Public schools across Kentucky will be scored on a scale of 1-100 under the new Unbridled Learning Accountability data to be released on Friday. The top 90 percent of schools will be labeled Distinguished; Proficient for schools in the 70-89th percentile, and Needs Improvement for the remaining schools.“I think there’s a big difference between the ‘Needs Improvement’ category and No Child Left Behind which labeled these schools as failing", says State Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. "These schools are not failing, they just have particular components that they need to work on.”
Holliday adds that the new system raises the bar on student achievement for school districts by taking into consideration student growth and college and career readiness.
“They will sit down and say where are our priorities to work on and then they’ll set about writing a plan that involves parents and teachers.”
Holliday says schools in the Needs Improvement category will have follow-up reviews from the Department of Education. The new model cannot be compared to last year’s data, so Holliday says parents shouldn’t panic when they see school and student scores that are lower than expected.