After nearly four years of development following the December 2015 passage of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Kentucky’s new 5-star accountability system for public schools is now live. 

According to a news release, for the 2018-2019 school year, 89 schools received one star; 251 received two stars; 643 received three stars; 233 received 4 stars; 56 received 5 stars. 

Clark County’s results were:

— CCPS elementary schools overall: 3 stars

— CCPS middle schools overall: 3 stars; with an achievement gap among students with disabilities

— CCPS high school overall: 3 stars; with an achievement gap among students with disabilities

— Shearer Elementary School: 2 stars

— Strode Station Elementary School: 3 stars

— Conkwright Elementary: 3 stars; with an achievement gap among students with disabilities

— Justice Elementary School: 2 stars

— Baker Intermediate School: 4 stars

— Campbell Junior High School: 3 stars; with an achievement gap among students with disabilities

— George Rogers Clark High School, including Phoenix Academy: 3 stars; with an achievement gap among students with disabilities

Supt. Paul Christy said he was happy with the results compared to surrounding schools, but there is certainly room for improvement. 

“Three seems to be where the majority of the schools are, and that’s that’s where we were,” Christy said. “We know we have areas that we have to work in.”

The ultimate goal, Christy said, is to be a five-star district. 

Christy said it’s hard to compare the score to previous years, though, as the system is weighted and scored a bit differently.

“We have to develop a clear understanding of how they determine our scores,” Christy said.

Overall accountability rating

The Kentucky Department of Education assigned each school an overall rating of one to five stars, based on strengths of performance on school-level measures and indicators of proficiency (reading and mathematics), separate academic (science, social studies and writing), growth (reading and mathematics; proficiency in English attainment), transition readiness (ACT, college placement exams, dual credit, Advanced Placement, apprenticeships and more.) and graduation (four- and five-year rate). 

The star ratings and federal classifications are based on the 2018-2019 K-PREP (Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress) assessment data and other indicators released by KDE.

According to the release, schools, districts and the state may earn star ratings in multiple ways. Because the Kentucky Board of Education based the overall scores on a formula using weights set for each indicator, there are different ways to earn each star rating. 

Clark County’s scores

— CCPS elementary schools: Overall, 66.5, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 75.8; Separate Indicator, 67.3; Growth, 56.7.

— CCPS middle schools: Overall, 64.9, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 79.2; Separate Indicator, 60.6; Growth, 53.5.

— CCPS high schools: Overall, 65.5, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 59.7; Separate Indicator, 57; Transition Readiness, 71.9; Graduation, 97.6; Cohort, 96.9.

— Conkwright: Overall, 59.8, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 72.2; Separate Indicator, 54.1; Growth, 51.5.

— Justice: Overall, 58.5, putting it in the two-star category. The score breaks down as proficiency, 67; Separate Indicator, 60.7; Growth, 48.3.

— Shearer: Overall, 56.6, putting it in the two-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 67.6; Separate Indicator, 57.5; Growth, 44.9.

— Strode: Overall, 66.5, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 77.3; Separate Indicator, 65.8; Growth, 56.3.

— Baker: Overall, 73.4, putting it in the four-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 85.5; Separate Indicator, 70.9; Growth, 63.2.

— Campbell: Overall, 61.9, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 75.9; Separate Indicator, 60.7; Growth, 48.7.

— GRC: Overall, 65.5, putting it in the three-star category. The score breaks down as Proficiency, 59.7; Separate Indicator, 57; Transition Readiness, 71.9; Graduation, 97.8; Cohort, 97.

The composite ACT score for GRC was 19.2 out of 36. 

Achievement gaps

Achievement’s gap, though not an indicator, will reduce a four- or five-star school by one star if at least one significant gap exists. 

According to the release, achievement gaps impacted a total of 81 schools’ overall ratings. The state lowered 16 otherwise five-star schools to four stars and 65 otherwise four-star schools to three stars. 

Clark County did not have any schools with stars dropped due to achievement gaps.

Last year, CCPS had three schools designated as Targeted Support and Improvement (TST) schools — Conkwright, Baker and Campbell. Schools identified as TSI based on a student group scoring as poorly as all students in any lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools or non-Title I schools based on school performance. 

The state identified Conkwright and Baker by disability student group and Campbell by African-American student group. 

This year, Baker did not have a student group identified, and Conkwright and Campbell had the disability student group identified. The state didn’t recognize any new schools in the district as TSI.

“We still have some work to do in the category and subcategory of special needs,” Christy said.

