Three Kentucky School Board members listen to Jennifer Stafford present at the board's meeting on March 26.

Kentucky Board of Education members, from left, Preston Graham, Steve Trimble and Lee Todd listen to a presentation on the latest assessment and accountability framework. Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, March 26, 2025

Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) members voted to advance the latest framework to revamp the Commonwealth’s assessment and accountability systems into the advocacy phase during the KBE meeting on March 26-27.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and the Kentucky United We Learn Council started working on the future of assessment and accountability after KDE conducted a survey during the COVID-19 pandemic and a listening tour in 2021, asking people what worked for their students, what could be improved and what kind of education system they wanted to see.

The vision for advancing education focuses on three big ideas: creating a more vibrant learning experience for every student, encouraging innovation in our schools – especially when it comes to assessment – and creating a bold new future for Kentucky’s schools through collaboration with our communities.

The council, which is comprised of a wide-ranging group of people – families, students, educators, legislators, business leaders and community members – has designed a series of assessment and accountability model frameworks. As part of the process, KDE hosted nine regional town halls earlier this year, with more than 600 people attending to give their feedback on the proposed framework.

Discussions focused on enhancing local flexibility, fostering collaboration among districts and building trust in the education system. Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said the town hall format was “phenomenal” and allowed for districts to share their experiences with vibrant learning and local accountability.

Fletcher said school district leaders were the “stars of the show” at the town halls.

“They showcased students, they showcased different things that were going on in their district in terms of what their community was asking for and what they were giving them,” Fletcher said.

With feedback from the town halls and from a series of discussions with Kentucky’s educational cooperatives, Framework 3.0 was developed.

Robbie Fletcher sits at a desk while Jennifer Stafford sits beside him and answers questions.

Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher and Jennifer Stafford, division director in the Kentucky Department of Education’s Office of Assessment and Accountability, discuss the latest assessment and accountability framework at the Kentucky Board of Education’s meeting on March 26. Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, March 26, 2025

Jennifer Stafford, division director for KDE’s Office of Assessment and Accountability, said Framework 3.0 places students at the heart of the educational process, ensuring that their needs and interests are the primary focus. The approach seeks to bring about transformational changes to students’ educational experiences by promoting a personalized and engaging learning environment.

She said by prioritizing student-centered learning, Framework 3.0 encourages active participation, critical thinking and collaboration, which are essential for developing students for an unknown future.

The latest framework includes two distinct systems: one for local accountability indicators and one for federal accountability indicators. The federal indicators – reading and math, individual student growth, transition readiness and graduation rate, English language progress and the climate and safety survey – meet the federal reporting requirements. Local accountability includes flexible options for districts to determine their own indicators, while other indicators that would be required at the state level – writing, social studies and vibrant learning experiences – would have options for flexibility within them.

Stafford some of the key changes and additions to the newest version of the framework:

  • Districts would have the option to administer state-developed or independently purchased reading and mathematics interim assessments.
  • K-2 assessments in reading and mathematics have been added, allowing districts to administer state-developed tests or purchase their own.

The new framework also allows districts to choose between state-developed tests or tests they create for off-year science testing in grades 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9.

Students must be tested in science using a common statewide measure under federal requirements, but districts may choose to include it in local accountability and add additional competency-based measures or authentic demonstrations of learning.

The technical document related to the framework also was edited to include a reference to assessment exceptions for English learners, which legislators have expressed a desire to include.

Discussion among board members focused on how much testing is involved in the new assessment framework, the role of certain subjects in the framework and the focus on vibrant learning experiences.

KBE Chair Sharon Porter Robinson said she feels as if the department and Kentucky United We Learn Council members have identified important dynamics and questions to address.

“I think we have to embrace the development aspects of this as a part of what we must endure if we are going to succeed in making progress towards an admittedly ambitious goal,” Robinson said.

KBE Member Julie Pile said she observed a school district’s 8th-grade defense of learning presentations recently and what stood out to her was that students are finding vibrant learning experiences outside of the classroom, pointing out an example of a student who learned video game programming.

