GLASGOW — Revised information based on a transition index for Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) scores has been released and the updated results for area school districts may be confusing for some.

The Assessment Transition Index was formulated by a partnership of the Council for Better Education, the Kentucky Association of School Councils and the Prichard Committee to provide overall school results during the Senate Bill 1 transition, which has suspended CATS testing accountability until 2012.

In a statement by Tom Shelton, superintendent of Daviess County Public Schools, on the Kentucky Association of School Councils Web site, he said, “Using 2009 test results reported by the Kentucky Department of Education, we have published a single number that sums up students’ progress, and an index for each subject still being tested.

“To provide usable trend data, we are also sharing 2007 and 2008 data calculated by the same formula used with the 2009 release. For schools and districts, we hope this data will be helpful in evaluating and improving student performance. For parents, citizens and policy-makers, it will be a quick snapshot of our progress in helping all Kentucky students succeed.”

No Child Left Behind data and the unrevised numbers for KCCT were released to the public on Wednesday. The transition index then allowed school districts to look at the 2009 numbers in comparison with 2007 and 2008 and chart progress in a more linear fashion. Results for the four area school districts follows.

BARREN COUNTY

“Obviously, it’s not as simple when you have one number to look at and this year you've got one number,” said Benny Lile, director of Instruction and Technology for Barren County Schools, on Tuesday about the state test scores.

The indexed numbers show KCCT scores in three elementaries, Austin Tracy, Park City and Temple Hill have been declining over the past three years. Eastern Elementary’s progress is flat. Hiseville’s score is on track to reach 100 by 2014 and Red Cross Elementary has already reached 100. North Jackson Elementary is a new school and so is not included in this data.

Barren County Middle School is declining and Barren County High School is improving.

Lile said administrators are still reviewing the latest information released.

“We’re still trying to work through a lot of that data and look at it on an individual school basis, but from every indication it looks like the schools that were performing well have continued to perform well and several of the areas where we were looking for improvement, we got improvement. As always, there are going to be the places where you try to figure out maybe you didn’t do as good as you thought you would or maybe you think something went a little wrong,” he said.

Because of some discrepancies administrators have already found, especially at the middle school, Lile said Barren County will rely more heavily on the original data that shows more information about individual student performance.

“During this interim period, the Barren County School District will use the official data supplied by the Kentucky Department of Education to determine our current status. We will use the percentage of students in each performance category as a comparison to previous years. The subject area exclusions and other changes to the assessment program make comparisons to an overall index difficult at best. We will focus our efforts at the school level looking at individual student data and subject area trends. As always, every Barren County School will focus every day on providing extended, high level learning opportunities for all students,” he said in an e-mail Wednesday.

GLASGOW

Kathy Goff, superintendent of Glasgow Independent Schools, was pleased overall with the state’s decision to use the transition index to redefine results for KCCT scores during this period while Senate Bill 1 is in force.

“We will take the information and calculate it the best that we can in hopes that it will give us direction in what we need to do for the upcoming year,” she said. “We're still on that climb; however, there are so many other changes that have taken place with our standards and our curriculum and so we’re kind of in this just interim. We’re kind of in a holding point right now until we get more direction from our state as far as what’s going to change and what's going to be different.”

The high school’s results were the only negative in Glasgow’s indexed numbers. GHS is listed as declining in the latest data.

The two elementaries, Highland and South Green, have already exceeded their 100 goals and the middle school is shown as improving.

“The academic successes of students continue to be the focus of Glasgow Independent Schools. The administration is proud of the effort from the students on this assessment and their daily performance,” she said.

CAVERNA

Sam Dick, superintendent of the Caverna Independent School District, believes the transition index will be useful and said it is similar to the academic index school districts received with the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System in that it provides school district officials with an overall look at how their students are performing.

“As you know, right now, we are only looking at certain sections of the test. They want us to be able to continue looking at everything and get a transition score,” he said.

With the new index, Caverna’s elementary and high school show declining results. The middle school is on track to meet its 100 goal by 2014.

Dick said he’s sure the organizations thought by creating the transition index they would be helping school districts statewide, but added he’s afraid it might cause more confusion.

“I think it can be confusing for the public to have another set of data that is not measuring what the state is counting,” he said.

METCALFE

Schools in the Metcalfe County School district have mixed results with the indexed scores.

North Metcalfe is on track to 100 and Edmonton Elementary is improving, while Summer Shade is declining.

The middle school is on track to reach 100 as well, but the high school’s test scores are declining.

“The transition index gives educators an idea how students are performing on the Kentucky Core Content Test and allows schools to compare current scores to 2007 and 2008,” said Bennie Stephens, director of secondary education for the Metcalfe County School System.

“It will be useful to compare this year’s scores to 2008 and 2007,” he said. “We will use the information to improve our curriculum in order for our students to receive a higher quality education.”



Examine the results in more detail at http://www.kasc.net/resources.html