Prichard’s Silberman concerned about K-PREP

Interestingly, while the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence partnered with the Kentucky Department of Education to promote and explain the new Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) tests (see here and here, for example), comments from Prichard’s leader show the organization is not fully committed to the program.

This comes from an article “Silberman voices K-PREP concerns,” (subscription to read full article) from the January 18, 2013 Messenger-Inquirer from Owensboro.

Silberman isn’t sure that the new assessments cover the Common Core State Standards and has issues with the use of the ACT, Inc.’s Quality Core assessments. He apparently does not like the idea that a large number of schools fell into the "Needs Improvement" category under K-PREP, either.

I guess Silberman doesn’t think these sorts of proficiency rates from the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate most schools in Kentucky are under-performing and should be so identified.

All Subjects - Recent and Oldest NAEP P Rates 2011

Well, I’ll let you decide whether the Prichard Committee or the department of education is more on track with this one.