The Kentucky Department of Education released its 2023-2024 Assessment and Accountability results this week, which measures overall academic performance and preparedness at public school districts in the commonwealth.
This is the second full year of Kentucky’s new accountability system, which was established in statute in 2020. The report measures student performance in various subject areas and offers overall indicators for grade levels and schools.
The current performance is marked as the status metric in the state’s report. It also measures how those indicators compared to the previous year, marked as the change metric. Unlike last year, having two full years of the same measurement system allows for direct comparisons between accountability metrics from 23-24 school year and the preceding school year.
In spite of this, there are some other changes that make analysis difficult, namely the lack of currently available enrollment, attendance and complementary demographic breakdowns. This resulted from the state changing its software vendor, and the data will not be available until later this year. The state’s current online School Report Report dashboard will also be phased out and replaced as as result.
This gap makes analysis and comparisons between districts (and regions) difficult as ratings are unable to be weighted and controlled for population characteristics.
Still, close analysis of the data reveals some trends among the regions school districts.
Firstly, kindergarten readiness is up across most school districts with Newport Independent showing the greatest improvements. The increase is in line with statewide trends.
Reading and math proficiency scores for 4th, 8th and 10th grade reveal that many of the disparities that characterized the region before the pandemic are beginning to reconstitute themselves, namely that independent districts in affluent parts of the region (i.e. Beechwood and Fort Thomas) are sweeping past the rest of the districts. The county school districts tend to hover around the state average, and the river city independent districts sometimes struggle to keep up.
Finally, average ACT scores are down almost across the board, which is also in line with statewide trends.
Robbie Fletcher, the Kentucky commissioner of education, discussed factors that have affected student performance in his summary of the data: ongoing chronic absenteeism and teacher shortages.
Chronic absenteeism "not only impacts their [students'] individual learning, but also affects the school's overall performance metrics," Fletcher writes in the data briefing.
Likewise, he continues, "with fewer teachers available, class sizes often increase, which can lead to less individualized attention for students. This can negatively affect student engagement and learning outcomes."
Check out overall ratings for NKY public school districts and schools below, arranged alphabetically. Get more specific measures, including demographic break outs, subject assessment data, data on English Language learners and other information at the Kentucky Department of Education's online open house.
Bellevue scored low in several accountability metrics, with the exception of combined math and reading ratings for elementary students, which scored high.
""We're thrilled to see the significant improvement in all of our elementary assessment scores," said Assistant Superintendent Tiffany Hicks in an email. "It’s a testament to the hard work of our teachers, students, and families and the targeted strategies we’ve implemented. We’ve focused on high quality resources, differentiated instruction, data-driven decision-making and providing professional development for our teachers."
Most Boone County Schools scored middle to high marks in overall accountability ratings. The high and middle schools all either increased or maintained performance levels. Elementary English Language Learner proficiency also increased, and overall school safety and climate scores increased for all grades levels from the preceding year.
Campbell County schools scored well at the elementary level, and most of the district's schools scored high in terms of school climate and safety. The district highlighted this in a statement.
"Results from the Quality of School Climate and Safety Surveys show overwhelmingly positive feedback from students across the district," the statement reads. "Students agreed with statements like, 'Adults in my school care about me' and 'I feel like I am part of my school.' This affirms our commitment to creating a nurturing and inclusive learning environment where every student feels supported and valued."
Covington Schools have made some strides in some areas but continue to struggle in several areas.
Notably, Latonia Elementary's combined math and reading accountability measure is in the blue. Moreover, the Hispanic population at Holmes Middle School has moved out of federal TSI status, and the high school has seen performance improvements in reading, math and writing.
“As we continue to navigate the complexities of education, we remain committed to transparency and community engagement,’’ said Superintendent Alvin Garrison. “We will build on our successes, tackle our challenges head-on and create a brighter future for all students in Covington Independent Public Schools.’’
Dayton Schools' overall indicators were in the low and middle ranges, but the district did see an increase in elementary school reading scores. Elementary school writing scores, on the other hand, saw a decline. The middle school's performance indicators grew the most with increases across all subject areas. Although there were some dips at the high school level, the district's safety and climate rating scored very high (blue), something Superintendent Rick Wolf was particularly proud of, saying it "speaks volumes" to how welcoming and safe the schools were for students.
Erlanger-Elsmere's numbers were mixed. It's one of the more consistently well-ranked for school climate and safety, with a few exceptions. The high school's post-secondary scores saw increases and Lindeman Elementary has high ratings in all subject areas.
"As we look ahead, we remain focused on our mission, vision, and core values:Â To provide the knowledge, skills, and opportunities our students need to realize their full potential and achieve lifelong success," said Superintendent Chad Molley in an email.
"We're very pleased with our performance this year," said Fort Thomas Superintendent Brian Robinson.
Fort Thomas remains one of the higher performing schools in the region. Four of the five schools in the district saw performance indicators increase. Like many districts in the region, however, Fort Thomas's overall ACT scores saw a slight decline, even if its performance indicators are otherwise in the blue.
Kenton County School District schools have high ratings overall with 13 out of the 18 district schools earning blue or green (very high and high, respectively) ratings. Other highlights included an increased graduation rate, up 2.3% from last year to a rate of 97.9%. The district also earned high overall indicators in reading and math for all grade levels.
"We are very proud of our work and results and are committed to continuous growth of our instructional priorities to ensure an equitable learning environment for all," said the district in a press release.
Ludlow's high school is among one of the higher performing high schools in the river cities. Ludlow also scores high on metrics for student safety and climate. Still Ludlow's elementary school did see an increase in its overall accountability rating from last year.
"We had nice growth in both reading and math, and then we moved we reduced the number of kids were that were scoring novice," Superintendent Jason Steffen said of the elementary school. "So we're excited to see that our elementary is moving in the right direction."
Overall indicator ratings for Newport Schools remain low, with most schools scoring the in red, the lowest indicator rating. The one exception is the high school, which saw an increase from a very low (red) rating to a low (orange) rating. The district did see some performance increases in elementary school reading and math but declines in writing, social studies and science at the intermediate school. The high school saw modest increases in several subject areas, and Newport saw the greatest improvement of any NKY district in kindergarten readiness.
Newport Superintendent Antonia Watts said that there are always areas that do well and other areas that can be improved.
"We got to dig in and do some better instruction in those areas where we went down," Watts said.
Southgate is unusual among NKY districts in that it only has students between preschool and 8th grade. Their middle school students tend to perform better with overall proficiency increasing year over year between 7th and 8th grade. Science, reading and writing accountability metrics have remained low.
Superintendent Greg Duty said that the district has seen large reductions in students marked as novices, the lowest performance rating.
"We take testing very seriously, and our team over here, our teachers and all of our administrators, it's a part of the culture," Duty said. " We're all about growing kids, regardless of where they are."
One highlight for Walton-Verona this year was the district's middle school losing its federal Target Support and Improvement, or TSI, status meaning the students' overall performance is below the lowest quarter of Title 1 schools. The middle school saw improvements in all subject areas. Although the district has middle to high overall rankings, there were declines in elementary and high school social studies, science and writing scores. High school reading and math scores, however, improved.
"Like every year, we have some scores that we're very proud of, and we have some indications where we have some areas where improvement is needed," said Superintendent Matt Baker.
LINK nky has reached out to all of the districts for comment. We will update this story as they respond.