The Prichard Committee Releases 2025 Groundswell Community Profiles 

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.