By Gary Pitts
Hopkins County, KY – Two area schools are on this year's Kentucky Department of Education "persistently low-achieving" list. Hopkins County Central High and Livingston Central High both received the designation based on federal and state guidelines. Last year in our region, Christian County High School was low-achieving, but math and reading scores showed an over twelve percent improvement this year. Department of Education spokeswoman Lisa Gross.
"It is entirely possible that school officials in Hopkins County and Livingston County would look to Christian County. Would ask questions. Would maybe make site visits. Its really up to of course the local officials to decide how they do that. But that's a good example of how Christian County could serve as a model for other schools."
Kentucky is hoping to implement its own public school accountability model next year instead of using federal No Child Left Behind regulations. But Gross says even if this is allowed, it will not have much of an effect on persistent low-achieving designations. She says the new model has the same designation, and it's criteria will not dramatically change.