LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky Department of Education has released its test score data for the 2023-24 school year, showing improvement in some areas while flatlining or decreases in others. 

The state tested grades three through eight, along with sophomores and juniors in high school. Students receive scores based on performance levels, ranging from novice (lowest), apprentice, proficient (goal) or distinguished (highest). The released data reflects scores from students who were tested in the spring of the 2023-24 school year. 

Students who performed at proficient or distinguished levels maintained or rose in reading and mathematics across all assessed grade levels. Students performing at proficient and distinguished levels in writing on-demand and combined writing also rose at the middle and high school levels, while elementary school students maintained the same levels.

But the number of students testing at a proficient or distinguished level in science was decreased across all grade levels, which is a multi-year trend. Science is tested in fourth, seventh and 11th grade. 

Kentucky Department of Education has released its test score data for the 2023-24 school year, showing improvement in some areas while flatlining or decreases in others.

"Science performance is concerning," KDE Commissioner Dr. Robbie Fletcher said in a news release. "We need to analyze science assessment, instruction and student performance with the goal of developing actionable steps to improve science education and performance for Kentucky's students."

Fletcher said a contributing factor is a shortage of teachers, specifically in science fields.

"You can go across the state, and I've talked to several superintendents that have gone over more than a year without a chemistry teacher, so they've tried to partner with other districts so they could share a chemistry teacher, maybe be virtual in other areas," Fletcher said. "We also need to look at, are we taking an integrated approach with science?" 

Students take reading and mathematics assessments every year from third grade to eighth grade, and once more in 10th grade. 

KDE said assessment performance comparisons can be made for the last thee years. KDE also said a single test score doesn't provide a complete measure of student achievement.

Statewide Elementary School Scores

Statewide, 47% of elementary school students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. That performance level was the same last year. Mathematics' scores also leveled as 42% of students tested proficient or distinguished in math. Editing and mechanics (47%), writing on-demand (39%) and combined writing (43%) also matched last year's scores. 

But science slightly decreased, from 35% of proficient and distinguished scorers to 34%, while social studies from 42% to 39% this year. 

Statewide Middle School Scores

At the middle school level, 45% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading for the second straight year. Proficient and distinguished scorers in math slightly increased from 37% to 39%. Writing on-demand (49%) and combined writing (48%) both rose by five percentage points. 

Science scorers in proficient and distinguished slightly decreased from 23% to 22%, while social studies rose from 34% to 35%. 

Statewide High School Scores

In reading, high school students scoring proficient or distinguished held relatively steady at 45%, compared to 44% last year. Students scoring proficient or distinguished in mathematics rose to 35% from 33%. 

But students scoring proficient or distinguished in science dropped to 6%, a trending decline from 14% in 2022.

"We need to take a deep dive into our science assessment, our instruction and our student performance with the goal of developing actionable steps to improve science education and performance," Fletcher said. 

Students scoring proficient or distinguished in social studies (37%) and editing and mechanics (44%) remained the same. 

Kentucky's 4-year graduation rate rose slightly to 92.2% in 2024, compared to 91.4% last year. The five-year graduation also rose to 93.4% in 2024, from 92.5% last year. 

Since 2008, all juniors in the state participate in the ACT, which tests English, mathematics, reading and science on a scale of 1 to 36. The composite score slightly dropped to 18.2 this year, from 18.5 last year, as 46,082 students took the standardized test.

The state reported decreases across the board in English, mathematics and reading for juniors who meet the Council on Postsecondary Education benchmarks for college-level readiness. 29.7% of juniors met CPE benchmarks for college-level readiness in mathematics, along with 42.7% in reading and 44.8% in English. 

Accountability Scores

KDE also provides districts and schools an accountability score. This score factors in assessment scores, as well as English language progress, transition readiness, graduation rate, and quality of school climate and safety. The score is reflected in its Overall Performance Rating. This rating is displayed on a color-coded indicator, starting with red (lowest), orange, yellow, green, blue (highest performance). 

The accountability system complies with both state and federal requirements. It's in its second year of full implementation.

Last year, 41.1% of Kentucky schools were rated green or blue, the two highest performing categories, but that dropped to 37.1% of schools in 2023-24. 

For school districts across the state, KDE reported 31.6% of districts rated green or blue this year. That is a decrease from 35.4% from a year ago.

Statewide, overall scores for elementary school students dropped from a score of 67.1 in 2023 to 62.8 in 2024. Overall scores for middle school students slightly increased from 56.1 in 2023 to 56.6 in 2024. High school scores remained relatively the same at 63.0, a small decrease from 63.1 last year. 

"My challenge to anyone that looks at our state data, don't look at just the color rating. Dig into it. Find out from districts, what do you have to celebrate? Where do you have areas of improvement?," Fletcher said. 

Jefferson County

All JCPS school levels were rated orange in the Overall Performance Rating: 

  • Elementary Schools - 49.9 (orange)
  • Middle Schools - 41.1 (orange)
  • High Schools - 53.2 (orange)

Last year middle and high schools were scored orange, while elementary schools were rated yellow. 

