LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Department of Education has released this year’s state assessment data and Jefferson County Public Schools said their students are improving.
KDE added new features to the state accountability system which measures how schools are doing and this year, that includes different measuring metrics – meaning, the data from the 2022-23 Kentucky Summative Assessment can’t be compared to previous years.
Schools districts including JCPS are still trying to bounce back from the challenges COVID-19 brought with it.
The data shows an all-time graduation rate at JCPS high schools, but at 87%, it is lower than the statewide rate of nearly 92%.
The graduation gap between Black and white students in Louisville has narrowed and it is 2.4% -- nearly half of what it was during the 2017-2018 school year (5%).
Black student graduation rates are at 86.5%, an all-time high.
“When we talk about our future state, I want to be clear – I think these are signs that we are moving in the right direction,” Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said.
Pollio said every student group across the district increased in reading proficiency, with the larges growth seen in elementary schools. Eighty-one percent of elementary schools increased in reading and math scores. All student groups either increased or maintained math proficiency.
"We want to continue to see that continued growth and improvement in literacy and numeracy – especially among our students of color. We want to see that gap reduce, and not reduce because students are going backwards but because we have students that are accelerating their learning,” Pollio said.
JCPS said eight schools received "very high" ratings from the state -- Bloom, Dunn, Greathouse, Norton and Stopher Elementary; J. Graham Brown School (middle and high) and duPont Manual High School.
However, there are troubling numbers.
Across the state, nearly 30% of students qualified as “chronically absent” or attended less than 90% of the school year. Officials said it has been a constant trend since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robin Fields Kinney, KDE interim commissioner, claims absenteeism impacts test scores.
"If we don't have students in the classroom or learning remotely, whatever way we can access them, then the chances that they are receiving and learning from that instruction from our teachers, is greatly mitigated," she said.
Overall test scores for JCPS middle and high schools have declined in some content areas but remained the same as the previous school year.
Comprehensive school improvement or CSI status means a school is in the bottom 5% of all schools in the state.
Nine schools in JCPS’ district exited CSI status during the academic year but it also has the majority of troubled schools in Kentucky.
JCPS has 25 schools of the 28 total statewide identifying as CSI status.
“We know we have a long way to go, I want to be clear about that,” Pollio said. “This is not us saying that we have met the goals and we’re where we need to be.”
Pollio believes aligning the curriculum across all 155 schools in the district will help further improve test scores and sees that happening through an intense focus on literacy and numeracy.
What are the state tests?
The Kentucky Summative Assessments and the Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessments are tests developed by Kentucky teachers which align with state academic standards.
Reading and mathematics tests are given to students in grades 3rd through 8th and 10th graders every spring of each year.
Students are also tested on science (grades 4, 7 and 11) social studies, editing and mechanics and on demand writing (grades 5, 8 and 11) once per level.
Those who have disabilities qualify for AKSA tests while English language learners take the ACCESS 2.0 which is used for English proficiency determinations.
The Kentucky Department of Education said the goal for the testing is to move all students to higher performance categories and ultimately to the proficient performance level or above.
How a student performs is the basis for indicators in the state’s accountability system.
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