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Dear Colleagues,
I want to start off this week by congratulating our 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year Kevin Dailey! It was a pleasure to speak with him at the Sept. 13 ceremony at the Kentucky Capitol and all of the other great educators we recognized at the annual ceremony.
Dailey, a middle school social studies teacher at Ballyshannon Middle School (Boone County), also was named the 2024 Kentucky Middle School Teacher of the Year. Russell County Schools’ Donnie Wilkerson was named the Elementary School Teacher of the Year, and Jefferson County Public Schools’ Kumar Rashad was named High School Teacher of the Year.
When accepting the award, Dailey said something that – to me – really demonstrates the selflessness of the teachers I have had the pleasure to work with and learn from all across the country. While we were lauding him for his accomplishments and his dedication to his students, he brought the focus of the day back to the children who sit in his class.
“This day is about all of our kids and all of our families,” he said. “This day is about Kentucky.”
It was a pleasure to be able to recognize him, Rashad and Wilkerson, but it took a lot of effort to pull off such an event. First, I want to thank everyone at KDE who helped with the awesome ceremony. I want to give a shout out to our partners, Valvoline Global and Valvoline Inc., who provided the funding to help make this recognition possible. And finally, I want to thank the University of Kentucky, which recognized our current and former teachers of the year at the game last Saturday.
Kentucky continues to have one of the highest quality Teacher of the Year programs in the nation. It is the partnerships KDE has – one of the three big ideas of United We Learn – that make this event and recognition possible. We are all stronger when we work together.
Even though the 2024 ceremony is over, KDE will be looking for nominations for the 2025 Teacher of the Year beginning Nov. 1.
On Sept. 14, the Kentucky Board of Education voted to name Robin Fields Kinney as interim state commissioner of education. She will assume her new role on Sept. 30.
Kinney, who has been at KDE for 13 years in total, should be a familiar name to you all. She currently is the associate commissioner in the Office of Finance and Operations, and she served for a short time as an interim commissioner in 2020. She will not be a candidate for the permanent position of commissioner of education.
Kinney has broad experience in the daily operations at KDE. Our intent is to make sure this transition is smooth so there will be no interruption in the support we as an agency are providing for your district and schools.
And finally, nominations are now open for the 2023-2024 Kentucky Education Support Staff Professional Award. Eligible candidates must work in any of the following occupational specialties: paraprofessional, clerical and administrative services, transportation services, food and nutrition services, custodial and maintenance services, security services, health and student services, technical services, and skilled trades.
The top two nominees also will be considered for the national 2024 Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award. Enacted by Congress in 2019 and overseen by the U.S. Department of Education, the RISE Award recognizes classified school employees who have displayed exemplary service to students in pre-kindergarten through high school.
Please encourage people in your district to nominate the support staff who provide essential help to all of our educators and students. The nomination period will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on Sept. 27. Each nominator can submit up to two candidates for consideration.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner and Chief Learner
School Report Card – Additional Data Ready for Review
Additional data are now available for school and district review in the secure Kentucky School Report Card (SRC). The items below represent the additional items for review by Oct. 6 in these domains.
- Overview/Faculty Staff and Community/Faulty Profile/ National Board-Certified Teachers
- Overview/Faculty Staff and Community/Equity (two exceptions)
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Ineffective is not yet available, schools must complete the Kentucky Equitable Access to Effective Teachers (Ineffective Teacher) survey. Data is expected Sept. 25.
- District-level disproportionality of inexperienced data is also expected Sept. 25.
- Education Opportunity/Career and Technical Education (CTE)
- Transition to Adult Life domain is now open for high schools and districts to review.
Districts should approve the Overview and Education Opportunity domains after school and district data has been reviewed. The Kentucky Department of Education monitors only district-level approvals.
Kentucky’s ESSA Waiver Request Approved
The U.S. Department of Education has approved the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) request to waive the following program requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA):
- Carryover limitation in section 1127(b) of the ESEA for school year 2022-2023 (Project J) Title I, Part A funds that will become carryover funds on Oct. 1, 2023. This waives the requirement that limits KDE’s ability to grant to its local education agencies (LEAs) a waiver of the 15% Title I, Part A carryover limitation in section 1127(a) to once every three years.
