FRANKFORT, KY) – A bill reimagining Kentucky’s state assessment and accountability systems has passed out of the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee with no opposition.
HB 257, sponsored by Rep. J.T. Payne, an assistant principal at the Henderson County Career and Technical Center, would encourage districts to work more closely with their communities to establish priorities for their schools and help ensure all students have access to vibrant learning experiences.
HB 257 was influenced by the work of the Kentucky United We Learn Council, an inclusive working group of students, educators, families, community members, legislators and other education stakeholders, that was tasked with reimagining what the Commonwealth’s assessment and accountability systems could look like.
“It is a launch toward reimagined assessment and accountability systems in Kentucky focused on personalized/vibrant learning,” said Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher. “We are trying to push toward an accountability system that is both useful and meaningful to all our learners across the Commonwealth.”
HB 257 includes locally developed indicators of quality and a state accountability system that meets federal requirements. Local indicators of quality would include flexible options for districts to set their own indicators in collaboration with their communities.
Payne said the bill would make changes to the current state assessment and accountability system by:
- Reducing the state testing time;
- Using the individual growth of each student in the accountability system instead of change, while retaining the ability to compare results;
- Encouraging districts to adopt systems of local indicators of quality; and
- Prioritizing student attendance in the accountability model.
“I like to say, we should assess what we value,” said Payne. “We definitely value attendance in the state of Kentucky in getting students in school and keeping them in school. We know that does lead to a lot of success metrics.”
Currently, the state accountability system includes a school climate and culture survey that is given to students each year. In HB 257, chronic absentee rates are substituted in the accountability model for the school climate and culture survey. Payne said the bill does provide a “significant opportunity for districts to still measure and prioritize school climate and culture.”
“With the implementation of these local indicators of quality, I think that’s a great opportunity for districts to say, ‘That’s going to be part of our local system and part of the local thing we measure to see. Do our students feel safe and do they have a sense of belonging and do our teachers enjoy coming to work,’” he said. “I would predict a lot of districts would utilize that as a local indicator.”
As districts create and implement local measures of quality, support will be available.
“While we have many districts who have created or are on the road to creating their own local measures of quality, KDE and its partners will continue to provide support for districts that are just beginning their journey,” Fletcher said. “This bill also includes funding for six additional regional specialists who can help provide support for districts. This is an exciting opportunity for Kentucky to lead the way in personalizing education and making sure all students have a meaningful and joyful learning experience.”
Summary of HB 257
The changes in HB 257 with the committee substitute from the current assessment and accountability systems include:
- There will be less time on state testing.
- The state indicators would continue to include math, reading, science and social studies.
- On-demand writing and editing mechanics would no longer be included in state assessments, which reduces testing time.
- The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) would provide all school districts with guidelines and professional learning to support effective, standards-aligned writing programs across all content areas.
- Each school must adopt and publish a writing program policy that promotes subject-specific writing. The committee substitute amends KRS 158.6453 to give superintendents the authority to select the writing program policy “Change” is replaced by “student growth.”
In the current accountability system, schools are evaluated by the change in accountability indicators from year to year.
In the new system proposed under the current bill, elementary and middle schools will be evaluated by the academic progress each individual student makes over the course of a year in reading and mathematics.
Local measures of quality encourage more collaboration between school districts and their communities.
School districts will be encouraged to create their own local measures of quality – formerly called local accountability.
Local measures of quality must include:
- Vibrant learning experiences for students.
- Local measures of performance identified by community members.
- A method of displaying data that includes breaking down data by demographic groups.
Establishing local measures of quality remains optional until more than 60% of districts (or 103 districts currently) have established their own measures. Once that level is reached, it will become mandatory for all districts.
The bill includes a one-time payment to offset costs incurred by local school districts in the development of locally developed indicators of quality of up to $15,000.
Local measures of quality will not be a part of the state accountability system used in federal Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) calculations.
Other changes include:
- The school climate and safety survey would remain as an option for districts to include in local measures of quality, but the survey will not be included in the state accountability model.
- Chronic absenteeism would replace the school climate and safety survey in the state accountability
As the bill is written now, the state accountability model would continue to assign color ratings (red, orange, yellow, green, blue) to schools and districts.
The bill now moves to the House floor.
As the bill moves through the legislative process, there could still be changes. Fletcher told the Kentucky Board of Education at its February meeting that conversations with legislators are ongoing regarding the future of assessment and accountability in Kentucky.
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