who have often been concerned that we were over estimating the graduation rate since we were unable to move to the cohort graduation rate until the Class of 2013, should find solace in the “Diplomas Count” report.  According to the numbers Kentucky’s state-reported graduation rate is the same as the graduation rate calculated for this report.

While there is much to be proud of in Kentucky’s efforts toward improving high school graduation rates, there remain several areas that we need to work on to help more students graduate from high school. According to “Diplomas Count,” Kentucky had 53,524 students enter 9th grade in 2009-10. However, only 42,067 students were estimated to graduate four years later (2012-13). That means 11,457 students did not graduate within four years. This translates to 64 students dropping out of Kentucky high schools every day.

What do these 11,457 students look like and how does this impact the economy in Kentucky? More than 73 percent of the dropouts are white, more than 60 percent are male, and more than 72 percent of these dropouts are unemployed.

What if we were able to recover half of these students through dropout prevention work and recovery efforts with our community colleges?

According to research done by the Alliance for Excellence in Education, if we decreased the number of dropouts by half, the Kentucky economy would see $68 million in increased savings, $54 million in increased spending, $121 million in increased home sales, $7.1 million in increased auto sales, 450 new jobs, $80 million increase in gross state product, and a $5.9 million increase in state tax revenue PER YEAR!

As we close in on the date for SB 97 to take effect, we are hearing from districts that intend to adopt a policy that raises the dropout age from 16 to 18. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is providing planning grants of $10,000 per district to help develop a plan to implement their policy. While we guaranteed at least 57 districts would receive funding, we are working to increase that number with funds from other sources. My commitment to districts is that KDE will work to ensure we get funding for at least 55 percent of districts over the next two years so we can move forward with a statewide effort to increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school.

It is also critically important that districts have rigorous programs in place to ensure high school graduates are ready for college and career.

The numbers are very clear. While a high school diploma is a good start, it isn’t enough. The high school dropout unemployment rate is as high as 28 percent or higher for some demographics; for high school graduates it’s in excess of 10 percent. Yet, the unemployment rate for 2 or 4 year college graduates is less than 4 percent.

Educators should take a few moments and celebrate the successes in the “Diplomas Count” report and then begin working on specific plans and strategies to implement SB 97 and our work around college/career-readiness.