Frankfort’s education establishment is nothing if not consistent. Kentucky Department of Education Deputy Commissioner Kevin Noland retires at the end of this month. When asked in an interview what he would do differently, he quickly responds that he would spend more money. From KSBA.org(click to enlarge):
James Rees, Executive Director of the historical site at George Washington’s home, Mount Vernon, recently wrote a short letter but important letter about a recent report on the decline of history instruction in public schools. As we get ready to celebrate our nation’s independence, I am going to make Mr. Rees’ letter and the actual…
Here’s a great example of the terrible confusion and lack of the transparency in education statistics in Kentucky. An educator run blog in Kentucky just posted an article praising the state’s recent rise in high school graduation rates. The article was originally published in the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer. It claims our graduation rate is now the…
Let’s understand this very clearly. Given their limited incomes, Kentucky taxpayers already spend about as much as they can afford for education. So, accusing taxpayers of being “last place” cheap simply isn’t fair. Even worse, the US Census Bureau says it isn’t true, either. But, not long ago, a Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) news…
No sooner did I publish the previous blog on the issue of public school teachers not knowing what kids really need in math than the news of a new AP poll showed up saying that most Americans agree that schools place too much emphasis on the wrong subjects, and math is suffering. I knew you…
Despite recent announcements that three more people have been added to the CATS Task Force, this committee remains heavily composed of K to 12 education people. There still isn’t a single college classroom instructor on this committee. In fact, there is scant representation even from college level administrators whose inadequate numbers are equaled by the…
USA Today reports in “Teachers’ schools flunk math prep,” that a new study on the education of elementary school teachers gives generally unsatisfactory grades to education school programs around the country. The report, “No Common Denominator, The Preparation of Elementary Teachers in Mathematics by America’s Education Schools” only includes one Kentucky education school, the University…
It looks like Louisville school superintendent Sheldon Berman and his board of education may be listening to us. The Courier Journal reports a lot more choice schools are being proposed for Kentucky’s largest school district.
Kentucky Tonight just held a discussion of the pending CATS Task Force that will be looking at the state’s public school assessment program. It was three educators against our friend Martin Cothran from the Family Foundation, so the educators were outnumbered. One item the educators brought up repeatedly was how much improvement they have seen…
With our new blog up and running with a properly functioning comments feature, I have a question for our readers. What do you think are the biggest problems with the state’s public school assessment program, commonly known as CATS? I know what I think is wrong, but I want to hear what you are worried…