Dear Friends of Paducah Public Schools,

Welcome to the Paducah Public Schools Report Card for the school year of 2021-22.

In 2021, Kentucky’s 171 school districts transitioned back to predominately in-person school after COVID-19 impacted the previous two school years. Data not reported due to COVID-19 is back in the School Report Card for 2022 reporting.

In Spring of 2022, the Kentucky Department of Education administered new assessments, implemented a new accountability system and is introducing a new School Report Card dashboard. On this page you'll find a link to the school report card, a general overview of the results of the 2021-22 School Report Card, and resources to help guide you in understanding the results for our district.

We are glad to have an accountability system back in place that establishes a consistent starting point by which we can measure our students' recovery from the impacts of COVID-19. The data that you find here will help us as we seek to help all of our students pursue the goal of having the skills and knowledge needed to be successful after graduation.

If you're interested in knowing more about how we can use this data to help your child grow, please contact your child's teacher or the guidance counselor at your school.

Sincerely,

Will Black

Assistant Superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction

Paducah Public Schools

Each year in Kentucky, students take state and national tests to gauge whether they have mastered the material they need to be successful in school and beyond.

The Kentucky School Report Card provides information about each school and district. This is the information compiled for Paducah Public Schools for the 2021-22 school year. To see the 2021-22 school report card, click here. When searching, use the search term "Paducah Independent".

Kentucky students took the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) in the Spring of 2022. The tests were developed by Kentucky teachers and align with the Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) in each content area.  

To view the performance and participation of our schools, visit the online School Report Card at http://www.kyschoolreportcard.com/. 

These assessments are Kentucky’s measure of student proficiency and progress on the state content standards. These standards establish goals for what all students should know and be able to do in each grade. This assessment goes beyond multiple-choice questions. It includes questions where students can demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and extended response questions where students construct a response or answer with a technology-enhanced response. 

When considering your child’s performance, it is important to consider the learning contexts and experiences over the past few years, as many students/schools faced unprecedented challenges because of COVID-19.  

This annual assessment provides critical information about student learning, but no single assessment should ever be the sole factor in making an educational decision. It is important to remember that assessments provide only one measure of student learning.  When combined with grades, classroom activities, student projects, personalized learning opportunities, and school and district-level measures and processes, the end-of-year assessments can help provide a more complete picture of your child’s abilities over the course of the school year and path toward academic success on these content standards. 

State assessments are one of several strategies to better understand how students performed academically as part of Paducah Public Schools’ COVID-19 experience and now academic recovery efforts. The data provides a point-in-time “temperature check” that allows districts additional data to better track and address students’ academic needs. It provides a consistent state-wide starting point for academic recovery from COVID-19’s impact. 

If you would like to talk more about your child’s performance on the assessment, here is contact information for each building:

Clark Elementary: Contact your child's teacher

McNabb Elementary: Contact your child's teacher

Morgan Elementary: Contact your child's teacher

Paducah Middle: Contact Guidance Counselors Joshua May or Renee McDermott

Paducah Tilghman High School: Contact Guidance Counselors Casaundra Newsome or Rebecca Rogers

What was the impact of COVID-19 on our schools in 2021-22? Does this mean that students learned less this year?  

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to reshape most aspects of education in the 2021-2022 school year, including assessments. As a result, the data from this year’s assessments may continue to look different than in previous school years.  

Nationally, the National Association of Education Procurement (NAEP) 2022 results found that reading and math scores continued to decline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) encourages the use of these data for their intended purposes, to identify achievement gaps; to inform education planning and decision making; for review of academic programs; and to prioritize additional funds, resources, and supports to the schools, educators, and students who need them the most. 

Why is some of the data in the school report card suppressed?

Data in the school report card will be suppressed if:

•There are fewer than 10 students per grade.

•There are situations where groups of students perform at the same NAPD (novice, apprentice, proficient, and distinguished) level (e.g., all Hispanic students perform at Proficient).

•A performance level (NAPD) has fewer than three students. In that case, all the performance levels will be suppressed in that grade/level and subject for that student group.  

•Individual student performance could be determined.

•Priority is to report at the school level.

•District data may be suppressed because it includes a small school (i.e., A5).

What does the score mean? How does the score impact my child?  

In any year, a single test score does not provide a complete or precise measure of student achievement. We encourage parents to consider their child’s results within the context of the variety of potential learning disruptions they may have encountered. For the Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA), students receive a separate scale score and performance level (distinguished, proficient, apprentice, and novice). Scale scores are reported as numbers, while performance levels are descriptive. Performance levels descriptors (PLDs) are different by content area. These levels indicate performance on groups of items that measure similar skills. PLDs for each grade and content area are available for review on the KSA Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) website at https://education.ky.gov/AA/Assessments/Pages/KentuckySummativeAssessment-.aspx.  

 Paducah Independent is utilizing the information gained from the assessment as an important “temperature check” that allows us to track better and address student recovery. The results will be used to help direct COVID-related recovery efforts supported by state and federal relief funds.  The more data and information about students we have, the better we are equipped to help them succeed.  

How should parents use the assessment results to support their children? 

Parents will receive an individual student report detailing a student’s performance. Summary information about aggregate performance at the school, district, and state levels can be found in the School Report Card at https://www.kyschoolreportcard.com/home?year=2020. The results can provide a helpful “temperature check” for where their child may need more support. We encourage parents to consider their child’s results within the context of the variety of potential learning disruptions they may have encountered.

How will states, district leaders and educators use the assessment results?  

Assessment results are just one of several strategies we are conducting to evaluate school recovery and create a more robust and equitable education system.  

Results are being used to inform our ongoing work to support schools and improve educational outcomes for students. For example, educators will be able to identify areas where they need to accelerate student learning. State leaders also gain valuable information and can better direct attention and resources to the districts, schools, and focus areas that most need it.