by Jessica Brown

Most Northern Kentucky school districts improved their scores on Kentucky's 2013-14 school report cards, released Friday by the Kentucky Department of Education, mirroring a trend throughout the state.

However, the report cards also drew concerns from some districts because they prove the state's 3-year-old accountability system is still very much a work in progress.

The report cards for public schools and districts annually score, classify and rank schools and districts on measures ranging from how students perform on state math tests to college and career readiness rates. They're important because they are generally the barometer by which parents and communities judge the academic quality of the area.

The state revamped its accountability system prior to the release of the 2011-12 report cards, making this the third year of the state's "Unbridled Learning" accountability system.

Most of the data is comparable year-over-year.

But changes to the system are still being phased in. In November, the state added an additional component called a "program review." It's a self-evaluation by each school that demonstrates the effectiveness of its instructional programs. Schools get points based on the review, which make up nearly 25 percent of the school's overall score.

Once the reviews were factored, the state retroactively recalculated the 2012-13 scores to include that data. It didn't sit well with some school districts, who said changing things mid-year causes confusion. The fact that the measure carries so much weight also raised questions about whether it allows districts to inflate their own ratings. Education

Commissioner Terry Holliday said the state will be auditing the reviews to ensure accuracy but has not yet released details about how those audits will work.

Unbridled Learning marked the biggest overhaul to K-12 accountability in Kentucky in more than a decade. The changes included new Common Core curriculum standards and new tests to go along with them. More than 40 states, including Ohio, have adopted the standards.

Unbridled Learning also labels schools and districts "Distinguished," "Proficient" or "Needs Improvement" and notes whether they've met state improvement goals.

The report card contains many additional layers of information that can be helpful for parents in choosing their schools. Data ranges from how well a school educates students to how well each grade level did on state math and reading tests. The report cards also contain financial information about how much districts spend per student, although the districts are not graded on it.

Here are some of the highlights this year:

Traditions seemed to continue for the 19 school districts in Boone, Campbell, Kenton, Pendleton, Grant and Gallatin counties. Like last year, only three Northern Kentucky school districts (Southgate, Ludlow and Dayton) had lower scores than they did the previous year, though Dayton's only dropped by 0.1 points. The rest improved.

The districts that traditionally rank high, such as Beechwood, Fort Thomas and Walton-Verona, were still the highest and the ones that have been lower-ranked (Covington, Silver Grove, Newport), were still the lowest. Those are also the districts with the highest poverty rates, which often add additional challenges.

Most districts met their state goals and all but four beat the state average in four-year graduation rates.

School-by-school results varied. But a few standouts emerged.

• Fort Thomas, consistently high, was the highest-ranked district in Northern Kentucky and second-highest in the state. It earned the highest classification of "distinguished-progressing" and had a 97 percent graduation rate. Superintendent Gene Kirchner said the success is a "direct reflection of the culture of high expectations" in the Fort Thomas community.

• Beechwood ranked second-highest locally and fourth in the state. It also had the highest district ACT composite score in Kentucky.

• Meanwhile, the Walton-Verona school district in Boone County earned a "Distinction" label for three years in a row, an extremely difficult feat.

"It is not easy. It's also something that doesn't happen by accident. We have great people in our community (students, families, teachers, and staff) that are committed to working hard," said Superintendent Robert Storer.

• Among urban schools, Covington saw a major success story in its Glenn O. Swing Elementary school. The school has one of the highest poverty rates in the region and yet managed to earn a classification of "distinguished" – the first school in the district ever to earn that title.

"We are extremely proud of the progress we are making in our schools,'' said Superintendent Alvin Garrison, though he noted the district still has work to do. Newport, another high-poverty district, also made great gains.

• The tiny Southgate school district fell the most from the previous year. It was second from the bottom locally with an overall score of 54.8.

• The Newport school district ranked lowest in Northern Kentucky and third worst in the state. But it had several promising improvements including a major turnaround in its intermediate school and it gained the label of "progressing." Silver Grove was right behind Newport, ranking fourth worst in the state.

• Although Newport ranked poorly, it was also the most improved district in the region, rising almost 10 points from the previous year. The rise earned it the label of being a "high progress" district, one of only 17 in the state.

"While we are still toward the bottom, we have closed the gap," said Superintendent Kelly Middleton.

Last year the Enquirer featured turnaround efforts at its struggling Intermediate School. Those efforts, district leaders said, bore fruit. The Intermediate School went from the second lowest ranked elementary school in Kentucky to one of 73 elementary schools with the "high progress" title.

• The Bellevue school district rose nearly eight points this year, rising to the 42nd percentile; moreover, it's graduating about 96 percent of its students.

"We're pleased but we're not satisfied," said Superintendent Robb Smith, who took over as superintendent this year. "This is a launching point. It doesn't stop here."

• In Covington, the Glenn O. Swing school wasn't the only high point. The district's overall score rose nearly seven points

Federal privacy rules forbid the state from publishing testing data on students if there are fewer than 10 students in that group. That poses a unique problem for the region's smallest school districts: Southgate (170 students, K-8) and Silver Grove (187, K-12). Silver Grove's fifth grade only has nine students. So, for example, its report card reflected several zeros for test scores.

"It snowballed on us this year," said Principal Wes Murray. "There are 23 tested areas and 10 of them we can't count."

The school board is mad about it. It makes the district look bad, school officials said. It's hard to explain to parents, and even harder to explain to students. The district is asking the state to make some changes that would help count those kids without breaking federal law.

"We just want our students to count, good or bad," said Superintendent Ken Ellis. "If we can send a man to the moon, we can certainly figure this out."

Wealthy districts always tend to land in the top and urban districts generally wind up in the bottom of any report card rankings because of the additional challenge of poverty.

It's something often overlooked in report cards, said school leaders. It's also why those leaders get so excited about progress. Of the high-poverty schools, some posted post very good results. Covington's Glen O. Swing Elementary School was one of them. Principal Scott Alter said the effort has taken years, and will take hard work to maintain.

Newport was another. Covington and Newport have the highest poverty rates in the region but posted the biggest point-gains on their overall scores.

Newport Superintendent Kelly Middleton the state doesn't like to talk about the challenge of poverty and he would never use poverty as an excuse. But it does require a different way of teaching.

Many of his students, he said, generally aren't going to be able to go on summer educational trips or get high-priced tutors. Those sorts of outside factors can influence academic performance. The fact that his district has made progress shows that what they're doing is having an impact, he said.