The Daviess County Public Schools district is celebrating its fourth consecutive year earning Distinguished status for outstanding performance on the state Unbridled Learning accountability system.
“The results continue to spotlight the hard work of our students, staff and families,” said Jana Beth Francis, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. “Each year, our schools use this information to plan for instructional improvement, including ways to better help students and strengthening strategies for teachers to use in the classroom.”
Schools in Kentucky receive one of three designations based on student and school performance on the K-PREP (Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress) assessment and program reviews. Those three designations are:
Needs Improvement – A school has not yet reached the current standard set by the Kentucky Department of Education for school success. No DCPS schools are in the “Needs Improvement” category.
Proficient – A school has reached the current standard set by the Kentucky Department of Education for school success. DCPS schools earning Proficient designation are Country Heights, East View, Sorgho, Tamarack elementary schools; College View Middle School; and Apollo High School.
Distinguished – A school has exceeded the current standard set by the Kentucky Department of Education for school success. DCPS schools earning Distinguished designation are Audubon, Burns, Deer Park, Highland, Meadow Lands, Southern Oaks, West Louisville and Whitesville elementary schools; Burns and Daviess County middle schools; and Daviess County High School.
K-PREP is the assessment students take in the spring of each year. The Unbridled Learning accountability system includes the results of the assessment, factoring in student achievement, growth and the performance of subpopulations of students. These subpopulations may include students of various demographic backgrounds and ethnicity and those with special needs.
Schools can also earn special rewards to highlight exceptional performance on the Unbridled Learning accountability system. DCPS schools earning those rewards include the following:
Audubon, Burns and Whitesville elementary schools and Burns Middle School were designated as Schools of Distinction, placing them among the highest scoring schools in the state. Audubon and Whitesville elementary schools also earned “High Progress Schools” designations in recognition of exceptional improvement over last year’s scores.
“Earning Distinguished status as a district for the fourth consecutive year reflects tremendous efforts on the part of all DCPS employees, but it’s our students who continue to be the shining stars,” said DCPS Superintendent Owens Saylor. “Having every DCPS school earn proficient or distinguished status means that we’ve achieved a major goal that was set by the district during my first year as superintendent. In Kentucky, we are considered a large district, so having all 17 schools reach this milestone is an even greater accomplishment. However, I know that every school will now be looking closely at these results to determine ‘next steps.’ Our work to ensure that all students achieve great things never ends.”