By Alan Lytle - Kristin Bednarski
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-834514.mp3
Lexington, KY – Ronda Harmon, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Councils says her group along with the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence and The Council for Better Education will provide parents, teachers and students with a realistic picture of who is and who is not making the grade.
"Schools and districts still want a measure of how they are doing and the public still wants a measure of how schools are doing so we are trying to fill that gap there of information, and one of the things that we really pride ourselves in at the School Council Association is trying to make things that are kind of complex into things that are easy to use and we are kind of applying that same idea looking at the test scores."
The new index will not measure writing portfolios, arts and practical living because they've been dropped from statewide testing. It will be released each fall until the Department of Education implements a new test in 2012.