CCPS Chief Academic Officer Brenda Considine said the disability student group is a group the district needs to look at across all schools. But CCPS also wants to dive further into the data to see if there are other achievement gaps. 

“Are there other student groups that may be just above that kept us out of a targeted group, but that we need to make sure we focus on?” Considine said. “And then what are they doing at the building level that we can provide support to help them with their initiatives?”

Christy said the district has already hired additional growth teachers and staff for various special education programs and English learners throughout CCPS because of an increase in students this year. 

Reading, mathematics proficiency

After analyzing the 2018-19 state assessment data, across the Clark County district, CCPS has increased proficiency in reading and math, Christy said. 

“The best part is after looking at it is that we’ve increased proficiency in reading and math across the district,” Christy said of the test results.

Percentage increases were:

— Elementary went up from 57.5% to 75.8% proficient in reading and math; a total increase of 18.3 percentage points

— Middle went up from 62.8% to 79.2% proficient in reading and math; an overall increase of 16.4 percentage points

— High went up from 45.6% to 59.7% proficient in reading and math; an overall increase of 14.1 percentage points

“I was pleased with the increase in the proficiency for reading and math,” Considine said. “… We’ve done a lot of curriculum initiatives and more so in reading than in math, but we saw the boost in math as well. And I do believe that middle and high are doing some curriculum changes in response to intervention. That is helping students have success in reading and math.”

Christy Fulks Bush, Title 1 component specialist at CCPS, said there’s also an emphasis on building relationships with students, which she thinks carries over into test scores.

“I think our teachers are making an effort to do that,” Bush said. “And that makes a big difference. It’s nice to know that somebody cares about them.”

Christy went even further, adding the enhanced security initiatives such as additional school resource officers and other security system upgrades help students perform better in the classroom.

“Students feel safe and more comfortable,” he said. “And I think that also played a factor.”

Graduation rates,

transition readiness

According to the release, Kentucky continues to post one of the nation’s highest graduation rates, with 90.6% of students earning their high school diploma in four years.

Clark County’s graduation rate was once again consistent at 97.6%, well above the state’s 90.6% rate.

“We’re substantially higher than the state graduation rate,” Christy said. 

Clark County’s transition readiness rate increased from 60.6% to 71.9%. 

School Report Card

Schools, districts and the state will receive a new star rating every year when the accountability data is released publicly in the School Report Card (SRC).

The state and district report cards will differ slightly from the school report card. A school report card will have just one five-star rating, while the report card for districts and Kentucky overall will have three sets of stars, one each for all elementary, middle and high schools. 

Funding will not be withheld from a school or a district if it does not rate highly in the state’s accountability system, according to the release.

In 2018-19, as in the past, Kentucky public school students in third through eighth grades completed Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) tests in five content areas. Students take reading and mathematics assessments annually in third through eighth grades. Other subjects are assessed once per grade level with science assessed in fourth through seventh grades, and social studies and on-demand writing assessed in fifth and eighth grades.

All data for the 2018-19 assessment and accountability reporting are publicly available at kyschoolreportcard.com. To search for a school or district’s results, type the name of the school or district in the search bar on the homepage. 

What’s next

In the spring, Clark County students will test online instead of the traditional paper-based testing. 

Christy said the district is in the process of field testing all of the technology to ensure CCPS is well-equipped to handle the transition to online testing.

Considine said the district realized it needs to drill down more into the data and meet with the principals and determine what needs to change in the district improvement plan. 

The district will do just that later this month. The schools will also present their results to the Clark County Board of Education later this month. 

“Then each school and the district begins writing their school improvement plan,” Considine said.”… The schools will work on developing those, and they will incorporate whatever changes they feel they need in the school improvement plans.” 

As always, Christy said, the end goal is to focus on the whole student, ensuring the student is college or career ready by the time they reach the end of their senior year. 

Bottom line, Christy said, the district is increasing its proficiency in reading and math, it is seeing continuing improvement among other areas and it is developing a graduate that is ready for the workforce. 

Considine said the school continues to work to break down the barriers facing student success such as increasing access to mental health services, implementing intervention programs, decreasing fees and more. 

The district is also working with community partners to connect students to possible internships and job opportunities beyond high school. 

Christy said the community could help its students year-round by reading to elementary school students, volunteering for after school programs and getting involved with Partners in Education for mentoring opportunities and more. 

Bush said parents and guardians must also do their part to actively participate in their child’s life at school such as maintaining communication with teachers, visiting open houses and more. 

“There’s so much that goes on in the district beyond state assessments that we’re very proud of,” Considine said.