Breathitt Co. schools improving under state management

I visited our schools in Breathitt County this week, and am happy to report they have made good progress under state management.

The district has improved in a number of ways.

– The average daily attendance rate is up by more than 150 students.

– The graduation rate is 86.5 percent, which exceeds the state average.

– The college- and career-readiness rate for graduating students has improved from 16 percent in 2010 to 46 percent in 2013, meaning more students are prepared for life after high school.

– On a scale of 0-100, the overall accountability score moved from 44.9 in 2011-12 to 53.8 in 2012-13.

– Its overall ranking among the state’s districts increased. The district moved from among the lowest ranked in the state – in the 5th percentile overall in 2011-12 (meaning only 5 percent of districts in the state ranked at or below Breathitt Co.), up to the 43rd percentile in 2012-13 (43 percent of districts in the state ranked at or below Breathitt Co.).

– Basic algebra and integrated science have been added to the 8th grade curriculum, providing a more rigorous course of study that will better prepare students for high school classes.

– The Next-Generation Academy, a dual credit program in cooperation with Hazard Community and Technical College, Morehead State University and the University of Kentucky through which students can earn enough college credit to graduate with a high school diploma and an associate degree, has been launched.

We are pleased to see the advancement students and staff have made under the guidance of state management. This confirms that the Kentucky Board of Education’s decision to approve state management of the district was the right course of action. Breathitt County teachers, administrators and students are clearly responding to the need to improve. 

But the state’s role is far from over. There still is much work to be done and we have a long way to go to ensure that the Breathitt County school district is providing students with the world-class education they need and deserve.

The Kentucky Board of Education put the district under state management in December 2012 after an audit found “a pattern of a significant lack of efficiency and effectiveness in the governance and administration of the school district” and that the district lacked “the necessary capacity to develop and implement systemic change on its own.”

I appointed Larry Hammond, retired Rockcastle Co. superintendent, as state manager for Breathitt Co. Under his leadership, the Breathitt Co. school district has been able to develop a common vision and set goals. Communication within the district and with the community at-large has also improved and they are rebuilding trust in the schools and a belief by parents and community members that their students will benefit and have a better life as the result of the education they receive.

In addition to academic progress, the district has also taken steps to improve its precarious financial situation by cutting operational costs while minimizing the impact on educational programs. For example, reconfiguring bus routes and disposing of surplus buses will save the district more than $300,000 in transportation costs each year. State personnel are also working to ensure the district maintains the 2 percent contingency fund balance required by law.

State management of the district will continue through at least December 2015 at which time the Kentucky Board of Education will evaluate whether state management is still required. 

While we don’t like to put a district under state management, it is for the benefit of the children that such action is taken.

Teachers speak out on Common Core Standards

Scholastic recently released some early results from the third edition of Primary Sources, a survey of more than 20,000 teachers across the nation. The early release highlighted three major findings concerning teachers’ views on the Common Core State Standards, which in Kentucky are called the Kentucky Core Academic Standards. Here are the key findings.

Awareness – Teachers’ awareness of the Common Core State Standards is now universal. Approximately 97 percent of teachers surveyed were aware of the Common Core State Standards.

Impact – Teachers expect the Common Core to enhance students’ ability to think critically and use reasoning skills. This is especially true of teachers who have the most experience with standards including math and English/language arts teachers, and those who teach elementary grades.

Implementation – Teachers are enthusiastic about implementation. At the same time, teachers share the realistic view that implementation is going to be challenging and have concerns for specific student populations, but are able to point to supports and resources needed to help these students.

I really enjoyed reading a few of the quotes from teachers.

“I think it’s about time that we implement the Common Core State Standards. It’ll give consistency district to district. We should have done this years ago.”

“It’s going to be a huge mind shift for both students and teachers. With Common Core, we need to allow for exploration so students can learn more ‘why’ now.”

“I feel strongly that the Common Core State Standards will do wonders for education. For the first time in a long time, I think education is getting back on track.”

