Accountability System

Last Updated on Saturday, August 02, 2008 at 10:03 PM

Kentucky's accountability system is a high-stakes system with rewards and sanctions attached to results. The over-riding goal of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) is for all schools in Kentucky to reach Proficiency as defined by the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE). The accountability system provides the mechanism for measuring this goal and thus provides feedback to schools on how they are progressing toward the long-term goal set by KBE. By regulation (703 KAR 5:020), Kentucky's accountability system focuses primarily on schools. While the system does provide for school district accountability (703 KAR 5:130), reward money is not attached to district results.

The Long-Term Accountability model adopted by KBE is a growth model with schools serving as their own baseline. All students and thus all schools are expected to demonstrate improvement within the system. School improvement plans, such as a school's consolidated plan, are influenced by the results of the accountability system. Visits to high performing schools (i.e., schools demonstrating substantial gains) generally confirm the seriousness with which these schools approach accountability data and their creativity in using the data to adjust instructional programs.

Schools falling short of their goal at the end of a particular cycle, by regulation (703 KAR 5:120), receive a Scholastic Audit, the assistance of a Highly Skilled Educator, and are eligible to receive state funds to be targeted toward improvement. The Scholastic Audits performed by state, regional and local district personnel are thorough and provide audited schools with information on over 80 indicators related to school success. While Kentucky's accountability system is based upon measuring continued improvement toward a long-term goal, and thus has built in monitoring to ensure real and enduring improvement, the Scholastic Audits contribute to this monitoring by focusing on those schools that need assistance the most.

2003 CATS Interpretive Guide
The CATS Interpretive Guide gives detailed information on how to interpret and use the results provided by the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT), Writing Portfolio, Norm-Referenced Test and other components of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). As required by statute, the Kentucky Performance Report (KPR) and student level reports are ... More

2003 Technical Appendices
The purpose of these technical appendices is to provide information about the technical characteristics of the 2003 Interim Accountability Cycle of CATS.

2004 CATS Interpretive Guide
The CATS Interpretive Guide gives detailed information on how to interpret and use the results provided by the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT), Writing Portfolio, Norm-Referenced Test and other components of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). As required by statute, the Kentucky Performance Report (KPR) and student level reports ... More

2005 CATS Interpretive Guide, version 3.1
The CATS Interpretive Guide gives detailed information on how to interpret and use the results provided by the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT), Writing Portfolio, Norm-Referenced Test and other components of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). As required by statute, the Kentucky Performance Report (KPR) and student level reports are ... More

2006 KCCT Technical Report
The 2006 Technical Report is a biennial report that describes the 2005 and 2006 Kentucky Core Content Tests and their technical characteristics as components of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System. The anticipated audience for this publication is educators and others familiar with technical and statistical aspects of measurement and research. At ... More

ACT Alignment Study May 2007
During the Spring of 2006, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill (SB) 130, requiring all 11th grade students take the ACT college admissions and placement examination as a part of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) statewide high-stakes accountability assessment to determine student readiness for postsecondary education or the workplace. The ... More

Blueprint for Kentucky Core Content Test
The test blueprint is a public document designed to communicate the structure and contents of the Kentucky Core Content Test to classroom teachers, administrators, school councils, and other interested persons. It also provides general guidelines for the test contractor to follow in developing the test. The contractor is instructed to match ... More

CATS Validity and Reliability Studies
The validity of any statewide testing program, including CATS, is derived from the sum of its parts, including the uses made of the test results as established by the Kentucky Board of Education. KDE has an ongoing program of reliability and validity research conducted annually by one of our contractors, Human Resources ... More

Introduction to CATS PowerPoint
In 1998 the Kentucky legislature enacted a law that directed the Kentucky Board of Education to redesign the state's assessment and accountability system. Through the involvement of thousands of educators and input from more than 6,5000 Kentucky citizens, the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) was born. The PowerPoint presentation available here ... More

KCCT Alignment Study
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires states to meet a variety of standards as they implement mandated assessment and accountability programs. In order to achieve a fully approved system for the Commonwealth, the Kentucky Department of Education contracted with an independent agency to review the alignment of the ... More

Kentucky's NCLB Submissions Updated
This page contains four sets of documents: Kentucky's Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook for compliance with the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, submitted with supporting documents to the United States Department of Education January 31, 2003. Kentucky's Consolidated State Application May 1, 2003 Submission for compliance with the Federal ... More

KIRIS Report - Gender and Race Differences
The attached documents include the latest information on the differences in performance by race and gender on KIRIS 1993 - 1998. This commissioned research project shows a small gap in student performance which Kentucky needs to address to be sure all students are offered the opportunity to learn at high levels. ... More

Technical Manuals
The Technical Reports on this page provide extensive detail about the development and operation of the Kentucky Core Content Tests and the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). The traditional concerns with a program are often labeled reliability and validity. The empirical reliability and validity of the assessments are reported explicitly in these documents. ... More

Test Item Mapping Studies
HumRRO studies of Item content and difficulty mapping by form and item type for the Kentucky Core Content Test.

What's Tested When
As part of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS), Kentucky students are tested annually in the various academic subjects. To spread the testing load, however, not every subject is tested in every grade. The attached chart shows what subjects are tested in which grades. It is provided here in a Microsoft ... More

For more information contact:

Kevin Hill
500 Mero Street, 18th Floor CPT
Frankfort, KY 40601

Phone: (502) 564-9853

Kevin.Hill@education.ky.gov

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