The superintendent of Owensboro Public Schools cautions against reading too much into new statewide test scores released this week. The state has launched a new system to measure school performance, and Nick Brake says there’s always a dip in scores anytime a new accountability model is rolled out.
“Tradionally, what happens when you change things like this is the scores dip, and everybody points to the crisis in our public schools, and that we have, you know, fewer students doing this. And while there may be some truth to that, at the same time, there’s also just a measurement situation. Anytime you make those changes you’re going to see that dip," Brake said.
The Kentucky Department of Education is phasing out the previous accountability model and replacing it with a new one this school year.
Because of the transition, data released this week don’t contain overall accountability scores or rankings. Instead, the state is identifying the lowest-performing schools and those needing to close achievement gaps among some student populations.
Superintedent Brake says the Owensboro district had one bright spot, in particular. None of its elementary schools were identified as needing improvement. While the district’s middle and high schools were not among the lowest-performing, some of them still face challenges in closing the achievement gaps among students with disabilities and English language learners.
