(FRANKFORT, KY) – The percentage of Kentucky public school students graduating from high school continued to increase; more students took rigorous Advanced Placement tests and earned a qualifying score of 3 or higher; and students scored higher with a greater percentage of them meeting readiness benchmarks on the ACT, according to 2016-17 assessment data released today by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).
Kentucky is in the process of phasing out its old accountability system, and replacing it with a new accountability system created under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Kentucky Senate Bill 1 (2017). The new system is expected to be in place by the 2018-19 school year with accountability first reported in the 2019-20 school year.
As a result of the transition, this year’s release does not include overall accountability scores, classifications or rankings for schools and districts, although KDE will continue to support low-performing schools and districts during the transition period. This year’s release includes achievement, gap, growth, college- and career-readiness and graduation rate data. Data from Program Reviews, which Senate Bill 1 eliminated, is reported if a school or district chose to do so.
According to the data, Kentucky’s four-year graduation rate increased to 89.8 – from 88.6 percent last year and 88.0 percent the previous year.
Also, students took nearly 52,000 Advanced Placement tests last year and nearly 26,000 earned qualifying scores of three or higher – more than in past years.
ACT scores, which are based on all public school juniors taking the test last spring, increased across the board in English, mathematics, reading and science. The overall composite score also is up over the past five years, from 19.2 in 2012-13 to 19.8 in 2016-17. Additionally, a greater percentage of students met Council on Postsecondary Education readiness benchmarks.
“While this year’s results are different than what we have released in the past, they still show that Kentucky’s schools are making continued progress on graduating more students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the 21st century,” Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt said. “The gains are the result of a lot of hard work by our teachers, administrators and our students with the support of parents, community members and our education partners.
“As we move into our new accountability system over the next two years, we expect to see even more positive results as districts and schools move beyond test score and compliance mentality to a continuous improvement model that promotes proficiency and the closure of achievement gaps for every child,” Pruitt said.
Overall, achievement increased slightly at the elementary and middle school levels, but was down somewhat at the high school levels. Achievement gaps between different groups of students persisted in many areas and will be a major focus of KDE, schools and districts under the new accountability system.