The meeting of the Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee was held on Monday, August 10, 2009, at 3:15 PM, in Room 131 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Kent Stevens, Co-Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Jack Westwood, Co-Chair; Representative Kent Stevens, Co-Chair; Senator Ken Winters; Representative Harry Moberly Jr..
Guests: Mr. Wayne Young, Kentucky Association of School Administrators; Mr. Kevin Brown and Mr. Ken Draut, Kentucky Department of Education; Mr. Keith White, Office of Education Accountability; and Mr. Clyde Caudill, Jefferson County Public Schools and Kentucky Retired Teacher Association.
LRC Staff: Ken Warlick, Audrey Carr, Janet Stevens, and Lisa Moore.
Chairman Stevens said the committee would pass over the approval of the minutes of the June 9, 2009, meeting due to a lack of a quorum. He said the committee would hear testimony on administrative regulation 703 KAR 5:080 (and E), but would send the regulation to the Interim Joint Committee on Education for consideration due to the lack of a quorum.
Chairman Stevens asked Mr. Kevin Brown, General Counsel, to explain 703 KAR 5:080 (and E), Administrative Code for Kentucky’s Educational Assessment. Mr. Brown and Mr. Ken Draut, KDE Associate Commissioner of the Office of Assessment and Accountability, Kentucky Department of Education, gave the review of the administrative regulation.
Mr. Brown said 703 KAR 5:080 (and E) were written in response to the Senate Bill 1 requirement that directs the Kentucky Board of Education to act within 60 days to update policy prohibitions on inappropriate test preparation activities by school districts and employees. He said the administrative regulation specifically addresses the Senate Bill 1 prohibition against teachers being required to do test practice in lieu of regular classroom instruction and test practice outside the normal workday. In addition, Senate Bill 1 required that KDE include disciplinary sanctions that may be taken towards a school or individuals regarding testing violations of the Administrative Code.
Mr. Brown said this administrative regulation established an Administrative Code for Kentucky’s Educational Assessment Program for appropriate testing practices for state required tests. The proposed amendment incorporates by reference the document, “Administrative Code for Kentucky’s Educational Assessment Program, date May 2009, to replace the previous copy dated February 2009. The revisions to the document add language prohibiting inappropriate test preparation and clarify the Educational Professional Standards Board process for possible educator sanctions during the Kentucky Department of Education’s testing allegations review procedure. Revisions align the document with new statewide testing requirements and update and remove statements and terminology that are no longer applicable.
With no questions from the committee members and no quorum present, the meeting adjourned at 3:22 p.m.