KDE's second phase release of CATS data will be Thursday

The Kentucky Department of Education plans to make public the second phase of this year's Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) school progress data this Thursday, Sept. 21.

This data includes the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT) scores, the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) scores and schools' and districts' accountability index numbers and performance judgments.  (The earlier release included the No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress data from the spring 2006 testing cycle).

The department's Office of Assessment and Accountability is to have already provided the data to your districts.  According to KDE Director of Communications Lisa Gross, the department has provided local, regional and/or statewide data -- under embargo against use prior to 12:01 a.m. EDT, Sept. 21 -- to a number of media contacts across the state.  The embargo means newspapers, radio and television news outlets may not print or broadcast stories utilizing the date.  However, this does not prevent reporters who acquire the data from calling you for quotes for their stories to publish or air on Sept. 21.

We offer a cautionary note for the nearly 20 school boards that have regular meetings between now and the Thursday official release date.  It would be highly tempting to discuss the specifics of the scores with perhaps your only meeting this month coming so close to Thursday.  However, KDE works extremely hard to ensure that the release of the data is as equitable as possible to your weekly newspapers, regional daily papers and the broadcast media.  An early break in the embargo harms that effort, even if it makes your local media happy briefly.

A better approach is to prepare a news release and fact sheet about the new scores that you can give to any reporters who call for information.  Please make certain that any release made prior to Sept. 21 comes with the clear understanding of the KDE embargo.

For district staff working on a data release plan for their local news media, click here for a link to the tip sheet KSBA provided for the NCLB data release last month.

# # #

© 2004 Kentucky School Boards Association.

Home | About KSBA | Site Map | Contact Us | Privacy Policy