(FRANKFORT, KY) – Members of the Kentucky Department of Education’s Local Superintendents Advisory Council (LSAC) recommended approval of a series of amendments to Kentucky education regulations during the LSAC meeting on Sept. 23.
As mandated by KRS 156.007, LSAC is charged to “advise the chief state school officer and the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) concerning the development of administrative regulations and education policy.” This includes reviewing and recommending certain action items for the KBE.
LSAC members recommended approval of amendments to 701 KAR 5:150, regulations on nontraditional instruction (NTI) programs.
Kelly Foster, associate commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Office of Continuous Improvement and Support, said the changes come after KDE convened a work group over the summer, made up of parents, teachers, school administrators and lawmakers.
“We’ve made some amendments to that regulation to make it a stronger regulation; to make clarity for school districts,” she said.
KDE Policy Advisor Matthew Courtney went over the changes with LSAC members, including a series of new definitions, including one for district nontraditional instruction contact. Courtney said most districts already have a point of contact for their NTI programs, but under the proposed amendment, every district would need one to improve transparency.
Another proposed change asks districts to clarify how they collect evidence of student learning. All districts are required to collect evidence of student learning for their NTI programs, but Courtney said the process to document those plans isn’t well-defined, so the proposed amendment provides clarity.
The proposed changes also include broadening the list of acceptable items that count as evidence of learning. Examples of student work and lesson plans have always been allowable, but Courtney said the proposal would allow reports from online learning management systems, examples of teacher-student communication or other documentation KDE and the district deem appropriate.
“We’re opening the door. If there are other ways that you think your district can achieve this evidence of learning better, we’re open to hearing that and having that conversation,” Courtney said.
Among some of the other changes in the proposed amendments, districts would be required to seek KDE review and approval before making changes to their NTI plan during the school year.
There also will be minimum thresholds for evidence of learning under the proposal:
- Grades K-5: One piece of clear evidence for each grade level for reading, math and one other content area for each NTI day;
- Grades 6-12: One piece of clear evidence in each grade level and each content area for each NTI day.
With the evidence of learning for students in the 6th-12th grade, Courtney said, “we’re thinking here about the course, not the section. So if you’re a high school English teacher and you teach four sections of freshman English, that’s just one piece of evidence that we’re requiring you to collect (per day).”
The proposal also clarifies definitions around the monitoring of NTI programs and creates a process to help districts that fall out of compliance with a corrective action protocol to return them to good standing.
Foster said an implementation guide with recommendations from the work group will be made available to districts soon.
Reading and Writing Academic Standards
LSAC members recommended approval of amendments to 704 KAR 8:020, required academic standards for reading and writing, as part of the typical six-year review process for standards across all content areas.
Chrystal Rowland in KDE’s Office of Teaching and Learning said only about 12% of the standards were revised. She explained the review process, which included three grade-level Advisory Panels and a Standards and Assessment Review Committee made up of educators who started work in January.
“We know that (getting release time) is very challenging, but (teachers) are very critical to this process,” she said.
The committee reviewed hundreds of public comments on the Kentucky Academic Standards for Reading and Writing, and an overwhelming majority wanted to keep the standards as-is: 95% of respondents for K-5 and high school standards and 97% of respondents for middle school standards.
Rowland said some of the changes include revisions to the writer’s vision statement in the document to highlight how the standards support evidence-based practices and grade-level learning.
“The vision recognizes that reading and responding to complex texts are integral components of every K-12 classroom and provide access to rigorous grade-level content,” Rowland said. “Reading comprehension is both a process and a product for developing both oral language and reading abilities, and vertical alignment of standards reflect cohesive, evidence-based practices that emphasize reflective and expressive language.”
Other changes include updates to the foundational skills standards to reflect current research and evidence-based practices for teaching early literacy, along with reducing redundant language within the standards and updates to the document itself to improve usability.
In other business, LSAC members recommended approval of:
- Amendments to 704 KAR 3:410, preschool education programs for 4-year-old children, to clarify and modernize language in the regulation;
- Amendments to 704 KAR 3:406, superintendent training program and assessment process, to reflect current practices; and
- The expiration of six outdated regulations, pursuant to KRS 13A.3102.
These items are scheduled for consideration by the KBE members at their next meeting Oct. 1-2.
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