FRANKFORT, Ky. -- State education officials trying to downplay less-than-desirable initial test results from "Unbridled Learning," Kentucky's new public school accountability program, claim the scores – scheduled for release on Nov. 2 – cannot be compared to past results from the previous CATS and No Child Left Behind programs.

However, this does not mean that Kentuckians have to wait several more years before getting trend information about how the commonwealth's public schools are performing.

To help parents, students and taxpayers continue to hold education officials accountable, the Bluegrass Institute is making available a five-year analysis of ACT, Inc. test scores for Kentucky's middle- and high-school students.

The analysis ranks school districts two ways: for 2011-12 Composite Scores on the ACT college entrance test (given to all of our 11th grade students) and on the EXPLORE test (given to eighth-graders). It also evaluates the rate of progress districts have made in improving these scores since 2007-08.

"We found while assembling this information that despite all the emphasis on college and career preparation in recent years, a number of Kentucky school districts actually experienced a decline in their five-year performance on these important tests; others are making only painfully slow progress," Richard G. Innes, the institute’s staff education analyst, said."

Kentucky’s hopes for educational improvement critically rely on knowing the true performance of the districts where our children attend school. Our children cannot afford to wait another three to five years to get that information,” Innes said.

For more information, please call 270-782-2140 or jwaters@freedomkentucky.com.