Kentucky’s 11th Grade ACT testing report contains surprises

Hints at unequal educational opportunities and minority out-migration from Kentucky

The new 2010 report on the testing of all Kentucky 11th grade students with the ACT college entrance test has been released. I’ve already posted two blogs on overall score results for all students.

Now, I’m going to shift focus to how the minorities performed. There is both good and bad news here along with some real surprises and reasons for concern.

Among those surprises and concerns –

• The number of Hispanics in 11th grade dropped in the past two years, going against all sorts of reports we have received about Hispanic migration rising in Kentucky.
• Kentucky’s 11th grade got notably “whiter” in the past two years as minority counts in the ACT testing for American Indian/Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, and Asian-American/Pacific Islanders all dropped.
• Kentucky’s black students are enrolling in courses needed for college preparation in much lower percentages than other racial groups.


To learn much more, and to see the data, click the “Read more” link below.

Read more »

Quick Notes From Today's Board of Ed Meeting

Aside from Education Commissioner Jon Draud’s admission that he made a mistake with his now famous (infamous) state-supplied automobile (well-discussed in David’s blog below and in Courier-Journal news releases from reporter Toni Konz, who gets a tip of the hat for uncovering this mess), there are other comments of note from today’s meeting of the Kentucky Board of Education.

Jim Applegate from the Council on Postsecondary Education said that African-Americans entering Kentucky’s public postsecondary institutions had an incredibly high 80 percent requirement for remedial course work in at least one subject. Overall, the remedial rate for all entering freshmen is around 50 percent.

Applegate also says that Kentucky’s public school teachers still are not up to snuff on what kids need for college. Imagine that, after more than 18 years of education reform. That leads to the next item.

During a presentation on a new program called the “New Cities Institute,” the presenters pointed out that Kentucky’s education community isn’t talking to workforce and other leaders about what is needed for success in life, either.

Wow! How can teachers claim they are preparing kids for the real world when those same teachers are not talking to people working in the “real world?” No wonder college remediation is so extensive and the Bluegrass Institute continues to hear complaints from business that recent graduates are not ready for the workforce.

Clearly, some very big gaps remain between promises made when KERA was enacted in 1990 and the limited success we have seen to date.