Hickman Co. schools celebrate KDE results

(Editor’s Note: The following was submitted by Jan B. Johnson, Hickman County Schools.)

Accountability information from the 2017-2018 school year was released by the Kentucky Department of Education on Sept. 26. Hickman County’s Falcons have many reasons to celebrate.
The accountability system, aligned to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), has students at its center—ensuring that they are well-rounded, transition ready, and prepared with the knowledge, skills, and essential dispositions to successfully pursue the pathway of their choice after graduating from high school.

The indicators of the multi-dimensional system work together to support several important concepts that promote a valuable educational experience for all Kentucky’s students. The goals of the system include: Promote higher levels of student learning and achievement; Reduce achievement gaps and ensure equity; Emphasize opportunity and access for students to receive a quality education; Build a culture of high expectations and continuous improvement; and Communicate a clear and honest understanding of the strengths and opportunities for improvement in Kentucky’s schools and districts.

The system uses multiple academic and school quality measures, not a single test or indicator. The new accountability model is made up of seven indicators, including: Proficiency (Reading & Math; Separate Academic Indicator (Writing, Social Studies, Science; Growth (elementary, middle; Graduation Rate (high school only; Transition Readiness (Academic/College Ready or Career Ready; Achievement Gap Closure; and Opportunity and Access

While schools and districts will continue to learn about the new accountability system, only the indicators of proficiency, separate academic indicator, growth, transition readiness, and graduation rate will be used to identify Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). Schools not receiving the CSI or TSI rating will be classified as other.
Among 2018 Highlights for the Hickman County School System are Hickman County Elementary leading the district in Proficiency, Separate Academic Indicators and growth; Hickman County Middle School leading the district in Separate Academic Indicators and growth; 85.5% of students in 8th grade scoring proficient/distinguished in On Demand Writing, placing third in the entire state—ahead of all schools in our region; and Hickman County High School is one of the top high schools in the state with readiness indicator of 96.3 and a graduation rate of 97.0.

Hickman County Elementary and Hickman County High School strive to be places where students are excited to learn, feel safe, and are supported.

We have incredible teachers and amazing students.
Connections with our community and with student families make it possible for remarkable things to happen.
Communication between our schools, students, families and community is encouraged.
Student success is a key to the growth and prosperity in Hickman County.
What we’re doing for children is working.
However, we must do more.
Hickman County celebrates its successes and continues to work hard every day with every student to make sure that they are ready for the opportunities and challenges they will encounter.
All data for the 2017-2018 assessments reporting are publicly available in the KDE Open House (located on the KDE website)