FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky Department Education released the 2022-23 statewide test scores late Tuesday night, the results of which sparked Republican Sen. David Givens to say Wednesday "we're failing too many students."

About 12 hours after the data was released, the department presented the findings to lawmakers in Frankfort. 

Across Kentucky, 47% of elementary school students scored proficient or distinguished in reading, while 42% of elementary school students tested proficient or distinguished in math. Both scores show a slight improvement from the previous school year.

"We're seeing kind of our best recovery and moving forward at elementary level," said Rhonda Simms, associate commissioner of KDE.

In middle school, 45% of Kentucky's students tested proficient or distinguished in reading, and in math 37% of students scored in the same category. Middle school students' scores show slight improvement in reading, but remained fixed for math, compared to the previous school year.

Out of Kentucky's high school students, 44% scored proficient or distinguished in reading and 33% scored proficient or distinguished in math. The number of high school students that scored proficient or distinguished in reading remained the same and math scores decreased, compared to the previous school year.

"We do have a lot of work to do based on this one snapshot in time," Robin Kinney KDE interim commissioner said Wednesday.

State officials cautioned against too much interpretation of the data, saying that the statewide tests changed following 2018-19 and that the 2020-21 results were thrown off by abnormal absentees. They said the 2022-23 test scores released Tuesday can be validly compared only to the previous year's results in all subjects except Science.

KDE said its accountability scores could not be compared year-to-year, as this is the first year it factored in a "change" component between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school year.

Kentucky's four-year graduation rate for the 2023 school year was 91.4%.

As for external challenges in play, chronic absenteeism — also known as truancy — was addressed Wednesday.

"We certainly can't help improve instruction to students and that educational pathway if they're not there," Kinney told lawmakers.

And lawmakers and DOE officials agreed the ongoing teacher shortage is not helping. Both said recruiting high-quality teachers is a must.

"But it's going to take everybody helping pull this wagon forward," Givens said. "We're going to make the investment but we've got to see the results. And we've got some shiny examples of some districts doing it right. We have, sadly enough, some abject failures."

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