FRANKFORT, Ky. — Findings from the 2023 School Report Card recently released by the Kentucky Department of Education show students are still behind the mark in math and reading, but there was progress over 2022’s test scores in several areas.
The KDE released the report card data for 2023 with very little progress made from 2022.
Last year, the state switched to a color-based rating system as opposed to the previous five star ranking method. With that change and others to the testing system and classifications, the Kentucky Department of Education warns these tests cannot be directly compared to tests prior to 2022, making it hard to measure the true impact of what many are calling pandemic learning loss.
However, interim education commissioner Robin Fields-Kinney said the pandemic and its subsequent closure of schools played a major impact on students in Kentucky and nationwide.
“We expect that there will be needed a multi-year recovery period before school performance really gets back to similar pre-pandemic levels,” Kinney said.
While we can’t compare 2023 data to 2019 data, we can gather from the results are that most students are not reading at grade level. Less than half scored in the proficient or distinguished category on tests taken in the spring. There was a slight improvement for elementary and middle school students compared to the spring of 2022. However, there was no change in that same time frame for high school students.
When looking at math scores, students are even further behind grade level expectations. Only 42% of elementary students, 37% of middle school students and 33% of high school students scored proficient or distinguished in that subject area. Compared to 2022, elementary students improved, but there was no change for middle school students and there was a drop in math scores this year compared to last for high school students.
Kinney said while test score proficiency remained relatively low, it’s not the only sign of school or student success.
“As you review this data, please keep in mind that the accountability results reported in the school report card are only one way to measure school performance,” Kinney said.
Interim commissioner Kinney attributed low math scores partially because of recruitment and retention of highly qualified teachers in that subject.
“We have to figure out ways to also not only get those teachers that traditionally were born to be a teacher, their family members are all teachers. We need to find those other individuals that have the strong experience in math and science,” Kinney said.
Micki Ray, Kentucky’s chief academic officer, says a combination of federal and state funds is helping KDE invest in elementary education in Kentucky’s districts which she says played a role in the successes there.
“We are making an investment in teachers, in administrators so that they can help to better meet the needs of students in the literacy space,” Ray said.
When looking at combined reading and math indicators by student groups, disparities are clear. For example, white students scored 61.5 points on the 0-125 scale. Comparatively, African American students scored 34.2 and Hispanic students scored 44.5. While this example is at the elementary school level, similar disparities were seen at all grade levels.
One area the state saw major improvements was in an indicator called postsecondary readiness. The report splits an uptick into two categories: increased and increased significantly. It does the same for a drop by calling it declined and declined significantly. When combining both increase indicators, you see 84% of schools increased postsecondary readiness in some capacity this year compared to last.
KDE says parents can expect to see how their individual student performed later this fall when local school districts send out those reports.