Recent issues in Atlanta, Pennsylvania and other areas have raised the profile on cheating on tests. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is taking a proactive stance on this issue. Education Commissioner Terry Holliday recently discussed this topic in his blog. The view the blog, click here.

Specific actions that Kentucky is taking in this area are:

  1. Writing a request for proposals for a Test Security Audit to learn how to improve security. The audit will review our current test security procedures and provide us with additional ideas to improve security.
  2. Building into new test vendor contracts forensic processes to uncover inappropriate activities.
  3. Continuing with the regulatory steps of having all educators trained on test procedures and having all educators read and sign a Code of Ethics document.
  4. Continuing with having an investigative unit within KDE to deal with inappropriate test allegations.
  5. Considering a possible legislative proposal for the 2012 session.
  6. Implementing a balanced accountability model and teacher/principal effectiveness system that does not focus solely on test scores.