ACT scores in Kentucky slip below 2001 results
Lexington Herald-Leader
August 21, 2002
ACT scores in Kentucky slip below 2001 results
FRANKFORT - ACT scores for Kentucky high school seniors dropped this year, though fewer students took the test and more had taken the "rigorous" courses recommended for college preparation.
Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit said the scores were "disheartening." The interim president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, Sue Hodges Moore, said students "have not made the kind of progress Kentucky needs."
The state average was 20.0 on a scale of 1 to 36. The national average was 20.8. Kentucky had averaged 20.1 the last three years.
Kentucky students were below the national average in every test area: English, math, reading and scientific reasoning.
Public universities and community colleges in Kentucky require the ACT for admission. Fewer members of the high school class of 2002 took the test (29,532 in all, a decline of 552) but the number among them who had taken a recommended "core curriculum" of college-prep classes shot up to 17,274 from 14,506.
Because test takers are self-selected and those taking rigorous courses presumably would be more motivated than their peers, Kentucky's scores would have been expected to increase.
"While the 10 percent increase in rigorous course-taking ... is good news, the slight drop in the composite is disheartening," Wilhoit said.
He said he was especially concerned about lower English scores, since more students were taking core subjects and Kentucky's toughened graduation requirements have taken full effect.
Girls outperformed boys in English and reading. Boys did better in math and science and had an edge in the composite, 20.2 to 19.9.
Continuing a trend, white students outperformed black students, 20.3 to 16.6. Among white and black students taking a core curriculum, the gap was 21.1 to 17.4.
Scores were not broken down between public and private high schools.
Moore, of the postsecondary education council, said the most important issue was whether Kentucky students were coming out of high school prepared for college and the work force.
"The results of the ACT indicate we have not made the kind of progress Kentucky needs," she said.
Somerset Commonwealth Journal
August 15, 2002
A collection of college administrative dignitaries conducted a public Forum at the Center for Rural Development on the topic of consolidating Somerset Community College (SCC), Laurel Technical College (LTC) and Somerset Technical College (STC).
The purpose of the forum was to provide information and to receive comments from the general public on the consolidation and pursuit of single accreditation process for SCC, LTC and STC. The public forum completed ‘Stage 2’ of the KCTCS’s plan to get approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) by December 2002.
The forum officials were Chairperson of KCTCS Board of Regents Cynthia Read, KCTCS President Dr. Michael McCall, Chairperson SCC Board of Directors Charlene Harris, Chairperson LTC Advisory Board Eugene Robinson, Chairperson STC Advisory Board Ron Toole and President of Somerset Community College/CEO of Somerset Community and Technical College District Dr. Jo Marshall.
Executive Director & CEO of The Center for Rural Development Lonnie Lawson served as the forum moderator. Also in attendance at the public forum were members of the KCTCS Board of Regents, KCTCS President’s Cabinet, Board members from all three colleges, as well as staff and faculty from all three institutions.
The forum was open for comments from the public on the proposed consolidation of the three post-secondary schools consolidation. Anyone wishing to speak were allowed to make oral remarks within a three-minute time frame.
More detailed comments may also be presented in writing at the Forum by mail. Comments received after August 20 will not be included in the formal record of Forum proceedings.
Public speakers included the Mayor of Somerset and the SCC Student Government President Jerry Warren of Science Hill. Everyone that addressed the forum officials and large crowd in attendance, had nothing but high praise for the purposed consolidation.
The next stage of the proposed consolidation is the presentation to the KCTCS Board of Regents for approval of the Consolidation Resolution which is planned to take place in November. Then in November the SACS Substantive Change Committee is scheduled for a visit, with the anticipated SACS approval by December of this year.
The consolidated comprehensive community and technical college will consist of a full service campus in Somerset and a full service campus in London. Each will be comprised of the existing community college campus and the existing technical college campus in Somerset and London. In addition, the consolidated college will have instructional centers in McCreary County and Clinton County.
Here a just of few of the comments made at the Forum:
Hilda Prather — “Working in the public school system over the years, I have seen the need for consolidation....the consolidation of the three schools would create a ‘seamless education system’ that would remove barriers for learning.”
Susan Wilson — “I was member of the first classes at SCC..... every time I look at the consolidation program, it looks better.”
Dr. Paula Little — “Consolidation would take three excellent institutions and make them even better. SCTCS would no longer be considered a follower in education, but a leader.”
David Wiles — “As one who has experienced consolidation first hand, trust me it works!”
Mayor JP Wiles — “What the SCTCS is doing with consolidation of the three schools is a great thing for education and the communities they serve. The Marshall Plan ( referring to Dr. Jo Marshall’s vision and work towards consolidation) is number one.”
Jerry Warren — “As a student at SCC, I see the interaction of the three schools will let all the students to work together.... and by working together at the educational level will better prepare for us to work together in the work force once we have completed our college education.”
