(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is accepting public comment on revisions to Kentucky’s Consolidated State Plan to implement the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Public comments must be received by 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 28, 2025. The public can review the revised plan on KDE’s ESSA website.
KDE also has submitted the plan to Gov. Andy Beshear for review.
Amendments to Kentucky’s plan are necessary to ensure alignment with federal and state laws now that data are available to operationalize those requirements. Changes to the plan since Aug. 31, 2023, are indicated through track changes.
Senate Bill 158 (2020) amended KRS 158.6455 to require that school accountability be based on a combination of “Status” (current year performance) and “Change” (difference between current and prior year status scores). The statute further stipulates that “Change” be based on the difference in performance for the prior three years for the purpose of determining the bottom 5% of schools, as required federally. Fall 2025 is the first reporting period where three years of “Change” data are available to implement this statutory requirement.
Historical background information from Kentucky’s original ESSA plan has not been updated; revisions include only necessary changes to address the statutory requirement and programmatic updates to the current school accountability system.
In 2022, KDE applied for a Competitive Grant for State Assessment and was awarded $3 million over the next four years. The funds are supporting a grassroots effort to design a reimagined assessment and accountability system. KDE anticipates this redesigned system to be introduced in a future legislative session. Expected changes will require a major revision of Kentucky’s Consolidated State Plan. Updates to all areas of Kentucky's Consolidated State Plan may be required at that time.
Under federal law, state education agencies are required to submit a plan detailing the implementation of the law and how federal education dollars will be spent. After public comments and the governor’s review, the state plan must be resubmitted to the U.S. Department of Education (USED) for review.
Since the initial plan approval, updates have been made when required to align with federal and state law. The public is being invited to provide feedback on this latest update to the plan.
Comments may be emailed to kdecommunications@education.ky.gov or submitted to Todd Allen, General Counsel, Kentucky Department of Education, 300 Sower Blvd., 5th Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601.
Comments also may be submitted via fax at (502) 564-9321. All comments that are received by the deadline will be considered before submission of the revised state plan to USED.
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