It’s been an amazing development. From the creation of the first charter school law two decades ago, the number of charter schools has grown impressively around the nation, and so has student enrollment. This graph, derived from the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows how dramatically the enrollment in charter schools…
I don’t understand what part of “it isn’t working in other states” the governor does not understand, but it’s reported that Kentucky’s governor, Steve Beshear, is again going to propose legislation to raise the minimum high school dropout age in the state to 18. I researched the performance of Age 18 legislation in 14 states…
But, who will insure all this data is secure, who will have access, etc? I’m a big fan of research data, but I also recognize that massive amounts of personal information stored on government computers create all sorts of potential for really bad things like identity theft and governmental invasion of personal privacy. Certainly, the…
The proliferation of computer-based databases operated by Kentucky’s public school system has been very extensive, and these databases contain a large amount of sensitive information on students, parents and school employees. Examples of that sensitive information include: social security numbers, test scores, eligibility for free and reduced cost lunch, salaries, teacher evaluation materials, health conditions…
In any state-to-state education comparison, student demographics matter In its zeal to portray Kentucky’s public education system in the best possible light, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence has issued a 2012 update to its on-going “Top 20 by 2020” reports. But, Prichard still doesn’t get this right. Prichard simply ignores advice, readily available in…
Our K-PREP Data Sourcebook is now updated to include district level white minus black math proficiency rate gaps for all school levels, elementary, middle and high schools.
The goings-on in Breathitt County’s school system sound like something out of a horribly unbelievable soap opera. Except, this story is no fabrication. Former superintendent Arch Turner was recently sentenced to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine for vote buying in a serious case that eventually involved the FBI. Charges were also filed…
Without question, a gaping hole exists in Kentucky’s new school accountability program, known as “Unbridled Learning.” That deficiency – failure of Unbridled Learning to properly identify and account for sometimes enormous achievement gaps between white and black students in the state’s new Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) test results. Bluegrass Institute president Jim…
Unlike Kentucky, which is still part of a vanishing number of states with no charter schools, California has had this innovative school option for many years. And, the leading newspaper in the Golden State’s biggest city has figured it out. In “Give charter schools their due” the LA Times says: “Charter schools have been the…
His article came out several months ago, but Professor Tony Rothman’s Scientific American article, “Look East, Young Man” is still worth a Thanksgiving weekend read. The bottom line: math skills of entering students at one of the nation’s premier universities are slipping, UNLESS they are overseas students. This has profound implications for not just our…