For the second time in less than a month, I am thrilled to have great news to celebrate about student achievement in the Fayette County Public Schools. 2007 is proving to be a banner year for our district, with this week’s release of CATS results showing record high achievement for the district as a whole, coupled with our biggest gains in history and record breaking numbers of schools scoring above 100 or earning double-digit gains.

After topping 80 for the first time last year, Fayette County’s overall district score in 2007 was 88.7, bringing our district even closer to the state 2014 proficiency benchmark of 100.

Truly we are beginning to see the hard work of our teachers and kids resulting in major gains in academic achievement. This is the highest our district has ever scored while at the same time having the greatest gain ever! I am very proud of our folks! All the resources and support in the world can only go so far. The real work in helping kids reach high levels happens in our classrooms and in our schools and I just can’t say enough about how hard our entire school district has family has worked to achieve these great results.

This week state department of education released annual achievement ratings for schools and districts across Kentucky. Widely known as “CATS scores,” the yearly reports are designed to show parents and the community how well each school is serving students. The scores, which range from 0 to 140, are a combination of student test scores in different subject areas and other measures of excellence, such as attendance, retention and drop out rates.

Major changes to the state testing system have created a situation where the numbers are more complicated than usual. This year, schools and districts will receive two scores. One score will show how the school did under the new ratings system. That score looks to the future and gives a snapshot of how much work a school has to do in order to reach the state goal of 100 by the year 2014. The second, so-called “adjusted” score is a way to bridge the new system with past performance so that schools and families can see how much progress was made last year.

Using the adjusted score of 85 to compare the 2007 performance with 2006 achievement, Fayette County as a district had an overall gain of 4.1, which is its highest increase ever and more than twice the district’s average annual growth since 1999.

There is also much to celebrate at individual schools across the district! A record 13 Fayette County schools (up from three last year) surpassed the 100 point mark – Ashland Elementary, Cassidy Elementary, Clays Mill Elementary, Dixie Elementary, Glendover Elementary, Maxwell Elementary, Meadowthorpe Elementary, Morton Middle, Picadome Elementary, Rosa Parks Elementary, School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Stonewall Elementary and Veterans Park Elementary. In addition, three-fourths of schools in the district posted scores above 80.

Of the 45 schools where comparisons can be made between 2006 and 2007, 42 schools – or 93 percent – made gains. (Of the other three, one score remained the same, and the other two had minor decreases of roughly a point.)

Additionally, 12 schools made double digit gains – the highest was at Ashland Elementary, where scores rose 25 points. Other schools with double digit gains were Cardinal Valley Elementary, Cassidy Elementary, Deep Springs Elementary, Dixie Elementary, Garden Springs Elementary, Johnson Elementary, Julius Marks Elementary, Linlee Elementary, Maxwell Elementary, Russell Cave Elementary and Veterans Park Elementary.

Later this month I will be kissing a cow at Ashland Elementary to celebrate their great success! And on November 1 we will hold a district-wide celebration at Tates Creek High School to honor students who scored all distinguished in every subject area, as well as to recognize those schools that scored higher than 100 or earned double-digit gains. This will be an event to remember … please mark your calendars and plan on attending.

The credit for these results goes to our teachers, staff, parents, and kids! One of our principals shared with me that across the school district, educators joined hands and walked across the street together to form a professional learning community. Our district level folks also did a tremendous amount of hard work to help make this happen.

We still have hard work ahead of us. We still have schools that are struggling, where student achievement is not where it needs to be. As a school district, we will wrap our arms around those schools and support them with intensive resources. Our goal in Fayette County is for every child in every classroom to receive a world class education and while we pause today to celebrate great gains, we have to redouble our efforts tomorrow to keep up the pace.

With the foundation we have in place at this point, our district is going to keep moving ahead for all of our kids. Thank you for all you have done so far and for all you will do as we continue our journey to excellence.

View the current CATS test scores.