For elementary schools, 37% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading, while 31% scored proficient or distinguished in mathematics. That was slight decrease in both subjects (reading 39%, mathematics 32%) from a year ago. 

At the middle school level, 32% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading, and 25% of students scored proficient or distinguished in mathematics. Reading scores slightly dropped (34%) from last year, while mathematics scores slightly increased from 23%. 

Three quarters of JCPS middle school students scored below proficient in math.

For high school, 35% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. That is a drop from 37% last year. In math, 26% of students scored proficient or distinguished, a slight increase from 25% last year. Almost half (49%) of students scored at novice, the lowest level, for math. 

Despite drops in reading scores, JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio expects there to be improvements in the future due to a change in the way students learn reading. Pollio said JCPS trained around 6,000 teachers a new way of teaching reading. 

"Obviously disappointed to see a decrease in the reading proficiency scores, that's a fundamental thing," Pollio said. "We're going to continue on. I think there's a lot of reasons around that."

JCPS' 4-year graduation rate was 87.7%, an increase from 86.8% last year. The school district's 5-year graduation rate was 88.6% this year. 

Pollio said the district's graduation is the highest it has ever been.

"A 9% increase in graduation rate in one decade, I think is unprecedented growth," Pollio said.

Postsecondary readiness gauges how seniors are prepared for academic or career readiness. It's scored on a 0 to 125 scale. Statewide KDE said students scored 90.9, while JCPS seniors scored 77.3. 

"We're seeing very positive trend when it comes to that academic readiness as well," Pollio said. "These numbers continue to trend in the right direction. And what it means is we're getting our kids to the finish line, which is the mission and vision of this district, and making sure that they are ready for post-secondary college technical programs, those type of things. So we're very proud of that."

Pollio said he is surprised scores were not lower, acknowledging the millions of instructional minutes lost because of delayed buses last school year.

"I'll be quite candid with you, I'm surprised the impact on student outcomes wasn't greater than what we saw here today because of the millions of instructional minutes that were lost," Pollio said. "We had kids missing math and ELA every single day, even if it was just 15 minutes, those add up."

Another challenge Pollio said the district faces, is accommodating the influx of multilingual learners entering JCPS.

"We have a lot of our schools right now who have 40 to 50% of their student population is multilingual learners. Which we embrace, we really do but I really believe there has to be a growth model so when a student walks into school doors and they don't speak English, and we don't know their education background in the country they come from it should be about the growth of the student that we measure," Pollio said.

Oldham County

All levels of Oldham County Schools were rated green in the Overall Performance Rating:

  • Elementary Schools - 75.6 (green)
  • Middle Schools - 72.3 (green)
  • JCPS High Schools - 76.3 (green)

For elementary schools, 59% of students scored proficient or distinguished, a slight increase from 58% last year. In mathematics, 59% of students scored proficient or distinguished. That was an increase from 57% last year.

Middle school reading results remained the same from last year. 59% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. There was a slight increase in mathematics, as 59% of students scored proficient or distinguished, an increase from 56% last year.

At the high school level, 60% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. That was a slight decrease from 62% from last year. Mathematics results remained the same from last year, with 57% of students scoring proficient or distinguished.

Superintendent Jason Radford said he is "pleased to announce continued progress and achievement" in state testing results. 

"Our commitment to educational excellence is reflected in these outcomes, which demonstrate growth and high performance across our schools," Radford said in a statement shared with WDRB. 

Radford highlighted four examples of positive performance: 

  • District-wide Success: Oldham County as a system maintains its "Green" status in the state's color-coded indicator system, with several schools receiving “Blue” status.
  • Continuous Improvement: Significant growth across schools, with the number of "Yellow" rated schools decreasing from four to just two this year.
  • High School Achievement: High school graduation rates and post-secondary readiness scores, which continue to be "exemplary."
  • Improvements in some federal groups, although there is still work to be done. It will continue to be an area of focus for the district. 

Bullitt County

All levels of Bullitt County Schools were rated orange in the Overall Performance Rating:

  • Elementary Schools - 52.9 (orange)
  • Middle Schools - 48.9 (orange)
  • JCPS High Schools - 59.4 (orange)

For elementary schools, 41% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. That was a drop from 49% last year. Mathematics scores also dropped, as 38% of students scored proficient or distinguished after 41% scored distinguished or proficient last year.

At the middle school level, 39% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. It was a decrease from 46% last year. Mathematics scores also decreased, as 34% of students scored proficient or distinguished, compared to 36% last year. 

For high school students, 37% scored proficient or distinguished in reading. That was a decrease from 39% last year. In mathematics, 33% of students scored proficient or distinguished, a slight increase from 32% last year.

