Most Kentuckians support current academic standards have no suggested changes, KDE study shows

As the debate over rigorous academic standards continues in the state, the Kentucky Department of Education gave Kentuckians a chance to weigh in on the Common Core standards implemented in the commonwealth and suggest changes. But according to their results released Monday, most approve of the standards and do not see the need for any changes.

According to a release, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) provided an online platform for anyone in the state to read the academic standards and provide specific feedback on improvements that could be made from August 2014 through April 2015.

The majority of respondents, 88 percent, said they were pleased with the standards and did not suggest any changes while the other 12 percent indicated they wanted some part of the standards changed.

From the KDE release:

Of those who wanted to see a change, 71 percent wanted to see one or more of the standards moved to a different grade level; 32 percent suggested a rewrite of a standard and about 8 percent wanted to see a current standard broken into two or more standards. Respondents could suggest more than one change to the standards.

Nearly 4,000 people took part in the challenge, which was widely publicized by the department and education partners, as well as in the media. Almost 50 percent of those who weighed in on the standards were teachers or retired teachers, about 20 percent were parents, eight percent were administrators or school district staff, and about eight percent represented business or the community at-large. The remainder were students, professors and state agency partners.

The standards define what Kentucky students are expected to learn at each grade level in order to graduate college and career ready.

In a recent interview with the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said the standards are working in the state and stated that a repeal would cost the state millions of dollars.

The Kentucky Chamber has been supportive of the academic standards.

To see the full release from KDE, click here.