KDE releases 2025-2026 assessment and accountability data

(FRANKFORT, KY) – The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) publicly released assessment and accountability data for the 2025-2026 school year on Oct. 15, as required by state statute and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Kentucky’s results show progress in key areas alongside a continued need for improvement. The results in reading climbed again to recent highs across all grade levels, while postsecondary readiness and graduation rates improved across nearly every demographic group. Results in other subjects were mixed, however, and fewer schools earned the highest overall accountability ratings.

“Kentucky students should be commended for their performance on Kentucky’s assessments,” Commissioner of Education Robbie Fletcher said. “There is still plenty of room for growth, but students in the Commonwealth have worked hard to master the content they have been learning, and there are many areas to be proud of.

“I also want to thank districts and KDE staff members for the hard work they have put in to address the areas of concern we have targeted the last several years, particularly with literacy and numeracy education. Those innovative initiatives show signs of paying off and increasing the quality of education our children receive.”

The 2025-2026 assessment and accountability data can be found on the Kentucky School Report Card Dashboard and data files can be found on KDE's Open House webpage.

During the 2025-2026 school year, Kentucky public school students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11 took assessments called the Kentucky Summative Assessments and the Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessments in reading, mathematics, social studies, science, editing and mechanics, and on-demand writing.

Students take reading and mathematics assessments annually in grades 3 through 8, and in grade 10. Social studies, editing and mechanics, and on-demand writing were assessed in grades 5, 8 and 11. Science was assessed in grades 4, 7 and 11. The 2025-2026 administration was the final year for the editing and mechanics and on-demand writing assessments.

Lawmakers approved House Bill 257 during the 2026 legislative session, which establishes changes to Kentucky’s assessment and accountability system. The changes will take effect beginning with the 2026-2027 school year and do not affect the assessment and accountability results included in this year’s public release of data. Readers should use caution when comparing future results with the fall 2026 data release because the calculations and indicators will change.

Kentucky is in the final year of the current assessment and accountability system, which was established following revisions made to KRS 158.6455 by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2020. The accountability system features Status and Change as ways to evaluate state indicators; Status being the current-year performance and Change representing year-to-year progress.

Results are shared through a color-coded dashboard with five colors: blue, green, yellow, orange and red, in order from highest to lowest ranking.

Fewer schools received green and blue overall accountability ratings, mainly due to much lower Change scores, while Status scores were similar. This reflects less improvement from the previous year, so although current performance remained relatively similar to the previous year, overall ratings were lower.

2025-2026 Overall Performance Ratings - Schools

2025-2026 Overall Performance Ratings - Districts

Kentucky students across all levels have achieved the highest levels of reading success in recent years.

The percent of students at proficient or distinguished in reading increased across all grade spans:

• Elementary school reading: 50% (up from 49% in 2025; up from 45% in 2022).
• Middle school reading: 48% (up from 47%; up from 44% in 2022).
• High school reading: 49% (up from 46%; up from 44% in 2022).

And fewer students scored at the novice level in reading across all grade levels compared to 2022 results.

Science performance continues to increase compared with prior years, particularly at the elementary and high school levels, while social studies performance has remained relatively unchanged across grade spans. Writing performance was mixed across grade levels.

Percentage of Students Performing at Proficient/Distinguished Levels

Graduation Rate and Postsecondary Readiness

Using the federal definition of graduation rate for the graduation rate indicator, the percentage of students earning a regular high school diploma is compared to the cohort of students starting in grade 9.

Kentucky uses a 4-year adjusted cohort rate and an extended 5-year adjusted cohort in accountability, which recognizes the persistence of students and educators in completing the requirements for a Kentucky high school diploma.

The 4-year and 5-year rates are averaged for accountability reporting. Both rates hit the highest levels they have reached in the last five years of reporting, with the 4-year graduation rate at 94.1% in 2026 and the 5-year rate at 94.5%. The 4-year graduation rate increased for several different demographics, including African American students, Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students and students with Individual Education Programs. With the 5-year graduation rate, the groups that saw increases were African American students and students with Individual Education Programs.

Postsecondary readiness was also a strength. The statewide postsecondary readiness indicator score increased from 92.2 to 98.5. The number of high schools receiving the top blue rating increased from 122 to 151, representing 67% of high schools, up from 54% the previous year. Schools rated orange or red decreased from 20 to 11, while the number in the very high-Status category increased from 127 to 162.

Number of High Schools and Graduation Indicator Rating

Number of High Schools and Postsecondary Readiness Indicator Rating

Assessment and Accountability

Federal and state indicator scores use Status and Change, but they differ in how Change is calculated and applied. The state Change score is a simple year-to-year comparison, while the federal Change score is a three-year average of Change scores using current- and prior-year Status scores, offering a view of performance over time.

The state calculations determine color ratings for schools, while the federal calculations determine which schools are the lowest performing for potential classification such as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI), Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI).

