Did you know that in-school achievement gaps tend to be larger in high-performing schools?
That very few students in Kentucky districts who commit weapons violations are expelled and that most are simply suspended?
And that not all the state’s special education teachers have the content knowledge and skills that they need?
These are a few of the findings in the three research reports the legislature’s Office of Education Accountability produced for 2016. Those reports were reviewed during a KSBA Summer Leadership Institute clinic by Bart Liguori, who heads OEA’s research division.
David Wickersham, left, who heads the Office of Education Accountability,
talks with Harrison County board member Gary Dearborn following his
clinic session at Summer Leadership Institute.
It’s believed to be the first time the agency, which was created with 1990 state education reforms, presented at a KSBA event, said Director David Wickersham. OEA was initially charged with investigating waste, fraud and mismanagement in local districts, along with monitoring the work of state-level education agencies.
Lesser-known research functions were added later – functions that Wickersham and Liguori want local boards to be aware of. The Legislative Research Commission annually selects several research topics for OEA, some of them at the agency’s own suggestion.