The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children?
November 1, 2006
The Fordham Report 2006: How Well Are States Educating Our Neediest Children? appraises each state according to thirty indicators across three major categories: student achievement for low-income, African-American, and Hispanic students; achievement trends for these same groups over the last 10-15 years; and the state's track record in implementing bold education reforms. It finds that just eight states can claim even moderate success over the past 15 years at boosting the percentage of their poor or minority students who are at or above proficient in reading, math or science. In addition, most states making significant achievement gains--including California, Delaware, Florida, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas--are national leaders in education reform, indicating that solid standards, tough accountability, and greater school choice can yield better classroom results.
View the press release for this report
Contents
- Executive Summary
- Readers Guide
- Acknowledgments
- The Future of Education Reform
- Measuring Education Reform & Results--Achievement
- Measuring Education Reform & Results--Reform
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
- Appendix
Kentucky
Content with a Trot instead of a Gallop
Kentucky's education reform efforts were fast out of the starting gate but have begun to stumble. It is still early, but state leaders are going to have to find their stride if they hope to become pacesetters again.
Kentucky began the process of raising student achievement in 1989, when the state supreme court ruled the Bluegrass State's funding mechanism inequitable. In response, the legislature passed KERA-the Kentucky Education Reform Act. It was a radical change in how the state funded and assessed its schools.
Most education advocates say that KERA was a step in the right direction. It focused on outcomes and launched statewide testing with the Commonwealth Accountability and Testing System (CATS). But the assessment tool and the standards on which it was based were both flawed. And remain so.
"There's no question the KERA was innovative," says Steve Newman, a math professor at Northern Kentucky University and a critic of CATS. "They changed everything. But unfortunately, they got way out in front. They allowed all the crazy people from the college of education to try out all their crazy ideas. None of them worked."
Not everyone agrees. Jody Richards, speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, says CATS is an effective tool. He cites as proof the percentage of all fourth-graders who are at or above proficient in math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which doubled to 27 percent between 1992 and 2005. And Kentucky's low-income students made statistically significant progress in both math and science from 1996 to 2005, earning the state a rating of limited progress for this report.
"For the purpose of driving curriculum and having high standards, I think [CATS] is working," Richards said.
But all is not well in the Bluegrass State. The state's African-American students are performing at substandard levels. Their NAEP scores are in the teens and single digits, and just slightly more than half are graduating from high school. Moreover, the standards aligned with CATS leave plenty to be desired, rating a D from Fordham reviewers.
CATS has a challenger, however. This year, the Kentucky legislature overwhelmingly passed a bill that mandates use of ACT's "Explore, Plan and ACT" system of assessment tools, beginning in 2007-2008. Eighth-graders will use the Explore analysis, tenth-graders will be diagnosed with the Plan test, and all juniors will take the ACT. The bill includes remediation or acceleration programs for students who struggle or excel on the tests.
Unfortunately, there is not much reform activity beyond standards and testing. Kentucky is one of only ten states without even a glimmer of a charter school law, and education stakeholders say charter schools are not part of the current conversation about school reform. Other elements of school choice such as vouchers and tax credits are distant from the state's reform agenda.
The Bluegrass State does embrace alternative teacher certification, encouraging mid-career professionals to enter the classroom. Its federally funded Transition to Teaching Program requires only that participants have a bachelor's degree and be accepted to an alternative certification program at a partner university. In return, the state doles out a $5,000 stipend and tutoring for the PRAXIS exam. Still, candidates must jump through the standard university hoops to complete their certification-a sure turnoff to many potential teachers with solid academic qualifications in math and the sciences.
Alternative routes to the classroom help but are not enough to reform a system that is limping along. The fact is that too many in the state have grown complacent. Some leaders are content with simply touting soaring CAT scores. However, the state has not posted corresponding gains on NAEP for its African American students-a troubling sign.
CATS may have helped bring Kentucky light years from where it was twenty years ago, says one department of education insider, but it won't get the state across the finish line. Bluegrass State students deserve a better horse in the race to ensure that each child learns to the peak of his or her ability.