JCPS Gets Mixed Reviews For Standardized Test Scores

Jefferson County Public School students have made some progress in certain subject areas of state-wide tests, but district averages are still lower than the state’s.The Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) scores were released to the public Tuesday morning. KCCT is used to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Under these federal guidelines only 16.5 percent of JCPS schools met all goals in all subject areas for the 2010-2011 school year and the district’s test scores are still lower than the state average.But JCPS did see higher than average rate increases in several subject areas. And all schools in the first group of Persistently Low-Achieving schools have made some gains, said officials.JCPS high schools had the greatest rate increase of students who scored in the “Proficient or Distinguished” category across various subjects. JCPS high school math test scores show the largest increase from the district's previous year's scores from 40.36 to 54.52 percent and much higher than the state’s 45.98 percent.However, elementary and middle schools are significantly lower than the state average with around 10 percent lower “Proficient of Distinguished” scores across most subject areas.This will be the final year Kentucky uses the KCCT to assess student progress according to NCLB. The state is seeking to waive the current federal guidelines in place of its own assessment. The Kentucky Department of Education has around seven weeks to complete its application. States where waivers are accepted will be announced in the coming months.