Pulaski County Schools begin the transition year of the new accountability system by again obtaining high levels of academic achievements and graduation rates. “We again had another extremely successful year in student achievement, scoring well above state averages in all categories, even with a lot of change and unknowns,” said Pulaski County School Superintendent Patrick Richardson. “Our teachers and staff work hard every day making sure our students and schools are the best they can be.”
Because Kentucky is in a transition period away from the Unbridled Learning Accountability Model to a new accountability model, no overall scores will be produced. Elementary and middle schools received scores in areas of proficiency, separate academic Indicators, and growth, while high schools received scores in proficiency, transition readiness, and graduation rate. Next year the accountability model is expected to be fully implemented with the addition of gap and opportunity/access measures as well as a rating system to be added.
Graduation rates are a major part of the accountability process at the high school level. Both high schools boast very high graduation rates with PCHS at 97.5% and SHWS at 98.4%. “We have very high graduation rates. It is proof we care about every student and work hard to make sure all students are successful,” said Richardson. “We continue to offer more and more rigorous opportunities for our high school students.”
Both middle schools and Southwestern High school were identified for targeted support (TSI) for their special needs population. “We have about 95 students in the middle schools and about 25 at the high school level that need even more support and interventions. We will be looking closely at each of these students to determine how we can best support them” said Richardson.
“The foundation of the new system has been determined with additional assessment categories still to be added in as we transition to the new system. During this transition period we will continue to focus on each individual child and provide opportunities for our student that are second to none” said Richardson.