BIPPS’ Richard Innes will discuss education in some of Jefferson County Public Schools most troubled schools and what can be done to improve them. These schools, currently classified as “Priority Schools,” were initially called “Persistently Low-Achieving Schools.” Priority Schools are among the very lowest performing schools in the entire state of Kentucky, and Jefferson County…
One of Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear’s priorities is to expand availability of preschool programs in the commonwealth. If there was good evidence that preschool really worked, I’d favor that. The sticky problem: persistent evidence from a huge number of studies on the federal Head Start preschool program that any benefits gained disappear by the third…
The Bluegrass Institute has always advocated for high standards — the kind of standards that will ensure Kentucky students will be fully and adequately prepared for college or career. Don’t count on the Common Core State Standards to provide such preparation, writes Bluegrass Institute staff education analyst Richard Innes in today’s Lexington Herald-Leader.
The Kentucky Department of Education released the 2013-14 school term results from the ACT, Inc.’s EXPLORE and PLAN readiness tests. These tests, which are given to eighth and tenth graders, respectively, near the beginning of each school year are aligned to the ACT college entrance test to give students a good idea if they are…
There have been 44 school shootings since the deadly assault 14 months ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. There was a school shooting nationwide, on average, every other day last month. Four teachers at Newtown were murdered standing in front of their children while shielding them with no means of defense. Action must be…
One of Jefferson County’s lowest performing schools is the Valley High School. It landed on Kentucky’s Persistently Low-Achieving Schools (PLAs) list in early 2010 – in the very first round – as one of the lowest 5-percent performers in the entire state. Under the ReStaffing school improvement option selected after the school was identified, the…
Kentucky Tonight’s February 3, 2014 show was all about Charter Schools. The debate was cordial, but lively. Along the way, some “interesting” issues were raised. Around 10-1/2 minutes into the show, host Bill Goodman asked about the difference between charter schools and Kentucky’s “Districts of Innovation.” The Districts of Innovation bill (House Bill 37) was…
Kentucky Tonight’s February 3, 2014 show was all about Charter Schools. The debate was lively, but cordial. Along the way, some pretty “interesting” comments were made, some revealing a remarkable lack of understanding of the real level of educational performance in this state. One of those “interesting” comments came around six minutes into the show…
On February 1, 2014 the Kentucky Enquirer ran “OPINION: Common Core foes shortsighted.” Almost all of the people who signed this not very well informed slap at Common Core critics are major business CEOs from Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky. Today, Education Week’s Marketplace K-12 ran “Business Leaders Lack Knowledge About K-12 Education, Superintendents Say.” The EdWeek…
It’s digital learning day, and that provides a great opportunity for us to explain how a well-crafted charter school law for Kentucky could actually create a charter option for some of the most remote areas of our state. You are probably aware that the majority of brick and mortar charter schools are found in larger…