Senate President David Williams also finds Kentucky’s NCLB request premature

One week ago we wrote that a request by Governor Steve Beshear to get out of No Child Left Behind accountability was premature.


It looks like at least one knowledgeable state leader agrees with us.

Per CN2, Kentucky Senate President David Williams also finds the governor’s attempt to scuttle NCLB accountability premature. Like us, Williams knows the new state assessment Beshear wants to use is not yet fully developed, and many elements such as the End of Course high school exams and the lower grade exams are not even available at this time. In fact, some elements won’t be ready for prime time (created with trial runs completed) for several more years.



This is not to say that eventually the state’s system won’t work out well; but, until we see a couple of years of data, I’m not ready to disband the only accountability system currently in use to evaluate our schools. After all, Kentucky failed to get a viable assessment program not once, but twice since KERA began. That isn’t a track record to inspire more gambling with our kids as we rush committing to what could be a home run, but might also be the third strike out.