"Our mission remains steadfast: 'to inspire and equip our students to succeed in life.' We are incredibly proud of the achievements our students, teachers, and staff have accomplished, especially during the past two challenging years in education. Our students are MUCH more than a test score and our dedicated team continues to work tirelessly to help them reach their full potential," Superintendent Jesse Bacon said. "At the same time, we recognize that more can be done. We must keep striving to offer ALL students meaningful experiences that align with their passions and enhance their learning. This approach helps develop mastery learners, clear communicators, self-driven individuals, collaborative team members, creative problem solvers, and engaged community members... Essential competencies that cannot be measured by a standardized test. We invite you to share your thoughts with our teachers, principals, and district staff on how we can continue to grow and meet the educational needs of your children and our community. "

Hardin County

All levels of Hardin County Schools were rated yellow in the Overall Performance Rating:

  • Elementary Schools - 61.1 (yellow)
  • Middle Schools - 53.5 (yellow)
  • High Schools - 64.8 (yellow)

48% of elementary school students scored proficient or distinguished, which remained steady from last year. There was a slight decrease in mathematics as 41% scored proficient or distinguished, compared to 42% last year.

For middle school, 45% of students scored proficient or distinguished in reading. That was the same score from last year. In mathematics, scores slightly rose to 37% of students being proficient or distinguished, compared to 35% last year. 

Hardin County had 46% of high school students score proficient or distinguished in reading, a slight drop from 47% last year. Mathematics scores dropped to 34% of students being proficient or distinguished, opposed to 39% last year.  

"We are happy to see continued high numbers in our post-secondary readiness data. We also have fewer schools labeled as Targeted Support and Improvement this year than we did last year. But, state testing is just one academic indicator," said John Wright, Hardin County Schools spokesperson. "I-Ready assessments are given to our students three times a year to measure growth from one stage of the academic year to another.

Wright said classroom assessments are also a strong indicator. 

Teachers use these tools to implement and/or change targeted strategies for each student," Wright said. "State testing is just one moment in time. We know that Dr. Fletcher and the Kentucky Department of Education team have a desire to improve state testing strategies and we are excited to see the fruits of their labor."  

Kentucky sees decrease in TSI schools

KDE reported a decrease in schools identified for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) and Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI). 88 schools previously identified as TSI have exited. KDE annually identifies schools for TSI as part of a requirement of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.

Schools are identified for TSI if it has one or more of the same subgroups performing as poorly as all students in any of the lowest performing 5% of Title I schools or non-Title I schools by level for three consecutive years. 

KDE identified 224 schools for TSI in 2023. But in 2024, that number decreased to 140 schools. Identification in the fall of 2024 is based on data from the past three schools years, 2021-24. Each level had a decrease, elementary went from 86 to 54 schools from a year ago, middle schools declined from 95 to 59, while 27 high schools were identified compared to 43 last year. 

"Thank you for investing the time, because that is a heavy lift. It's very difficult at times to find yourself in maybe in that bottom 5% and feel like you're doing absolutely everything you can for improvement, " Fletcher said. "Reach out. You'll find people at KDE, you're going to find supports here from our continuous improvement office to special education, to the Office of Teaching and Learning."

Pollio said 11 JCPS schools exited TSI support this year. 

Additionally, no new schools were identified for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) I or CSI II for the 2023-24 school year. KDE said schools that were federally classified as CSI previously and didn't meet exit criteria remain in CSI status for the 2023-24 school year, while schools that met the criteria were no longer identified. In total, Kentucky had 28 schools identified for CSI in 2023, which dropped to 20 in 2024.

Pollio said in 34 JCPS schools were designated CSI in 2019. That number has dropped to 18 this year after six more schools exited, according to the superintendent.

Educational Initiatives

Literacy initiatives in Kentucky have been ongoing to help the state's students. The Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) is a professional development program for teachers led by the Kentucky Reading Academics. KDE said the first cohort of teachers to go through LETRS training finished the two-year course in the spring of 2024.

"We have heard from educators that the LETRS training is extremely relevant and is proving to be helpful in supporting teachers in meeting the diverse needs of our earliest readers, and I'm hopeful that progress will only grow as more teachers finish the training and apply what they've learned to the classroom," Fletcher said.

House Bill 162 was created to help local school districts with mathematics instruction and support students. The Kentucky Numeracy Counts Act is intended to have a multitier system of support.

In February, The Republican-led Kentucky House endorsed higher spending for education in its two-year state spending plan but left out one of the Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's top priorities — access to preschool for every 4-year-old.

Beshear proposed spending $172 million in each of the next two fiscal years to provide preschool for every Kentucky 4-year-old. The goal would be to make every child ready for kindergarten.

KDE said 48% of children are considered kindergarten ready. The kindergarten screening provides a snapshot of student readiness in academic and cognitive skills, language and physical development, self-help and social-emotional skills.

Despite this, Fletcher was complimentary of the General Assembly's partnership with KDE overall.

"We're seeing a lot of formative assessments when the districts that are showing a positive increase in literacy and student outcomes, especially in early literacy, with our students and we're so thankful for that, again. That comes from a partnership with our General Assembly," Fletcher said. 

Per-pupil funding under SEEK — the state's main funding formula for public K-12 schools — will increase by more than 9% during the next two-year budget cycle, delivered during this year's legislative session.

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