They should have seen it coming. By the time the Livingston Central High School was added to the list of Persistently Low-Achieving Schools (PLAs) in Kentucky, the program was no longer a secret. In fact, the PLAs program had already completed two cycles of school selections. Livingston had to know they were getting close.

In any event, as the Paducah Sun’s article, “Livingston Central prepares to change” (subscription) says, after going through a period of denial, the school and its district are now digging in to “…make the improvements required so that Livingston Central will be a highly effective school.”

That’s a good attitude.

Something else of value is also coming out of the PLAs process.

At the end of the Sun’s article, it is reported that the Kentucky Department of Education now knows that even though teachers may be doing creative things in class that still may not result in student learning. If students are not learning, there needs to be a re-evaluation of those creative, but possibly not successful, activities. Associate Commissioner of Education Dewey Hensley says this is a message for all schools, not just the PLAs.