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The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) recently sent out its annual School Report Card data, which is required by statute and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

“We knew these results would not be what we wanted to see, but the previous two school years saw extreme challenges,” said Education Commissioner Jason E. Glass. “We can use this information to address the gaps caused by COVID-19 disruptions and provide our students with the supports they need to be successful. This is one of a variety of tools our districts use on a regular basis to gauge where our students are.”

Each Kentucky school’s report card is divided into “key topic areas.” The highlights include academic performance/assessment results, the Opportunity to Learn Survey, advanced coursework and more.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic placed a number of strains on the education system and disrupted students’ learning, some flexibilities were made as it relates to the administration of assessments in each state, such as expanded testing windows and shortened assessments for the 2021 testing season.

KDE also applied for and received a wavier from federal accountability. As a result, school accountability indicators and ratings were not part of the 2020-21 reporting.

Since this data was not reported in the 2019-20 school year, certain trends and comparisons were not reported in the School Report Card, according to a release by KDE.

Scores were reported for school’s within the Harlan Independent School and Harlan County Public School districts, as well, factoring school safety, educational opportunity, academic performance and more into their scores.

To view each local school’s report card, visit www.kyschoolreportcard.com.