Kentucky’s accountability system uses six indicators. At all levels (elementary, middle and high school), these indicators include:

• State assessment results in reading and mathematics;
• State assessment results in science, social studies and writing;
• Quality of school climate and safety; and
• English learner progress.

Additional indicators at the high school level include postsecondary readiness and a combination of 4-year and 5-year graduation rates.

KDE Literacy and Numeracy Efforts

The 2025-2026 academic year marked another year of progress with literacy and numeracy initiatives in the Commonwealth.

The Kentucky Reading Academies continue advancing outcomes for early learners. Implemented in 2022 after the Kentucky General Assembly’s passage of Senate Bill 9, also known as the Read to Succeed Act, the Kentucky Reading Academies aim to transform literacy instruction across the state by offering an opt-in, no-cost professional learning opportunity to both K-5 educators and administrators.

The goal behind the academies is to promote educators’ knowledge, beliefs and classroom instruction in evidence-based literacy practices to improve student reading outcomes. Facilitated by KDE’s Division of Early Literacy, the academies provide access to Lexia’s Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, better known as LETRS, an evidence-based professional learning that is rooted in the science of reading.

A recent analysis by the Kentucky Reading Research Center determined students in classrooms with LETRS-trained educators are more likely to achieve the higher proficient reading level and away from the lower novice level.

KDE also supports districts with the adoption of high-quality instructional resources (HQIRs) and started providing coaching to educators through state literacy coaching specialists in the 2024-2025 school year.

Following the passage of House Bill 253 in 2026, all Kentucky K-5 educators must complete KDE-approved science of reading professional learning by June 30, 2029. KDE recently approved the AIM Institute for Learning & Research’s Pathways to Proficient Reading as one of three approved professional learning pathways to support the new requirement.

Other KDE efforts to improve literacy in Kentucky include the development of the Kentucky Early Literacy Leadership Network and competitive grants for educators to support literacy.

KDE and various partners have initiated numerous efforts to advance access to high-quality numeracy instruction, per the Kentucky Numeracy Counts Act. The Kentucky Center for Mathematics’ K-5 Numeracy Counts Academy and the Partnership Institute for Math and Science Education Reform’s (PIMSER’s) Numeracy Counts Administrator Academy began in 2025, along with other professional development opportunities for educators and administrators, including an expansion of Advance Kentucky’s Access to Algebra and EPIC’s Kentucky Numeracy Alliance pilot program.

More information on district and school implementation can be found on KDE’s Kentucky Numeracy Counts webpage.

Number of Schools and Reading/Mathematics Indicator Rating

Number of Schools and Science/Social Studies/Writing Indicator Rating

College Admissions Exam

In March 2026, Kentucky administered the SAT as the state-funded college admissions examination.

The SAT measures reading, writing and mathematics and provides an Analysis in Science score based on science-related questions embedded within the assessment. Results from the 2025-2026 SAT results should not be directly compared with ACT results from prior years due to differences in content structure, score scales and benchmarks.

The SAT assesses reading and writing, and mathematics on a scale of 200 to 800, analysis in science on a scale of 50 to 70, and includes a total score on a scale of 400 to 1600.

SAT Subject Area Scores Kentucky Public School Juniors

School Climate and Safety

The quality of school climate and safety indicator is designed to measure the school environment. Perception data from student surveys is used to give insights into the school environment.

The 2025-2026 academic year will be the last year the school climate and safety indicator is included in the accountability system, although districts still have the option to administer it.

Number of Schools and Quality of School Climate and Safety Indicator Rating

Federal Classifications: CSI, TSI and ATSI

Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI), Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) are federally mandated school identifications that are based on the overall school score that is generated by the state accountability system.

House Bill 298 (2025) amended KRS 160.346 to require the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) to identify schools for CSI annually rather than once every three years. ATSI schools will remain on a three-year identification cycle, and identification did not occur in 2026.

Schools identified for ATSI in 2025 will continue to receive applicable support and monitoring. To exit ATSI status, a school must no longer meet the identification criteria and must demonstrate progress in the overall performance of the identified student groups. The next scheduled ATSI identification is in 2028.

CSI status schools were identified based on three criteria: If the school is in the bottom 5% of all schools by level based on the overall school score; if they have a graduation rate below 80%; or if they fell under ATSI status for at least three years.

TSI schools are those that have a student group performing at or below the bottom 5% of all schools by level for three consecutive years. TSI schools are identified annually and were identified this fall based on the last three years of data, as required by state law.

The School Identification Timeline document outlines the progression of identified schools from the year data was collected and indicates the years counted toward the number of years in which a school must exit before becoming eligible for additional implications.

Federal Classifications*

* Identification of Federal Classifications is determined by the Federal Overall Score that uses an average of three years of Change data to calculate each Indicator Score.
** Schools identified for CSI in 2026 include newly classified schools and schools that were identified in previous years and did not meet exit criteria. New CSI identification did not occur in 2023 or 2024.
*** 2025 was an ATSI Identification year. New ATSI identification did not occur in 2023 or 2024.