Dr. Jo Marshall — “We are working hard to build the best college possible for our students.”
August 17, 2002
Owensboro Messenger Inquirer
Tara Wells is eight months away from graduating from high school, but she's ready to move on.
Having earned all but two credits necessary for a diploma from Daviess County High School, Wells doesn't want to spend this school year taking unnecessary and unchallenging elective courses.
"I'm ready to be a college student," said Wells, 17. "It's stupid to waste my time taking electives when I can get a head start on college."
Wells is one of 25 high school seniors in the region selected to participate in Owensboro Community College's pilot Middle College program, a tool OCC hopes will boost both the college-going and college-staying rates of local students.
Classes for all OCC students begin Monday.
The program, under the umbrella of the Discover College program, allows high school seniors to attend OCC courses -- up to three classes a day -- during their regular school day.
The students pay tuition and take general education courses alongside older OCC students during the year. Classes are held before noon, allowing students to take high school classes in the afternoon.
Six high schools sent students to the program: Owensboro, Owensboro Catholic, Daviess County, Apollo and Ohio and McLean counties.
Students attended a three-day orientation at OCC that ended Friday. They registered for classes, received textbooks and toured the campus.
The program, believed to be the first of its kind in Kentucky, was made possible through a $60,000 grant from the Kentucky Department of Education to the Regional Alliance for Technical and Career Skills, said Nick Brake, dean of technical programs at OCC.
Unlike Discover College, which lets high school students take a sampling of dual-credit courses at OCC campuses, Middle College "is more focused on providing the college experience," Brake said Thursday.
"Discover College was more like hit the car, hit the college, hit the car again," Brake said. "You really don't experience what it's like to be a college student."
With support from Brake and program coordinator Fumie Bouvier, the students will get a head start toward a college degree -- a year's worth of credits if they also take classes next summer.
But almost as important, the students will be more likely to finish their college degrees when they become full-time college students, Brake said.
"About 50 percent of college students nationwide don't come back after the first year," Brake said. "They tend to get lost in the crowd. They tend to go to college, but they drop out."
Without programs like Middle College, many high school seniors who plan to go to college will coast through their final year, taking elective courses because they are finished with their required courses, Brake said. That's potentially dangerous, because those classes "are not rigorous and are not preparing them for college. They get here after taking a year of electives and say, 'Whoa.'"
The program is perfect for Stacey Baird, a 17-year-old senior at Owensboro High School, because she plans to enter OCC's nursing program next year.
"This is a good opportunity to get some classes out of the way," Baird said. "If I go to summer school, I'll finish with enough (credits) to be a sophomore next year."
The drawback, of course, is being away from high school friends during most of the day, Baird said.
"I miss it," Baird said. "I'm only at high school for two classes a day."
But Mandy Dillow, 18, a senior at OHS, doesn't mind spending half a day away from high school.
"I'm away from all the drama," Dillow said.
Elizabethtown News Enterprise
August 20, 2002
Students get first look at education center
Nicole Lynch walked in to the Central Regional Postsecondary Education Center, sandwiched between Elizabethtown Community and Elizabethtown Technical colleges, not knowing where to go on the first day of class.
"Am I in the right building?" Lynch asked Sue French, ETC's chief administrative officer, who happened to be in the hallway.
Lynch, a first-year student in the registered nursing program at ECC, began classes Monday, along with some of the 4,000 students from both schools. And, she was in the wrong building.
"It's all new to me," Lynch said.
Monday marked the first day of full-scale operation for the Postsecondary Education Center, which was dedicated in April.
The facility includes a testing assessment center, an economic and development center, eight lecture classrooms, a classroom set up with computers to allow students to take classes online and several labs. The building is used by ETC, ECC and the Western Kentucky University branch in Elizabethtown.
Some local WKU students occupied one of two distance-learning classrooms in the new building. The classrooms allow students to be in Elizabethtown and participate as a professor teaches in Bowling Green at WKU.
An education course broadcast to four sites — Fort Knox, Owensboro, Elizabethtown and Glasgow — began Monday with about 20 students attending in Elizabethtown. The total class attendance is 126 students.
Monday was the first time Kristen Richardson, an elementary education junior, has been part of a distance-learning television course.
"It's very convenient, but I feel a little overwhelmed," Richardson said.
Kathryn Smith, a WKU instructor, is the facilitator for the education class at the Postsecondary Education Center. She had been an instructor at Fort Knox until this year.
"We're excited about having a TV room here in Elizabethtown," Smith said. "The whole advantage for these students is not having to drive 70 miles."
Although the center is running, it's not complete. It's bookstore has yet to be finished.
"We plan to move into the bookstore once the fall rush is over," said Mary Jo King, ECC spokeswoman. The store will house textbooks for all three colleges occupying the building.
Most of the labs were not being used the first day because students, teachers and staff were getting back their routines.
"The first day is just a settling day," King said.