Kentucky School Advocate

November 2024

In Conversation With features an interview between a leader or figure involved in public education and a representative of the Kentucky School Advocate. 

Robbie Fletcher became Kentucky education commissioner in July after serving as Lawrence County superintendent. He has taught in three Kentucky school districts including in his native Martin County where he was principal of his alma mater, Sheldon Clark High School. 

A. As an educator, you see firsthand how initiatives translate into the classroom, into the work of a teacher or a classified employee. I’ve been on statewide committees where we’ve developed accountability systems, and as a former teacher, principal and superintendent, I can see what impact that makes on the classroom. I’ve seen firsthand things we’ve done in the past, and hopefully I’ve learned where we could improve, as well as take in things we’ve done very well. Also, from being a part of the school systems and on different boards, I’ve built relationships with students, educators and others. That’s a great foundation to network and talk to others.

A. Our first priority is to work on an accountability system that is meaningful and useful to all learners. By learners, I mean students and all educators. Our accountability system has bright spots like transition readiness which has helped us focus on everything from career technical to college readiness. We also need an accountability system that allows us to help and challenge each other and to give examples of exemplars.

We’ve invested in the science of reading, but we also want to focus on numeracy. And how do we make sure students are equipped for not only reading and mathematics, but also science? 

We want to focus on a strategic plan for teacher recruitment and retention, working with postsecondary providers that train our teachers to make sure they’re ready for this type of accountability system but also ready to reach all students.

One of my biggest roles is to build relationships with legislators and with our educators, which includes everybody who touches a child’s life through public education.

And, from a department standpoint, we want to be a better service organization. Great things have been done in the past to serve school districts, but how do we make that better? One of the first things we will implement is a customer service survey that should start in the next month with two to three questions, basically, ‘Were you satisfied with the service you received?’, ‘Was it timely?’ and ‘What was the topic?’

A. I was confirmed, so of course I was pleased. But it gave me an opportunity to build a relationship with many senators and to know their expectations. It also gave them an idea of who I am. We’ve had discussions on topics that we are each passionate about and things that we disagree on. I’ve been pleased with how open they are to listening to the things I have to say. Several have asked the department’s opinion on potential legislation. 

Since becoming education commissioner in July, Robbie Fletcher has visited several districts across the state. In August, he spent time at Murray Independent’s Murray Elementary School. Provided by Murray IndependentA. One of the reasons I applied to be commissioner was to work on a new accountability system. We have a lot of decisions that need to be made but one of the questions you hear when you talk to people is ‘Why do we have to wait until the fall to get data? We’re not able to really make decisions for the students in our classrooms if we must wait until then.’ Getting the data then can help educators make curriculum decisions and do other things, but as far as how it changes the intervention or the enrichment you offer a child in the classroom, it’s dead data. Ninety percent of the people who answered one of the surveys said that they would like to have a through course assessment type model so that there are formative assessments along the way. Some districts already have their own interim assessment system for screening and for progress monitoring, especially as it relates to math and reading. So, you are doing an online adaptive type of test in the fall and getting data back the next day that allows you to make changes in the classroom for those students. That makes the data more useful. 

A. A lot of districts have developed local accountability systems that incorporate state and federal accountability, but also include other data points. I’ve talked about a district that includes student wellbeing as an indicator. Some of the measures of wellbeing are student attendance and what percentage of students are involved in cocurricular or extracurricular activities. Research shows that one of the greatest indicators of students being successful after high school is how involved they are in their school. Other districts have done portraits of a learner that look at students’ skills as communicators, collaborators, global citizens or lifelong learners. We must have the foundation of reading, mathematics and science and other subject areas, but our students also must be able to collaborate and communicate. So how can we encourage and help local school systems develop that local accountability system that really reflects what their community wants and needs? This also gives districts the chance to work together. They might have the same socioeconomic makeup, resources and geography. So, they can help each other develop a local accountability system that will get the most out of our community for our students. We’re looking for ways that we can lift each other up and push each other forward. 

A. We’ve done several prototypes and surveys and in our last one, we asked ‘What are your thoughts on these types of questions?’ For example, student growth versus change. Right now, our accountability system is about student change. That means you basically compare 3rd, 4th and 5th graders this year to last year’s 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. But in the surveys, respondents said they really want to look at student growth: Where did you get the individual child and where did you take them? That is the type of input we’re getting from school board members and other educators. We will be sending superintendents and others a model framework that has some decision points. I encourage board members to look at this with their superintendents and give their superintendents input. There will also be opportunities for board members to give input directly to us.

A. There’s room for improvement in the SEEK formula. We have a discrepancy when you look at property-poor districts versus property-rich districts. So, what parts of our SEEK calculations need to be changed? There are other differences from district to district. For example, some have high percentages of special needs students, and the cost of meeting the needs of a severe disability will be higher than for another student. Transportation costs and needs differ. Some districts must have a higher grade of transmission to pull mountains, others are larger geographically. I think there’s room for improvement in SEEK. I’m not saying it needs completely overhauled, but each district has different needs, and we need to make sure we are meeting those needs.

A. School boards have a tremendous duty to be great stewards of public dollars. They make huge decisions to make sure that the money that they’re trusted with from their local communities is spent in a manner that is pleasing to that local school district. I think the most effective school boards have great relationships with their superintendent and with staff members throughout, even though they aren’t part of the day-to-day operations. They listen to the people who are there and then make decisions. They also establish procedures: budgeting processes, information gathering processes. They make sure districts have specific visions and goals, and then they make the decisions, being a good steward of that money, to reach that vision and mission for their district.