Commissioner’s Comments
Update on Accountability for 2018-2019 school year
School accountability for the 2018-2019 school year will be based on the content tests given at elementary and middle schools. For high schools, the reading and mathematics subscores on the college admissions examination and scores from the science and writing assessments will be used for accountability.
At high school, end-of-course tests will NOT be administered in spring 2019. Instead, students will take the college admissions examination to assess reading and mathematics and participate in field tests for new Kentucky assessments. A college admissions examination vendor is being secured and an announcement is expected within the next several weeks. At grade 11, a new operational assessment in science will be administered and the on-demand writing test will continue. A social studies assessment will be created once new standards are adopted.
At its upcoming August meeting, the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) will conduct its first review of the regulations for reading/writing and mathematics content standards and graduation requirements. These topics will impact state testing and accountability for 2018-2019 school year. Content standards are the basis of the state-required tests and much input has been collected on the revision of the content standards over the past two years. With the passage of Senate Bill 1 (2017, Kentucky General Assembly), a formalized process for standards development was established and implemented. As a result, KBE will begin to review revised standards in August.
The KBE will also consider the department’s proposal for revised high school graduation requirements. At its June 2018 meeting, I made the case to the board that receiving a diploma in Kentucky should require the demonstration essential skills and content knowledge necessary for transition to postsecondary and/or the workforce. The proposed regulation requires that students meet a passing point in reading and foundational mathematics on a new state-required test to be administered in the spring of grade 10.
The expected time for the adoption of new content standards and graduation requirements is spring 2019. If you have questions about the state’s assessment plan for spring 2019, please contact Associate Commissioner Rhonda Sims or Director Jennifer Stafford by email or by phone at 502-564-2256.
To read the whole Monday Message goto: https://education.ky.gov/CommOfEd/mon/Pages/July-23-2018.aspx