With all the political gamesmanship over the Common Core State Standards, it is essential that we listen to our teachers. So, I have asked staff to survey Kentucky teachers with questions similar to those in Primary Sources. I believe the results will be even more positive from Kentucky teachers because they have been working to implement the standards since 2010. Once we have the response back from our teachers, we will provide this information to the House and Senate Education members and hope that they listen to teachers rather than special interest groups who are spreading misinformation about the Common Core State Standards.

Teachers are not alone in their support for the Common Core. This week I read an article that reported the Common Core State Standards also have strong support from the military. Military children will relocate at least twice during their school careers and having common standards across states will allow them to continue their education with the least amount of disruption. In addition, common standards will help Department of Defense Schools raise educational expectations, and improve their efficiency and effectiveness. Kentucky is home to two military bases – Fort Campbell and Fort Knox. Both bases work closely with local school districts. By using common standards across states, those children who move into Kentucky from other states will have an easier transition.

The GOOD! The BAD! And the UGLY!!!

The annual School Report Card on school and district performance and accountability has been publicly available since last Friday. Over the past week, I have been reviewing the data to find the good news and the areas for improvement. Of course, the terrific news is the increase in our college/career ready rates ­ 20 percent in 3 years ­ and the results from our first year with cohort graduation rate ­86 percent. However, there are many areas for improvement.

We are not improving proficiency in math and reading (combined reading and math proficiency rates) as fast as we need to. Also, our various No Child Left Behind student groups are not improving as much as we need them to. Here are some summary numbers:

            –Combined reading and math gap groups for elementary
               schools – we improved in 7/8 groups

            –Combined reading and math gap groups for middle schools                       we improved in 8/8 groups

            –Combined reading and math gap groups for high schools –                        we only improved in 2/8 groups

Why the low performance in high school? This was a result of having only one math test at the high school level. We only test Algebra II for proficiency and gap group purposes. In 2012, we had 40,628 students take Algebra II and in 2013, we had 44,117 students take Algebra II. This increase of over 3,500 students had an negative impact on our high school math proficiency and gap scores.

Reading Gap Group Scores

          –Elementary schools – 2/8 improved

          –Middle schools – 8/8 improved

          –High schools – 6/8 improved

Math Gap Group Scores

          –Elementary schools – 8/8 improved

                  –Middle schools – 5/8 improved

                  –High schools – 1/8 improved

Writing Gap Group Scores

                 –Elementary schools – 8/8 improved

                  –Middle schools – 6/8 improved

                 – High schools – 7/8 improved

Overall in reading, math and writing, gap group scores improved in 51/72 cases which is 71 percent of gap groups. Clearly, we have concerns with elementary reading and middle/high school math. While we can explain a drop in high school math due to the increased number of test takers, it is imperative that we figure out how to support all students in meeting Algebra 2 expectations at the high school level. Also, the foundation for all learning is elementary reading and if our students are not progressing in reading at the elementary level, then we will see declining performance throughout their school careers.

All in all, we are making progress with the implementation of our Kentucky Core Academic Standards. The strong improvements in college/career-readiness and strong performance of our cohort graduation rate are indications of our strong interventions with high school students through transition courses, dual credit, credit recovery, and numerous others. However, our long term success in helping every child reach college/career-readiness upon graduation depends heavily on our ability to improve proficiency in reading, math and writing in grades 3-8. While we made improvement in 71 percent of the gap groups, we did not meet our expectations for improvement.

As a result, I am asking our KDE team to revisit our proficiency and gap plans for improvement and to develop specific Response to Intervention strategies and professional learning opportunities that are proven to work. This will impact districts and schools since every district and school must write improvement plans to address lack of progress with gap groups in reaching proficiency in reading, math and writing.

Soon parents will be receiving individual score reports for their children. It is critical that parents review the reports and see if their child has reached the proficient or distinguished level in reading, math and writing. A student in grades 3-8 and in high school courses that has reached proficient/distinguished is on target to reach college/career-readiness by graduation. If your student is not at the proficient or distinguished level, you should not panic since many children will take longer to reach these higher expectations. Also, it may take students 3-5 years to gain the background knowledge and skills required by the Kentucky Core Academic Standards that they may have missed in earlier grades. However, you should have a conversation with your child’s teacher about what actions you can take as a parent to support your child’s teacher and help your child at home.

