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Dear Colleagues:
Members of the Commissioner’s Student Advisory Council will be meeting in person at the Kentucky Department of Education tomorrow. While I always enjoy listening to and interacting with our student advisory members, tomorrow is a special meeting due to it being a culminating event for the group’s latest project.
Members will present “A Focus on School Safety,” a list of nine student-driven recommendations to education stakeholders to improves school safety, to KDE and state Rep. James Tipton. The presentation is part of a project that began at the council’s May 31, 2022, meeting following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. ET, with the school safety presentation scheduled for about 11:30 a.m. ET. You can watch the meeting on the KDE Media Portal.
I am consistently impressed with the thoughtful work the Commissioner’s Student Advisory Council produces, yet it saddens me that we live in a world where they feel this type of report is necessary. Just this past weekend, 10 people were killed in Monterey Park, Calif., in a mass shooting while people were celebrating the Lunar New Year.
Although the shooting in California wasn’t at a school, our students are living in a world where these types of events take place with all-too-alarming regularity. As adults, we must remain vigilant about our surroundings and take any potential threats seriously. I know all of you take the safety of your staff and students as your first priority, and I thank you for the work you do every day to keep your buildings safe spaces for learning.
We also must remember that this is a very different world our students are growing up in, differences that may mean they need more social-emotional supports. Anytime a shooting happens – regardless of where it occurs – we may need to pay more attention to the emotional needs of our students. If you need any assistance with how to provide help for your students should an emergency situation arise, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner and Chief Learner
2022 Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) Released Items Performance Data
As required by KRS 158.6453, "assessment reports provided to the school districts and schools shall include an electronic copy of an operational subset of test items from each assessment administered to their students and the results for each of those test items by student and by school."
In compliance with statute, statistical information by student and by school is being provided directly to district assessment coordinators (DACs) through a secure file transfer. DACs should communicate with their superintendents and school principals that this information is available. Although not statutorily required, district-level data also are included.
These KSA data provide evidence of student learning that helps to inform decision-making related to teaching and learning. Along with other data at the school level, these data can provide insight into student outcomes and provide a clearer picture of school performance.
The 2022 KSA Released Items Data Files document explains the structure and contents of the files and how to access released test items that are connected to the data. Pearson, the KSA test vendor, will be providing more detailed training later this month with an opportunity to ask questions in a follow-up office hour session. Details will be shared with DACs in an upcoming Monday DAC email.
District, School and Student Released Items Performance Data were shared with DACs last week. Superintendents may contact their DAC for files and information.
The Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) Nominating Committee is accepting nominations for two separate open seats on the TRS Board of Trustees: one lay trustee and one active teacher trustee.
The lay trustee must be a person who is not a member of the teaching profession and who does not contribute to or receive an annuity from TRS. The active teacher trustee must be an active participant in TRS who currently is employed in a Kentucky public school system and contributing to TRS.
All nominations must be submitted through the 2023 TRS Trustee Nomination portal and will be accepted until 5 p.m. ET on Feb. 13. Nominees may self-nominate or be nominated by another person. Nominees for the active teacher trustee position will be verified as participants of TRS.
The nomination form requires that you upload a recent resume and a recent headshot, which will be used if you are selected to be on the ballot. Please also provide the contact information for two personal references.
All nominees who meet eligibility requirements will be reviewed by the TRS Nominating Committee at their meeting on Feb. 18. The committee will select two candidates for each seat who will be placed on the ballot. Both seats are currently occupied by incumbents who are eligible for re-election.
Voting for candidates for the TRS Board of Trustees will occur during April and May.
Tentative 2023-2024 Title I, Part A Census Poverty and Hold Harmless Rates Available
An explanation of tentative census poverty data and tentative hold harmless rates can be found on the Kentucky Department of Education's Title I Part A Documents and Resources webpage.
These numbers, used in part to allocate Title I, Part A funds, can now be used to produce an estimate of the 2023-2024 school year Title I, Part A allocation.
Carefully review the information included in the document and remember that all data provided is tentative and is provided for planning purposes only. The information does not represent your district’s final Title I, Part A allocation for next school year.
For more information, contact your Title I, Part A consultant.
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