BY ASHLEY N. BROWN KENTUCKY

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Department of Education commissioner Dr. Jason glass says the latest state school report card ratings are disappointing, but expected.

“It comes in lower than what we otherwise would have seen had we not experienced a pandemic, but it’s what I expected and it’s reflective of what we see in other countries in other states. It was reflective of the formative data that we’ve been seeing in schools for some time,” says Glass.

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Jason Glass, the state education commissioner, says the ratings from this year’s School Report Card are expected
  • The state used a new assessment and accountability system
  • Glass says achievement gaps are larger than they were pre-pandemic
  • KDE is using American Rescue Plan Act funding to support students and districts who need it most

KDE says a state statute drove the rating system change and that the assessment was changed to match new standards.

“It sets a baseline for where we are that we need to recover fully from. We should expect that this baseline is reflective of the disruptions of learning that we’ve had over the past couple of years and we need to improve from this point,” says Glass.

Due to the changes, Glass said the report can not be compared to prior years.

“If we could have held gone back and kept everything exactly as it was, what would we see today? We probably would see a decline in scores that would be consistent with what we’ve seen in national data with at least our first year of ACT data and now we see some recovery from that,” says Glass.

Achievement gaps, the report shows, are larger than they were pre-pandemic. KDE is working to reverse that.

Glass says the largest portion of the department’s $2 million dollar American Rescue Plan Act funding is being used to speed up learning and get additional support to districts and students who need it most.

“I think everybody needs to take a breath and get back to work. We knew these gaps existed before. We know the distance that we need to cover and it’s most important now to just start leaning into the work of supporting and educating our student,” says Glass.

There is no quick fix to the challenges student endured during the pandemic.

“Our students can recover,” Glass said. “They can come back from this unfinished learning, but it’s going to take time. We should be patient about that. We should work on it diligently.”

KDE says parents can expect to see how their children performed on the new assessments later this fall when districts send out individual reports.