Reaching college/career ready requires collaboration between student, school and parent. All three must take responsibility and be accountable for the results.

Results show progress; work to be done

This week, we released the Unbridled Learning assessment and accountability results from the 2012-13 school year. We have some really positive news. Our cohort graduation rate is 86.1 percent which places us among the top states. Our college- and career-ready rate is 54 percent which is 20 percent higher than our 2010 baseline. It is clear that Kentucky educators are helping more students reach success.

While we have made tremendous progress the last few years, but we have much work to do. I am concerned that students are not making sufficient progress on assessments in grades 3-10 on states tests. These tests measure progress of students toward the goal of college- and career-readiness. Our performance on language arts and math improved, however, the improvement will need to accelerate if we are to maintain and continue to improve our graduation rates and the rate of graduates who achieve college- and career-ready status.

Over the coming months, we will be providing schools and districts with best practices on raising proficiency and closing achievement gaps for all groups of students. It is essential that every classroom, every school and every district in Kentucky have in place a system of interventions to help students when they are struggling academically.

I am very proud of the work of educators in Kentucky. Kentucky has been featured in numerous national publications for our work in college- and career-ready standards, assessments and accountability. I have full confidence that our students, teachers, administrators and parents will continue to push for more student success.

To find out more about your local schools' performance take a look at our easy-to-read online School Report Cards.

Terry Holliday, Ph.D.

Commissioner

Lack of Zzzs Can Lead to More Cs, Ds and Fs

If you’ve ever had a middle or high school student or taught one, you are probably acutely aware of the subject of my blog this week – insufficient sleep in adolescents.  My thanks to the Kentucky Sleep Society’s Adolescent Sleep Task Force, chaired by Sarah Honaker, Ph.D., C.B.S.M. for contributing this guest blog.

It will come as no surprise to many educators that the vast majority of adolescent are achieving less than optimal sleep, impairing their ability to learn.  The National Sleep Foundation’s “Sleep in America” poll from 2006 includes disturbing data about this widespread public health problem.  They found that only 20 percent of adolescents were getting the optimal amount of sleep (9 hours or more per night), with 45 percent of adolescents sleeping less than eight hours per night.  Insufficient sleep among children in this age group has also been associated with mental health difficulties, substance use, and risky decision-making. 

There are many factors contributing to the lack of sleep among our young people, including busy schedules, poor sleep habits, and a biological tendency to stay up later coupled with early school start times.  Many studies have demonstrated a delay in the adolescent sleep cycle, which is associated with puberty.  On average, a “natural” bedtime for an adolescent is between 10 and 11 p.m., making it very difficult to achieve the recommended 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep on school nights in particular.  As a result adolescents are prone to nap after school and oversleep on weekends, perhaps understandable but often resulting in even less sleep on weeknights. 

The Kentucky Sleep Society’s Adolescent Sleep Task Force was formed to disseminate information to adolescents and their families about healthy sleep habits, and information to educators about the positive impacts associated with later school start times.  In an upcoming blog, we will discuss tips on healthy sleep for adolescents and families and provide links to handouts for families.   

Well-educated workforce key to Kentucky’s prosperity

This week, I read a report from the Economic Analysis and Research Network titled “A Well-Educated Workforce is Key to State Prosperity.” The report began by asking the question – “What can state governments do to boost the economic well-being of their people?” The report summarizes that incomes and wages increase when productivity increases. There are several key policy levers to increase productivity: investments in public infrastructure, in technological innovation at public universities and in workers through the education and training systems.

Many states, including Kentucky, have been taking the opposite approach to investment in the workforce. We have seen in the last four years, major reductions to base funding for our K-12 and our higher education systems. Recently, one state, Florida, took an approach of trying to lure employers from Kentucky to the sunshine state. This strategy does not work in the long run since there is very little investment in helping to make the existing workforce more productive.

The report provides several key findings that our policy makers in Kentucky need to review.

