Since the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states have been submitting their own accountability plans to the U.S. Department of Education. 24 states have submitted plans, and Kentucky is one of the latest states to receive feedback from their proposal. There is still room to grow, as the Department has several recommendations for the state to address in its plan.
- Currently, English-language proficiency indicators are part of other indicators in the accountability system. The state needs to establish a separate set of these indicators.
- Additionally, the state must identify schools as “chronically underperforming” because of marginalized group performance and no other reason.
- Writing test scores cannot be part of the academic achievement score of the school as they are not taken in every grade level.
However, it is unclear whether or not the state has to address any of these suggestions in moving forward. Other states have not fixed their plan according to the Department’s recommendations and have received a stamp of approval.