March 12, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

‍lisa@prichardcommittee.org

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LEXINGTON, Ky — With the passage of Kentucky House Bill 208 in the House, the commonwealth is one step closer to fostering learning environments that prioritize academic success, social and emotional well-being, and safety in schools. Congratulations to bill sponsor Rep. Josh Bray for his work on the legislation.

The academic benefits of limiting personal device use in schools are well-documented. Research shows that grades improve when students are not dividing their attention between learning and their devices. Teacher morale and retention also improve when the burden of managing smartphone distractions is lifted, allowing them to concentrate on instruction and student engagement.

The social and emotional health benefits are equally compelling. Schools that minimize device use report increased feelings of connectedness and cohesion among students, leading to less loneliness and decreased bullying. Encouraging face-to-face interaction helps students develop essential interpersonal skills, build confidence, and foster healthy in-person relationships.

By creating learning environments free from the distractions and potential harms of personal devices, we empower all students to thrive.  

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The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

March 7, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

‍lisa@prichardcommittee.org

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Statement from Brigitte Blom on the Passage of House Bill 190

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LEXINGTON, Ky — With the unanimous passage of HB 190 in the Kentucky House, the commonwealth is one step closer to expanding access to advanced coursework to every qualified student. Congratulations to bill sponsors Reps. Robert Duvall and Vanessa Grossl for their work on this key education legislation.

HB 190 directs each local board of education to develop an accelerated learning plan outlining how students in grades 4-12 can access advanced coursework in language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. The bill institutes automatic enrollment for students who achieve a Distinguished score on statewide assessments, while granting parents and principals the authority to withdraw students from these courses.
 
When qualified students are overlooked for advanced coursework, they miss out on key learning that will help them succeed post-graduation, and Kentucky’s economy misses out on opportunities to build a more skilled workforce. When students have access to advanced coursework, they are more likely to be prepared for college, career, and life after high school. By establishing a statewide framework for advanced coursework, HB 190 represents an important step toward expanding access to challenging learning opportunities for Kentucky students.  

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The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

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Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

lisa@prichardcommittee.org

The Prichard Committee Releases 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles

Profiles show strong points and weak spots on indicators of education and economic well-being for each Kentucky school district

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LEXINGTON, Ky — The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence today released the 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles, offering an in-depth look at the state of education in each of Kentucky’s 171 school districts. These profiles provide key indicators of learning progress from early childhood through postsecondary education, enabling communities to compare local school district performance to state averages on critical education measures.

As part of its commitment to fostering community engagement in education, the Prichard Committee updates and publishes the Groundswell Community Profiles annually ensuring Kentuckians have access to essential local data on educational progress.  

“Real, lasting progress in education and economic outcomes happens when communities are deeply engaged at the local level,” said Prichard Committee President/CEO Brigitte Blom. “It’s up to all of us to take an active role in shaping the educational landscape of our commonwealth. The Groundswell Community Profiles are designed to spark local discussions on bridging educational gaps, using the unique strengths and resources of each community to build a brighter future for all Kentuckians.”

Beyond education, the profiles incorporate economic and health data linked to educational success, illustrating the long-term influence of learning on both individual and community well-being.

The profiles are a companion to the Big Bold Future National Rankings Report, which was released last week by the Prichard Committee. Although the National Rankings Report showed Kentucky is recovering from COVID-19 learning losses faster than most states, many of the quality-of-life indicators show Kentucky declining in the rankings among the 50 states or improving too slowly to move Kentucky up into the top 20 states within a decade.

“The 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles complement the Big Bold Future National Rankings Report, illustrating how improvements at the local level collectively raise Kentucky’s standing among all 50 states,” said Todd Baldwin, director of the Center for Best Practices and Innovation at the Prichard Committee. “By identifying each district’s strengths and needs, the profiles help communities tailor strategies that boost student success, enhance workforce readiness, and improve quality of life. As more local districts make measurable progress, Kentucky moves upward in the national rankings—proving that when every community thrives, the entire commonwealth benefits.”

To explore the 2025 Groundswell Community Profile for your school district, visit prichardcommittee.org/community-profiles.

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The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

Feb. 6, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

lisa@prichardcommittee.org

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Statement from Brigitte Blom, President/CEO of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence

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LEXINGTON, Ky — Today, the Prichard Committee released the 2025 edition of the Big Bold Future National Rankings Report, and bluntly, much of the new evidence is troubling.

In 2020, the Prichard Committee urged all Kentuckians to join the work of creating a Big Bold Future for the Commonwealth. To frame that work, we identified key indicators of educational achievement and quality of life to compile into a biennial national rankings report. Together, these data points let us:

• Compare our work to other states
• Analyze trends over the years
• See results for Kentuckians of varied backgrounds and ages
• Find cause for celebration
• Recognize areas of concern

The 2025 report contains some good news. Kentucky is moving back toward 2019 reading and math test scores, as shown in last week’s results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP scores indicate Kentucky has been more successful than most other states in recovering from the learning loss that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, our NAEP scores have not fully bounced back to 2019 levels, and the 2019 levels were not strong enough. However, most other indicators show Kentucky declining in the rankings among the 50 states or improvement that is too slow to move Kentucky up into the top 20 states within a decade. Below are Kentucky’s rankings on the 14 included indicators: Bright Spots

