Off to a good start on a new accountability system

Last week, we had our first meeting of the Accountability Steering Committee. It is composed of 37 individuals representing teachers, principals, superintendents, community members, higher education, education advocates – including the business community, legislators and parents. It is a huge group, but I felt it was important to ensure we had the perspective of all shareholders. In the coming weeks, you will learn more about the overall process. The steering committee is just one facet. There are nine other committees that have similar makeups.

At the meeting, the steering committee reviewed the main themes that emerged from the Town Hall meetings held across the state this spring. Department staff reviewed all the comments that were made at the meetings along with submitted emails, which can be found under the Town Hall portion of this webpage, and categorized them into central themes. The themes we most often heard were:

• Our children must be at the heart of the system.
• A well-rounded education is important and necessary.
• All subjects, both tested and non-tested, need to be valued. 
• Access and opportunity for students are critical. 
• An emphasis on teaching is needed.
• Collaboration instead of competition among schools and districts needs to be the focus.

We are continuing to take feedback through a special email box, so keep your thoughts coming. You may join a virtual Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, June 7 at 6:30 p.m. ET or on demand anytime thereafter by clicking here. I am so glad we decided to do the Town Halls. I learned a lot from them and plan on making them an annual event (although not so many in such a short time).

The Steering Committee agreed on a few principles to guide the work – based on the feedback from the Town Halls and discussions in the committee. The Steering Committee agreed that:

• The system should be focused on the welfare of all students and promote good decision making for their benefit.
• The system should promote a holistic and quality education for all students.
• The system should reflect the Kentucky Department of Education’s guiding principles of equity, achievement and integrity.
• The system should be simple and easy to understand.
• Data should be reported in a dashboard that better illustrates school/district progress or deficits than a single number.

So, we are off to a good start. Shortly we will be communicating about the rest of the process. There is much work to do, but I believe that we have an incredible amount of brainpower in our state to make what we are doing a model for the rest of the country. We will need to work together and hold each other accountable. We will need to develop our common vision and stick to it. Most of all, we will need to remember who this is for, our students.

On a related topic, last week, the United State Department of Education (USED) released the draft regulations for the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Some of you may have heard that I am not thrilled with a couple of issues in the proposed guidance including the timing of some issues and the use of a summative number rather than a dashboard for reporting. I want to encourage all of you to be engaged in the public input process by going to the Federal Register website, reading the draft regulations and making your voice heard.

We cannot move ahead as long as we keep a foot in the past. I have already made my thoughts known loud and clear, I need the Commonwealth to do the same. We need to do this to ensure the full impact of ESSA is realized here. If it is, I firmly believe we will continue to build a world class education system for Our Children and Our Commonwealth.

How do Kentuckians define school success?

On the surface, the question sounds pretty simple, “How do we define school success?” But the answers are usually not that simple – one reason that our current Unbridled Learning Accountability model is so complex.

In the past, we’ve defined school success based solely on student achievement. Most recently, we’ve done so by also considering measures such as reduction in the achievement gap, graduation rate, college- and career-readiness rate, student growth, and learning opportunities and in mostly non-tested programs such as arts and humanities, world languages and practical living and career studies. We’ve also included a measure of teacher effectiveness – at least on paper.  The state board voted to delay including it in accountability for a year.

With the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), we have the opportunity once again to answer the question, “How do Kentuckians define school success?” as we work to design a new education accountability system that will be used as the basis to improve our schools and celebrate their educational progress. It is my goal to collaborate with legislators, educators, students and the public to produce a system that is fair, reliable, valid and easier to understand than what we currently have.

Soon, I will be embarking on an 11-stop listening tour across the state. I invite you to attend one or more of the sessions we are calling, “Education Town Hall Meetings: How does Kentucky define school success?” Below is a list with the dates and locations of the Town Hall Meetings which will run from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. local time.

During the meetings we will provide a brief overview of our current accountability model and what the feds are requiring be included in our new accountability system under ESSA. Then it will be up to you to let us know your thoughts.  We will be using these questions as a way to start the conversation:

• What do you expect from our schools?

• What school characteristics are most important?

• How should we measure school success?

• How do we ensure all schools are successful?

• How should we celebrate school success?

This listening tour is your opportunity to provide input to Kentucky Department of Education staff and me on the design of the accountability system. Please plan on attending one of these Education Town Hall Meetings to let your voice be heard. 

EDUCATION TOWN HALL MEETINGS: How does Kentucky define school success?

All meetings are 6:30 – 8 p.m. local time.

Monday, March 14
The Blair Center @ Southside Elementary
728 Ginkgo Drive
Shelbyville, KY 

Tuesday, March 22
Campbellsville University – Gheens Recital Hall
210 University Drive
Campbellsville, KY

Tuesday, March 29
Daviess Co. High School Auditorium
4255 New Hartford Road
Owensboro, KY

Thursday, March 31
Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative
412 Roy Campbell Drive
Hazard, KY 

Thursday, April 7
Kentucky High School Athletic Association
2280 Executive Drive
Lexington, KY 

Monday, April 11
Southeast/Southcentral Educational Cooperative – Corbin Center
222 Corbin Center Drive
Corbin, KY

Monday, April 18
Kentucky Educational Development Corporation – Ashland Conference Center
904 Rose Road
Ashland, KY 

Thursday, April 21
Seneca High School Magnet Career Academy – Stickler Theatre
3510 Goldsmith Lane
Louisville, KY

Monday, April 25
Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky University
James C. and Rachel M. Votruba Student Union – Ballroom
Kenton Drive
Highland Heights, KY 

Wednesday, April 27
GRREC Offices and Training Center
230 Technology Way
Bowling Green, KY

Thursday, April 28
Murray Middle School Auditorium
801 Main Street
Murray, KY 

For those who may not be able to attend a meeting in person, an online meeting will be offered at a later date. As a third alternative we have set up a special email, KyEdListens@education.ky.gov, for you to submit your thoughts. 

Your feedback on this critically important topic is essential. We must work together to shape a new accountability system that accurately measures the success of Kentucky’s students, schools and districts.

Hope to see you at one of the town halls!