1.  Overwhelmingly, high-wage states are states with a well-educated workforce. There is a clear and strong correlation between the educational attainment of a state’s workforce and median wages in the state;

2. States can build a strong foundation for economic success and shared prosperity by investing in education; 

3. Cutting taxes to capture private investment from other states is a race-to-the-bottom strategy that undermines ability to invest in education (I hope Gov. Scott in Florida reads this);

4. States can increase the strength of their economies and their ability to grow and attract high-wage employers by investing in education and increasing number of well-educated workers, and;

5. Investing in education is also good for state budgets in the long run, since workers with higher incomes contribute more through taxes over the course of their lifetimes.

As I reported to the Interim Joint Subcommittee for P-12 education this week, it is time to reinvest in Kentucky education.

For a number of years, Kentucky educators have done significantly more with less. Kentucky education is one of the fastest improving education systems in the nation. However, our educators have hit a wall. Without significant reinvestment in P-12 education, we will begin losing ground. When we lose ground as a state, we have a less well-educated workforce. When we have a less well-educated workforce than our neighbors, we lose jobs and potential employers who pay living wages.

This conversation needs to happen in every community. Every superintendent, teacher, parent and business leader needs to have this conversation with their local school boards and state legislators. We are not going to “cut” our way to prosperity in Kentucky. Investments in education today will pay huge dividends in the short and long term.

Specifically, I am pushing for three major priorities. 

1. Restore the basic SEEK funding per pupil to $3,866 (this will cost $60 million in FY15 and $90 million in FY16 (due to growth and keeping former dropouts in school).

2. Restore funds for safe schools, extended school services, textbooks and preschool. These funds were originally part of the KERA in 1990. We need $60 million each year of the budget.

3. Restore funds to expand access to broadband and network services to our school districts Also, provide a $50 million, 5-year bond to replace aging technology equipment. ($20 million in FY 15 and $20 million in FY16).

While there are many other needs, these are the basic priorities. In a recent meeting with all local superintendents in Kentucky, there was almost universal agreement on these priorities. It is time to connect the dots that a well-educated work force is the key to our Commonwealth’s prosperity.

Educational choices and where they may lead

This week, I reviewed a report issued by the American Institute for Research titled “Higher Education Pays; But a Lot More for Some Graduates Than for Others.”  The report underscored the point that the success we have with our focus on college- and career-readiness will have a big impact on the long range economy of Kentucky and the future of our high school graduates.  

Students who do not graduate with the skills needed to be successful in college and careers, often have to take remedial courses for which they do not receive college credit.  Furthermore, many of these students borrow money to take these courses. Currently, the student loan debt is over $1 trillion and increasing every year. This debt burden will have a negative impact on our national and state economy and on the future of these high school graduates.

The core problem is that many students and parents do not know what it takes to be college- and career-ready. In addition, many students do not know the potential earnings for careers before they enroll in a postsecondary program and before they take on loans to pay for it. The report offered four important lessons that parents and students should know.

1. Some short-term, higher education credentials are worth as much as long-term ones. In Texas, some technical associate degrees pay $11,000 more than a bachelor’s degree. Also, credential programs that take 1-2 years to complete pay more in the long term than those that can be completed in less than 1 year.

2. Where you study affects earnings but less than some may think. The more exclusive higher education programs that are more costly may not provide as much of an earnings advantage as parents may think.

 3. What you study matters more than where you study. Parents and students should look at this report to see which areas pay more in the short and long term. Graduates with engineering and health degrees earn more than graduates in music, liberal arts, and philosophy.

4. The S in STEM is often oversold. Biology and chemistry degrees are not paying as much as engineering, computer and information science and mathematics.

There will be exceptions to the lessons learned in this report. It is crucial that parents and students do their homework prior to applying to a postsecondary program.

Also, it is critical that parents and students begin very early in the school career to ensure the students are on track for college- and career-readiness. In Kentucky, we begin providing this information as early as 3rd grade.

In the next few weeks, parents will receive student test scores which show college- and career-readiness. No matter what level the child is in school, this is an excellent time to have a conversation with your student about college- and career-readiness expectations and to lay the groundwork for postsecondary education options.