Kentucky Department of Education

Kentucky's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) reports statewide test results as percentages of students scoring at any of four performance levels: novice, apprentice, proficient and distinguished. Kentucky's goal is to reduce the number of students performing at the lowest of these levels (novice and apprentice), while increasing the number performing at the higher levels (proficient and distinguished).

 

Since Kentucky implemented CATS in 1999, students at all grade levels have shown progress, with performance trends going up in all subjects. In addition, elementary, middle and high schools are reducing the percentage of novice-level learners every year.

 

Kentucky also reports results as content-area academic indices that are computed on the basis of a weighted average of student performance at each level.

 

Summary

 

With few exceptions, the percentage of Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) novice learners at all school levels has decreased, and the combined percentages of proficient and distinguished students has increased each year since CATS' inception in 1999. Steady improvement is therefore shown in content-area academic indices since 1999, although some content areas show greater improvement than others.

 

Elementary School Progress

 

In all subjects, elementary school students are performing at higher levels than ever before. Schools have decreased their percentages of novice performers (the lowest level) in every subject! On-demand writing, in which students must write what they know about a particular subject, has shown the greatest decrease in novice performers – from 60.4% in 1999 to 34% in 2006.

 

- In reading, science, social studies and practical living/vocational studies, the majority of elementary school students performed at the proficient or distinguished levels. More than two-thirds of 4th-graders performed at the highest levels in 2006 reading, and more than half of 5th-graders (57%) scored proficient or distinguished in mathematics, an increase of nearly 30 percentage points over 1999 mathematics results.

 

- The percentage of 4^th-grade students scoring proficient or distinguished in total writing (47%) in 2006 was more than twice as high as the 1999 figure of 18% at the highest performance levels in total writing.

 

- The overall elementary school total writing index increased more than 20 points, from 52 in 1999 to 76.4 in 2006. The 2006 reading index of 89.4 represents an improvement of more than 10 points from 78.88 in 1999.

 

Middle School Progress

Although middle schools historically perform lower than elementary or high schools, Kentucky's middle schools have shown considerable progress. Schools have been successful in moving students from the novice category into higher categories, particularly in the subject areas of writing and arts and humanities. Since 1999, middle schools' overall accountability indices have risen an average of 7.5 points.

Subject area scores in middle schools also are promising, with overall index scores showing small but significant gains.

- The majority of 7th grade students (63%) scored at the combined proficient or distinguished levels in reading in 2006. About one-third of 8^th-grade students scored at the proficient or distinguished levels in mathematics, while more than a third of middle school students scored at the higher levels in the other content areas. For example, 47.6% scored at proficient or distinguished in arts and humanities; 42.7% did so in science; and 41% scored proficient or distinguished in social studies. In total writing, however, just 27% of middle school students scored at the higher levels.

 

- From 1999 to 2006, the combined percentages of proficient and distinguished students grew by about 16 points in social studies and arts and humanities and by about 17 points in science. Though gains in combined proficient and distinguished mathematics scores (12 points) trail some other content areas, percentages scoring at the novice performance level have diminished in that content area from 39% in 1999 to 24% in 2006.

 

High School Progress

 

As in elementary schools, high school students are moving from the novice category in each subject, with on-demand writing showing the highest percentage of change. Scores on core subjects like mathematics also show that students are progressing – the percentage of novices in mathematics decreased nearly 14 points from 1999 to 2006.

 

High school subject areas scores also show progress from 1999 to 2006. The largest gain was in arts and humanities, where high schools raised their scores by a total of 29 points during the period. Overall high school accountability indices gained an average of 6.6 points from 1999 to 2006.

 

- In 2006, a majority of 10th grade students (55.5%) scored at the combined proficient or distinguished levels in practical living/vocational studies, while 46.8% scored at this level in arts and humanities. More than a third scored at the higher levels in mathematics (38.5%), science (39.8%), social studies (40.9%) and reading (40.4%).

 

- Arts and humanities showed the greatest content-area increase in the percentage of students scoring at the proficient or distinguished levels – nearly 30 points higher since 1999. Nearly 18% more high school students scored at the higher levels in social studies and mathematics in 2006 than in 1999. In reading and science, about 15% was added to the higher performance levels in 2006, as compared to the 1999 percentages. Increases in the overall content-area academic indices show parallel results.

 

Achievement Gaps

 

Gaps in academic performance among student groups in Kentucky mirror the nation, but Kentucky has made progress in closing those gaps, and the performance of students in various groups has risen since 1999.

 

At the elementary level, African American students have gained more than 17 points on overall KCCT academic performance since 1999. Students with disabilities have increased their overall average scores by 20 points, and students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals have seen gains of nearly 17 points.

 

At the middle school level since 1999, African American students have gained 11 points; students with disabilities have increased their overall average scores by 16.5 points; and students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals have seen gains of nearly 13 points.

 

At the high school level since 1999, African American students have gained 18 points; students with disabilities have increased their overall average scores by nearly 12 points; and students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals have seen gains of 11 points.

For more information about CATS scores, including the highly detailed Kentucky Performance Reports for every school in Kentucky, please explore the links below.

Kentucky Performance Reports

CATS Web Pages

CATS Briefing Packets

School Report Cards

KCCT Scoring Guides for Parents