NEWS OPPORTUNITY ADVISORY

February 3, 2010

KENTUCKY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS BOARD

CONTACTS:
KDE -- Lisa Y. Gross, (502) 564-2015; lisa.gross@education.ky.gov
CPE – Sue Patrick, (502) 573-1652, ext. 308; sue.patrick@ky.gov
EPSB – Marcie Lowe, (502) 564-4606; marcie.lowe@ky.gov

BOARDS TO MEET, ADOPT COMMON STANDARDS
Kentucky Set to be First in the Nation to Take Action

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Kentucky Board of Education, the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Education Professional Standards Board will hold a joint meeting on Wednesday, February 10, to formally adopt a resolution implementing the Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and mathematics.

With this action, Kentucky will be the first state to adopt the academic standards. Higher, clearer and more in-depth academic standards are required by Senate Bill 1, passed by the 2009 Kentucky General Assembly and codified as KRS 158.6451.

The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Kentucky Community and Technical College Central Office at 300 North Main Street in Versailles. During the meeting, the chairs of the three entities will sign a resolution directing their respective agencies to implement the final common standards. The meeting will be webcast, and information on how to access that will be posted on the Kentucky Department of Education’s Web site prior to the meeting.

Gov. Steve Beshear will attend the meeting, and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will provide greetings and support via video link. Kentucky state Senator Ken Winters, chair of the Senate Education Committee, and Representative Carl Rollins, chair of the House Education Committee, also will attend.

Launched in 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states, two territories and the District of Columbia committed to developing a common core of state standards in English/language arts and mathematics for grades K-12.

The Common Core State Standards will enable participating states to:

· articulate to parents, teachers and the general public expectations for students
· align textbooks, digital media and curricula to the internationally benchmarked standards
· ensure professional development for educators is based on identified need and best practices
· develop and implement an assessment system to measure student performance against the common core state standards
· evaluate policy changes needed to help students and educators meet the common core state college and career readiness standards

A full meeting agenda follows.

AGENDA

Joint Meeting

Kentucky Board of Education
Council on Postsecondary Education
Education Professional Standards Board

February 10, 2010

5:30 p.m. (ET)

Kentucky Community and Technical College Central Office, Room 102A/B

300 North Main Street, Versailles KY

1. Welcome by Michael B. McCall, KCTCS President

2. Remarks by Governor Steven L. Beshear

3. Message from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (invited)

4. Call to Order and Roll Call

Joe Brothers, KBE Chair
Paul E. Patton, CPE Chair
Lorraine Williams, EPSB Chair

5. Remarks by Education Committee Chairs

Representative Carl Rollins
Senator Ken Winters

6. Joint Presentation Regarding the New Kentucky Core Academic Standards

Terry K. Holliday, Commissioner of Education
Robert L. King, CPE President
Phillip S. Rogers, EPSB Executive Director

7. Remarks Regarding the New Kentucky Core Academic Standards

Brenda Overturf, Department of Education-Teaching and Learning, University of Louisville
Charlie Newquist, East Jessamine Middle School

8. Action: Passage of Joint Resolution by KBE, CPE and EPSB Boards

9. Adjournment

-30-

State educational agencies form partnership

P - 20 data system will make information available for reporting, analysis and research

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 25, 2009) – Recognizing the need to research data across the P-20 spectrum, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and the Education Professional Standards Boards (EPSB) have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement to form a P-20 Data Collaborative. The goal of the group is to create a longitudinal student data system that spans a student's entire educational career.

Through a series of grants, the three agencies will work together to compile a P-20 data system, a data warehouse of information from pre-kindergarten through college and beyond. This system would make it possible to link student, teacher, postsecondary and certification data so that informed decisions about important strategies can be formulated.

“The P-20 data system will provide crucial linkages between the work of our public schools and higher education institutions, allowing for better decision making,” said Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “The system will provide improved data management and usage, saving time and enabling educators to focus on their primary responsibility to prepare students for life after high school.”

The P-20 Data Collaborative will oversee the project of merging the data and making it available for reporting, analysis and research. The Collaborative will provide feedback to Kentucky 's educational institutions and get information in the hands of stakeholders.

“The warehouse will create a seamless educational landscape in Kentucky by linking and expanding our use of meaningful objective data,” said EPSB Executive Director Phillip Rogers. “Ultimately, it will allow policymakers to study linkages between preparation programs, teaching success and student achievement.”

The agencies agreed that a collaborative arrangement is the best method to ensure that suitable accountability measures are in place for the evaluation of educational programs spanning the three agencies. The joint effort will also see to it that proper safeguards are in place to ensure student data confidentiality is maintained while joint research and analysis are conducted.

“We are extremely pleased to be moving forward with the P-20 data collaborative,” said Bob King, president of the Council on Postsecondary Education. “It will help us assure that more of our students are more highly educated. Achieving this objective will improve the quality of life for our graduates.”

The governing board of the Collaborative will consist of the Commissioner of KDE, the President of CPE and the Executive Director of EPSB. Education and Workforce Development Cabinet Secretary Helen Mountjoy will also be a full member and chair of the governing board of the P-20 Data Collaborative.

“I'm proud to be part of this partnership,” said Secretary Mountjoy. “This is a wonderful example of the willingness of these three educational entities and leaders to work together for the benefit of all.”

###

The Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet coordinates learning programs from P-16 and manages and supports training and employment functions in the Department for Workforce Investment. For more information, go to www.educationcabinet.ky.gov or www.workforce.ky.gov.

Return to The EPSB Homepage