Back to Goal 7From Measures and Milestones 2002
p. 30-31, published 2002
Kentucky has set a national example for other states in its efforts to ensure equitably funded public schools. While we have not achieved complete equity in funding, we have closed significant ground and dramatically expanded opportunity in poor districts, a vitally important step in a state where education goals are pitted against the legacy of poverty. In 2002, Goal 8 ranked 10th on the progress scale (as it did in 2000), but dropped four places to 14th on the importance scale.
Table 1: Where Citizens Think We Stand
In the 1989-1990 school year, the combined state/local per pupil revenue levels in the poorest one fifth of Kentucky schools were only 64 percent of that of the wealthiest one fifth. By 1998-99 the poorest schools were receiving almost 83 percent of the funding from these sources. Also, federal funds supplement state/local sources, boosting per pupil expenditures for poorer districts.
Figure 1: Per Pupil State and Local Revenue, Lowest and Highest Quintile School Districts
A record 72 percent of graduates took the ACT in 2001. Despite the rise in this measure of college preparation, the average composite score for Kentucky remained virtually unchanged throughout the 1990s and into the new century, as performance did not improve. Likewise, the gap between state and national average scores has remained unchanged, as national performance has not risen since 1997.
Figure 2: ACT Average Composite Scores, Kentucky and the U.S.
Kentucky’s performance-based testing system, KIRIS (Kentucky Instructional Results and Information System), has allowed the state to link its assessment system to curriculum accountability. For interstate comparison, however, we turn to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math and reading exams. The 2000 results are promising. They show that the percentage of Kentucky students reading at the basic level has surpassed the national average for both grades four and eight. At the proficient level, the percentage of fourth graders is equal to the national average. The data on math skills show the share of Kentucky eighth graders at or above the basic level now nearly equal to the national average, a leap in progress since 1990. Gaps persist, however, for fourth and eighth graders who score at or above the proficient level.
Table 2: NAEP Math and Reading Test Results, Grades 4 and 8, Kentucky and the U.S., Selected Years
Whether they pursue further education or enter the job market after high school, students will find that computing skills are essential. Equitable access to these tools is key to ensuring that all students leave high school with the technological know-how needed to participate effectively in today’s economy. Kentucky schools have made great strides in achieving such equity, as student-to-computer-work-station ratios are fairly equal in the lowest income districts to those in the highest income districts.
Figure 3: Ratio of Pupils to Computer Work Stations in Kentucky Public Schools
To view a list of all chapters in this book, click here. To read the chapters in sequential order, please follow the arrows below.