“The vibrant learning experiences are all around the kids and they are finding them themselves,” Pile said. “We need to be in tune with the kids and what they’re excited to learn about, what they’re curious about. That is how vibrant learning experiences really happen. They can’t be forced upon them.”

Board members approved a motion to advance discussion of the framework, with revisions to the presented framework, into the direction of advocacy. KBE requested revisions included keeping social studies and writing assessments to once per grade band (elementary, middle and high school), updating a title within the framework and requested more input from the Local Superintendents Advisory Council and the School Curriculum, Assessment and Accountability Council. The motion included a directive to bring the framework back up for discussion during the KBE meeting in June.

“We are embracing this journey of a work-in-progress that is being designed and built by a community of interest that is, itself, diverse,” Robinson said. “My friends, this is quite a challenge, but we’re up for it, and this board has never shied away from anything hard. … We are going to link arms and keep giving support and leadership to this effort because we are determined to provide a vibrant learning experience for every student and we’re not going to let an antiquated accountability system stop us.”

KDE discussed the assessment and accountability framework with members of the Local Superintendents Advisory Council, which voted to move the framework with KBE input into an advocacy phase, earlier in the week.

Three men talk to each other while standing in a meeting room.

New Kentucky Board of Education Member Harold McKinney, right, chats with board member Juston Pate, left, and Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet Secretary Jamie Link. Photo by Joe Ragusa, Kentucky Department of Education, March 26, 2025

High School Transformation State Network
Kentucky has been selected to become part of the High School Transformation State Network, established by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE).

The network aims to build and enhance the capacity of state boards of education over the next two years to enable student experiences that foster content mastery and durable skills. Kentucky is one of six states invited to participate.

“It’s really about reforming the high school experience,” said KBE Member Juston Pate, who is chair of the state’s work group.

NASBE, in partnership with KnowledgeWorks and in coordination with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, will recruit and lead a network of states in examining policies and implementation practices that facilitate or impede high school transformation. State teams of students, school leaders, higher education and workforce development leaders, and state boards of education will jointly develop action plans to streamline workflows across sectors and enable local innovation in the best interest of students.

Pate said the work has just started, but it will have a tremendous impact.

“If we can align our programs and our communities and our careers with what we’re providing in the classroom, I believe more students will be engaged in it,” Pate said. “And if they’re engaged, then they will be active and will be stronger participants, ultimately leading to the success of them and their communities.”

NASBE and the team from Kentucky are currently collecting feedback to identify how state policies are impacting the ability to transform high schools through a survey sent to school superintendents and state lawmakers as part of the early work.

Fletcher said it was an honor to be asked to join the network and the goals of NASBE tie directly into KDE and KBE’s goals.

“It sounds like vibrant learning, innovation and collaboration,” Fletcher said. “We have an opportunity to lead work nationwide and also learn from others, so this is a great opportunity.”

KDE Strategic Plan
Karen Dodd, chief performance officer at KDE, presented an update on the department’s strategic plan.

She said the department’s vision, mission and core values do not change in the new plan. KDE follows the United We Learn vision of vibrant learning experiences for students, encouraging innovation – especially around assessment and accountability – and collaboration with communities.

The plan’s objectives deal with KDE’s work on assessment and accountability, along with efforts to reduce chronic absenteeism, improve early literacy and early numeracy proficiency and expand the recruitment of qualified educators.

KDE defines a student as chronically absent if they have missed more than 10% of the enrolled time in school. Dodd said the department’s goal is to reduce the chronic absenteeism rate to pre-pandemic levels, from 28% in the 2023-2024 school year to 15% by 2028-2029.

Dodd said the focus on vibrant learning experiences for students goes together with the mission to reduce chronic absenteeism.

“We truly believe that if students are more engaged, they’re going to want to be in school,” Dodd said.

KDE launched a public messaging campaign in August 2024 to address chronic absenteeism and Dodd said preliminary data indicates chronic absenteeism rates in Kentucky have been going down since then. KDE is also planning a public messaging campaign starting in April aimed at recruiting more qualified teachers into the workforce.

More details on KDE’s efforts on chronic absenteeism can be found on the Chronic Absenteeism webpage.

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