When an indicator includes student data, districts must include information for all students and disaggregate the data by student subgroup where permissible. Participating districts must also provide a publicly available online display that clearly communicates applicable school and district-level results. These two components provide districts with an opportunity to consider both the experiences students receive and the evidence showing what students know, can do and are prepared to pursue.
Vibrant Learning
HB 257 describes vibrant learning as an educational experience that:
- Is characterized by student agency and the application of knowledge and skills aligned with Kentucky’s Academic Standards;
- Is developed in partnership with students’ families, local communities and the local workforce; and
- Is demonstrated through personalized projects, outputs, experiences or other results reflecting each student’s academic and career interests.
Districts may measure both students’ access to vibrant learning and the quality or impact of those experiences.
Measurement Options
Local indicators will look different across Kentucky because they should reflect each district’s students, community and priorities. Examples may include:
- Participation in high-quality work-based learning;
- Access to interdisciplinary projects and performance tasks;
- Student exhibitions, defenses of learning or capstone experiences;
- Demonstration of a district’s Portrait of a Learner competencies;
- Student belonging, agency or engagement;
- Family and community partnership;
- Postsecondary readiness experiences;
- Access to the arts, career pathways or advanced learning;
- Student-created products, performances and solutions to authentic problems; and
- Other locally valued experiences or outcomes.
These are examples rather than required indicators. Each district should determine which measures are most meaningful and useful within its local context. Districts should begin with the questions that matter most locally - not simply with the data that are easiest to collect.
Local Indicators Fit Within a Larger Local Accountability System
A local accountability system connects the district’s vision for learners with the experiences provided to students, the evidence collected and the ways the district uses that evidence to improve.
Local indicators can help districts:
- Communicate a more complete picture of student learning and school quality;
- Examine whether all students have access to locally valued experiences;
- Identify differences in opportunity and outcomes;
- Inform decisions about programs, resources and professional learning; and
- Engage students, families, educators and community partners in continuous improvement.
Getting started
Districts do not need to build an entire system at once. A thoughtful development process may include:
- Revisit the district’s vision for student success, including its Portrait of a Learner.
- Engage students, families, educators, community members and local workforce partners.
- Identify the learning experiences and outcomes the community values.
- Examine existing initiatives, evidence and data already available.
- Select a manageable number of meaningful indicators.
- Define each indicator, its purpose and the evidence that will be used.
- Examine whether all students have access to the identified experiences.
- Create a plan for publicly communicating school and district-level results.
- Use the findings to support continuous improvement.
- Refine the indicators as the district and community learn together.
Optional Submission Process for Implementation Grant
To offset development and implementation costs, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is authorized to offer a one-time grant of up to $15,000 per district. Districts must complete and submit their request using the diagnostic in the Cognia Improvement Platform (CIP) by the deadline to secure these funds.
This one-page resource provides information about:
- Funding and submission logistics;
- Statutory criteria; and
- Diagnostic submission requirements
Local Indicators of Quality Optional Submission Process for Implementation Grant
KDE support
The Kentucky Department of Education offers technical assistance to districts developing locally developed indicators of quality.
KDE support may include:
- Resources for identifying and developing local indicators;
- Professional learning and facilitated planning;
- Examples from Kentucky districts;
- Support for examining and disaggregating evidence;
- Guidance for developing a public display; and
- Opportunities for districts to learn with and from one another.
Additional tools, district examples, and professional learning opportunities will be added as this work continues.