• 4th of 50 states in high school graduation rate
• 4th in two-year postsecondary graduation rate
• 12th in grade four reading

Strong Trends (on pace to be one of the top 20 states in another decade)

• 25th and rising in voter turnout
• 27th and rising in four-year postsecondary graduation rate

Weak Trends (not on pace to be one of the top 20 states in the next decade)

• 32nd and rising slowly in grade 8 math
• 33rd and rising slowly in babies with healthy birth weight
• 46th and rising slowly in life expectancy

Declining/Flat Rankings

• 42nd and declining in households with broadband access
• 44th and unchanged in residents holding associate degrees or higher
• 46th and declining in children living at or above the poverty line
• 46th and declining in postsecondary enrollment
• 46th and unchanged in household median income
• 47th and declining in preschool enrollment

These results should summon us all to new effort.

The Prichard Committee now calls on the whole state to respond to this hard news with fresh energy and determination. As people who love Kentucky, let’s join together and get to work on building deeper insights, deeper engagement, and deeper investment, both at the state level and in each of our local communities. We invite everyone to explore the report’s evidence here, and we invite all Kentuckians to join us in renewed efforts to make education Kentucky’s pathway to a larger life and a Big Bold Future for all of us. The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

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The Prichard Committee believes in the power and promise of public education –early childhood through college– to ensure Kentuckians’ economic and social well-being. We are a citizen-led, non-partisan, solutions-focused nonprofit, established in 1983 with a singular mission of realizing a path to a larger life for Kentuckians with education at the core.

Jan. 29, 2025

Contact: Lisa McKinney, Communications Director, The Prichard Committee

(cell) 859-475-7202

lisa@prichardcommittee.org

Kentucky Shows Promise with Post-COVID Test Scores

Scores are a call to action for communities, families, educators  

LEXINGTON, Ky -- The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released their 2024 Nation’s Report Card today, which shows Kentucky is making progress on recovering from COVID-19 learning losses. NAEP scores are drawn from a representative sample of Kentucky 4th- and 8th-graders tested every two years in reading and math.

“In today’s NAEP release, Kentucky held its ground and even posted some gains during a period when results for many states declined,” said Prichard Committee President/CEO Brigitte Blom. “While the results do not show full recovery of recent losses—both during and before the pandemic—they do show Kentucky’s strength compared to national trends, even while our students face greater challenges and our schools work with fewer resources than the nation as a whole. These gains are a testament to the commitment of Kentucky educators to use the resources at their disposal effectively and efficiently.”

For 2024 percent proficient or above, Kentucky ranks among the states:

• 12th in grade 4 reading up from 29th in 2022  

• 26th in grade 8 reading up from 28th in 2022  

• 28th in grade 4 math up from 33rd in 2022

• 32nd in grade 8 math up from 41st in 2022

In percent of students reaching NAEP proficiency or above, Kentucky’s newest results are statistically tied with the nation in grade 4 reading, grade 8 reading and grade 4 math, with results below the nation in grade 8 math. Kentucky’s 4th-grade math results showed statistically significant improvement compared to 2022.

Kentucky’s results in 4th-grade reading and 8th-grade math and reading remained steady for percent proficient or above, which makes it the first year the commonwealth has stopped the backward slide that began prior to COVID-19 and was further exacerbated by the pandemic.  

“This data demonstrates that strategic investments in schools and evidenced-backed policy actions work to move the needle on education outcomes,” said Blom. “This is the moment for families, community members, state leaders and educators to rally together to build on these gains and continue in an upward trajectory through both local action and state policy.”

The Prichard Committee will release its biennial Big Bold Future national rankings report on Feb. 6, which includes the NAEP data as well as other indicators of educational achievement and quality of life. The report contextualizes the testing scores by looking at other indicators that affect education outcomes such as poverty levels and preschool participation. The Big Bold Future report will be available on prichardcommittee.org.  

LEXINGTON, Ky -- Congratulations to Gov. Andy Beshear on an inspiring and unifying State of the Commonwealth Address. Congratulations are also due for the many accomplishments in job creation and expansion of critical infrastructure like broadband and roads.

The Prichard Committee pledges to do its part to realize the Governor’s aspirations for the future of the state by continuing to work to ensure every Kentuckian has access to a meaningful education that imparts the knowledge and individual skills necessary to strengthen today’s workforce – and to be the job creators of Kentucky’s future.

We share the governor’s optimism that when Kentuckians work together toward shared goals, we have what it takes to build a better commonwealth for every family. In fact, we’ve proven that is true with education improvements of the past – and we must renew that commitment to stronger outcomes, with urgency, in the immediate years ahead.

With the 2025 General Assembly session upon us, top priorities to realize such improvements, include:

• Ensuring access to advanced coursework so Kentucky students prepared for higher level learning can excel; this is critical for the future of STEM fields like space science, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare.  
• Continuing to strengthen postsecondary education – where individuals and families gain skills for the workforce and realize increased social mobility as a result – which, in turn, strengthens our P12 education outcomes.  
• Broadening access to childcare for working families by creating the conditions for the small, often women-owned, business to grow, particularly in areas of the state where far too little high-quality childcare exists.

We look forward to working with the Governor and the General Assembly to make the vision of a big, bold future for every Kentuckian a reality.