October 3, 2024 – Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) graduation and post-secondary readiness rates rose again last school year, reaching all time highs, according to results of the 2023-24 Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA). The results also show the gap between Black and white students’ graduation rate and post-secondary readiness continues to narrow.
“The continuing gains in graduation and post-secondary readiness rates coupled with the reduction in the gaps between Black and white students is encouraging,” said Dr. Marty Pollio, JCPS superintendent. “More of our students are receiving a diploma and are fully prepared for college, technical school or a career. That’s good news, not only for our students and their families but our community as well.”
The KSA results show JCPS’ average graduation rate increased substantially to 88.2 percent. The numbers also show African American seniors catching up to their white peers. The average graduation rate gap is now .5 percentage points between Black and white students, compared with three percentage points just two years ago. The average graduation rate for Black students is at an all-time high of 88.9 percent.
The class of 2024 also had a post-secondary readiness rate of 82.3 percent, a significant jump from the previous year and the gap between African American and white students narrowed for a second consecutive year.
In addition, six schools exited Comprehensive School Improvement (CSI) status based on the results of testing. Over the past three years, 28 schools have exited CSI status. CSI schools are those whose state assessment scores rank in the bottom five percent statewide, making them eligible for increased academic and other support from the school district.
While the KSA results show improvement for some low-performing schools and JCPS seniors, proficiency rates for the District’s students remained largely flat with increases among some categories of students and declines in others. Overall, math proficiency rates increased slightly from last year while reading proficiency rates dipped slightly to 2022 levels.
“It’s clear that students missing millions of minutes of instructional time due to late buses had an impact on learning last year,” Pollio said.
The superintendent also noted that chronic absenteeism and teacher shortages are having an impact on student success in school districts across the country and JCPS is no exception. The KSA results show students who were chronically absent were 56 percent less likely to score Proficient or Distinguished in reading and 65 percent less likely to score Proficient or Distinguished in math. Students with teacher vacancies during the 2023-24 school year saw their odds of scoring Proficient or Distinguished in reading and math decrease by 26 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
Reading and math scores are also impacted by a student’s ability to understand English. The KSA results found students who lacked proficiency in English were 73 percent less likely to score Proficient or Distinguished in reading and 63 percent less likely in math. JCPS has more than 20,000 multilingual learners among its 97,000 students, most of whom speak English as a secondary language.
While a new, district-wide literacy and numeracy plan was implemented for all K-5 students in 2023-24, the current school year is the first that JCPS will have a comprehensive curriculum for both literacy and math in all grades. Pollio said he is confident the focus on district-wide literacy and math curricula will make a difference in student achievement and test scores going forward.
“As I have said repeatedly, test scores are only one measure of the success of a school district and its students,” Pollio said. “We recognize there is room for improvement but we continue to make significant progress toward our goal of graduating ALL students to be skilled, critical thinkers who are ready to make significant contributions to our community. In many ways, those successes can’t be measured by a standardized test.”
View some of Dr. Pollio's comments about the test results here.