Members of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Commissioner’s Student Advisory Council gave feedback on the current assessment and accountability framework at their April meeting. The new assessments add levels of choice for districts when it comes to how they want their students assessed.
Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said current frameworks don’t allow for much flexibility.
“Right now, you don’t have local choice, your assessment, your accountability’s based on how many, what percentage of your students are transition ready, your graduation rate, your score on a math test, your score on a reading test, social studies test, a science test, all that’s rolled into a percentage, then that’s who you are. I think we’re so much more than that,” said Fletcher.
Fletcher said the new frameworks will allow districts to administer state-developed or independently purchased reading and mathematics interim assessments, while the year-end summative assessments remain required for all schools. He said this will allow districts to remain federally compliant but also offers a level of independence from previous structures.
Fletcher added they worked closely with superintendents to develop these new regulations. He said in the past, they’ve judged schools based on year-to-year changes between classes, comparing one year’s class of third graders to the next and so on. He said this isn’t growth.
“What we’re hearing from so many districts is we want to look at individual student growth. Where did you get the student and where did you take the student. That’s really growth, that’s really what we want to be a part of,” said Fletcher.
Some of the students present were hesitant about the new framework, expressing concern over districts possibly having too much freedom. They said districts having more independence might allow them to either change too much or not do enough for students.
Others said they believed more freedom was a good idea, but worried local accountability efforts would put too much responsibility on communities that may not offer as much support as other communities.