“But education in the state and nation is in crisis. Almost daily reports tell of American students falling far behind their international competition on performance test scores. And Kentucky has been a perennial poor relation among U.S. school systems. While there have been notable gains in the 20 years since enactment of the Kentucky Education…
The Courier-Journal reports that some of the newly identified group of Persistently Low-Achieving Schools in Kentucky share common problems. According to the newspaper, audits of Fairdale, Doss and Seneca High Schools in Jefferson County – three of the six schools from Jefferson County in the 2010 low-achieving schools group – identified common problems: • Classroom…
It wasn’t going to be a happy story. Jude Eschete was all set to graduate from a high school in Lafayette, Louisiana when, just days before the ‘big day,’ he learned that he was not going to pass a mandatory English class. Sadly, Eschete put away a graduation cap and gown he had purchased months…
One of our correspondents raised an interesting issue back before Christmas – namely, there doesn’t seem to be much of a relationship between those states that have higher standards for their state tests and actual academic performance in the schools in those states. I decided to take a look at that in a new way,…
At least two state legislators are talking about introducing charter school legislation in the Kentucky Legislature’s 2011 Regular Legislative Session. In the House, Kentucky Represenative Brad Montell has already pre-filed a bill, (Bill Request 180), which apparently will be known during the session as House Bill 103, to introduce a five-year pilot program of 20…
New information – not previously available to the public – strongly confirms what many already suspected: because teacher seniority rules assignments in Jefferson County, few experienced teachers are found in the school district’s many low-performing schools. “Analysis of Collective Bargaining Agreements in Kentucky Districts”, a new report from the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability (OEA),…
It’s not news to me, but a new Education Trust report that says today’s students are poorly prepared for non-college careers is getting wide play in the press. The Associated Press says a new study from the Education Trust shows that nearly one in four who tries to join the US Army lack the minimum…
I wrote several days ago about some of the disturbing findings in a new report from the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability (OEA) concerning the Jefferson County Teachers Association’s (JCTA) union contract. Today, I want to discuss OEA’s comments about the way modifications are made to the Jefferson County Teacher’s contract using a process called…
Why do liberals think they can repeat the same experiment time and again and somehow, finally, come up with a better, different answer? A great case in point is the busing situation in Jefferson County. Busing for integration has been going on there for about four decades. But, · Busing isn’t doing much to improve…
The editors at USA Today are also upset about the new PISA international test results. The title of their article says it all: “Our view on education: ‘We’re No. 15!’ doesn’t cut it in today’s global economy” What is really curious about this editorial is that it supposedly lists an “Opposing View.” Except, the opposing…