Date: 06-09-2017
Ky. schools would get one to five stars in proposed rating system
Frankfort – Kentucky schools, including charter schools, would be rated from one to five stars, with five being the highest, under a proposed new accountability system discussed Wednesday at the Kentucky Board of Education meeting.
Under the current system, schools are rated with designations such as “needs improvement,” “proficient” or “distinguished.” Those would be eliminated. Concerns have been raised about the complexity of the current system and its unintended consequences. Passage of the education reform bill called Senate Bill 1 in the 2017 Kentucky General Assembly effectively ended the current system.
The board on Wednesday gave a first reading to the state regulation that would implement the proposed accountability plan. The board will consider final approval in August and the system, if approved, would be implemented for the 2018-19 school year.
Under the proposed new system, schools and districts would earn the star rating based on their performance and also earn a designation that would show whether they are closing achievement gaps.
Schools and districts would be rated based on various indicators including a students’ proficiency, their academic growth, whether they are ready to transition to the academic next level, whether schools are eliminating the gap — the disparity in performance between student groups — and whether schools give students equal access to school programs.
In the past, a school’s classification or label under the state accountability system has been released each fall.
But the school year 2017-18 is being viewed as a transitional year between the current system and the new system. Under the education reform law, schools and districts will not receive in fall 2017 an overall accountability score or the category labels.
By Valarie Honeycutt Spears
Lexington Herald-Leader