- Period of availability of funds in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA). This will allow KDE to extend the period of availability of school year 2021-2022 (Project I) funds for the programs listed below in which Kentucky participates under its approved consolidated ESEA state plan. The period of availability will be extended until June 30, 2024. School and district staff who work with these programs must continue to provide assistance to the same populations served by the respective programs. The programs are:
- Title I, Part A of the ESEA (Improving Basic Programs Operated by LEAs), including the portions of the state’s Title I, Part A award used to carry out section 1003 school improvement, and Title I, Part D, Subpart 2;
- Title II, Part A of the ESEA (Supporting Effective Instruction);
- Title III, Part A of the ESEA (English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement);
- Title IV, Part A of the ESEA (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants); and
- Title V, Part B, Subpart 2 of the ESEA (Rural and Low-Income School Program).
- An extension of Kentucky’s previously approved waiver also was granted for two programs. This will allow KDE to extend the period of availability of school year 2020-2021 (Project G) funds for the programs listed below in which Kentucky participates under its approved consolidated ESEA state plan. The period of availability for these funds will be extended until June 30, 2024. The programs are:
- Title III, Part A of the ESEA (English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement); and
- Title IV, Part A of the ESEA (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants)
Contact the following KDE staff with program-specific questions:
FY24 Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) Cycle 21 RFA posted
As authorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Title IV, Part B, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC), the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Office of Continuous Improvement and Support is issuing a request for application (RFA) for local school districts, community and faith-based organizations – as well as other qualifying private and governmental organizations to design and implement effective out-of-school programs that improve student achievement and social development.
The 21st CCLC program provides academic, artistic and cultural enrichment opportunities for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools, to meet state and local standards in core academic subjects such as reading, math and science. Programs provide students with homework assistance and a broad array of activities that can complement their regular academic programs and promote youth development; and offer literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children. Programs must ensure that the academic services they provide are aligned with the school’s curriculum in the core subject areas. This RFA is located on the KDE Competitive Grants webpage.
To assist applicants in preparing a quality application, KDE will host three technical assistance sessions. Sessions will address essential grant requirements, budget preparation, and state and federal guidance. Participation in a session will be the only opportunity for applicants to ask face-to-face questions. Participation is highly recommended, as the Cycle 21 RFA will be discussed in detail. Sessions will be offered on the following dates and at the following locations:
- Monday, Sept. 25: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET at the Capital Plaza Hotel in Frankfort
- Tuesday, Sept. 26: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. CT at the Holiday Inn Sloan Convention Center in Bowling Green
- Wednesday, Sept. 27: 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET at the Kit Carson Commons Building. in Richmond
The questions deadline is Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m. ET. All questions must be emailed to KDERFP@education.ky.gov.
The application submission deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. ET.
KDE Seeking Nominations for 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is seeking nominations for the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program.
This is not a scholarship; however, all scholars will be honored for their accomplishments during the National Recognition Program, to be held in June 2024 in Washington, D.C. Presidential Scholars will be guests of the commissioner of the U.S. Department of Education during the National Recognition Program and enjoy an expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with government officials, educators and other accomplished people. To commemorate their achievement, the scholars are awarded the U.S. Presidential Scholars medallion at a ceremony sponsored by the White House.
Each school may nominate three high school seniors: one male, one female and one career and technical education (CTE) student. Please see the attached suggested CTE criteria. KDE encourages you to nominate students who, while demonstrating outstanding scholarship, might not otherwise be nominated through the current ACT/SAT or arts recognition processes. For the arts component, students must participate in the National Young Arts program.
It may be helpful to consider the following questions:
- What about the student makes him or her stand out as having outstanding scholarship?
- What special challenges or hurdles has this student overcome while still achieving success in academics, career and technical education or in the arts?
To apply, school staff should decide who to recommend and complete a 2023-2024 Presidential Scholars Educator Recommendation for each of the students. As a reminder, a school can recommend up to three students: one male, one female and one CTE student.
Staff should contact the recommended students and ask them to complete the 2023-2024 Presidential Scholars Student Application form. Both forms must be submitted for the student to be considered for nomination by KDE.
KDE will select and submit the names of 25 students to the U.S. Department of Education (USED). All applications must be submitted to USED by Friday, Oct. 27.
For more information, email Kathie Anderson or call her at (502) 564-4970, ext. 4133.
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