The Kentucky Core Academic standards were developed in 2010 due to concerns of poor performance by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Kentucky Core Academic Standards are guidelines that show the basics of what every student within Kentucky should learn in school from intermediate school until graduation from high school in preparation for college and life. The KCAS are set so as to ensure that all students focus on the common set of standards that will enable them access to higher learning opportunities. KCASs only define what is to be learned and not how it will be learned or the resources that will enable the learning of the outlined basics. Therefore, teachers, administrators and education stakeholders are expected to use the standards to develop suitable curriculums and find the appropriate resources to equip learners with the refined basics. The KCAS generally provides learning goals; expectations and recommendations on which schools can identify content, courses, and programs for students. KCA standards are defined for every area of study and subject hence enabling a coordinated curricular which provides all students with an equal opportunity to succeed within the Kentucky education system (Kentucky Department of Education, 2018). The design, implementation, and evaluation of the KCAS have been subject to national political influence hence an examination of the role of national politics on the Kentucky Core Academic Standards and how the national politics led to change in Kentucky is the first to adopt the Common Core standards.
The adoption of core academic standards in Kentucky is as a result of political influence through statistics and political analysis of the state of Education in the United States compared to other industrialized countries. Firstly, the design of core academic standards in the US was as a result of long-term scrutiny of the US education system. Reports showed a growing need for reform within the US educational system. For instance, a report by the National Commission for Education displayed the notion that the US was a nation at risk citing an imperative for educational reform and a corporate school reform movement by the late 20th century in 1983. The report cited increasing mediocrity in American high schools which brought attention to the possibility of American schools failing. The awakening began the era of accountability which is the basis of common core standards in education. In the era, commonwealth did not lead Kentucky in financial support for its schools, literacy or other measures of educational success. The report led to legal challenges that saw Kentucky's education system declared unconstitutional calling for substantial changes. The changes included the consideration of common standards made Kentucky's education system constitutional placing the state at the forefront of educational reform. The design of KCAS was, therefore, part of the focus on improving Kentucky's educational system towards equity and adequacy (Day, 2013).
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National politics influenced the implementation of the Kentucky core academic standards by developing collaboration on common tests. With so much controversy surrounding standardized tests in the US, the development of common core standards intensified the arguments making assessment a significant concern for the implementation of the core standards. Policymakers against the development and institution of common cores standards raised concerns on the high assessment costs for each state under the standards. The issues of high cost of assessment per state limited the implementation of the Common standards as it would be too costly for states. Thus, the development of Core Common standards included an advocacy for the development of two common tests through consortia of states where the standards were adopted. The consortia provided policymakers with estimates of the tests under consortia which raised uncertainty on the possibility of actual costs being significantly higher (Chingos, 2013). However, the forecast shows that the use of consortia will drive down costs through economies of scale. The development of collaboration on tests and the positive forecast as well as the launch of experiments to test the viability enable states such as Kentucky to implement the KCAS without the uncertainty of costs.
The evaluation of Kentucky’s adoption of common core standards has not been without political influence. However, looking at Kentucky's core academic standards the state has made considerable success which may be unattainable for other states for various reasons. The adoption of common core academic standards in Kentucky has been under political scrutiny since the state was the first to adopt the standards against the opposition of other states. Nevertheless, Kentucky has been able to survive the political wave for various reasons. First, Kentucky adopted the standards prior to the rise in political controversy on the standards and before the federal government offered grants as incentives for the adoption. Secondly, Kentucky overrode the issues of lack of public education on the standards by launching campaigns to educate the public including parents, teachers and education shareholders to explain the adoption of the new standards. Thirdly, Kentucky's standards provided low stakes for teachers which avoided the political controversy surrounding high stakes for teachers by the federally recommended standards for other states (Nelson, 2014). Therefore, political influence in evaluating the adoption of KCASs in Kentucky has been counter conquered by the preparedness and the strategic approach Kentucky used in adopting the standards.
The inception of KCAS in 2010 marked Kentucky as the first state to adopt the Common core standards due to a number of national politics. In a bid to improve the US educational system, academic benchmarks came up with the establishment of common core state standards. The suggestion saw common core standards become the topic of political controversy in the United State. The standards did not drive much of a public debate given that there was not enough effort to push for a public conversation to give people reason to advocate for the standards. Most states were focused on receiving the grants that were to be given by the US state to those states that agreed to adopt the standards. There were the common core standards while some states like Texas came up with their own standards. States against the common core standards argued that they represented the interest of bureaucrats and special interest groups and eliminated parents from their children education system. The political controversies and opposition led to a number of states failing to submit applications for the funding and to establish the standards in their state.
Following the reduced number of states that submitted the application for the funding, other states such as Indiana called off the Common core standards adoption soon after inception. Indiana adopted the standards early 2010 which would have had Indiana adopt the common core standards before Kentucky. However, politics on the common standards saw a bill passed to do away with the standards by 27th February. The bill prohibited the application of the common core standards in Indiana past the first of July 2010. Indian argued that there were high expectations of Indiana schools and hence the state would develop standards to meet the high expectation in Indiana for Indiana. Later, Indiana developed standards were criticized for looking like the common core standards. Further scrutiny argued that the Indiana standards were less vigorous compared to the common core standards as a result of political compromises. Other states sought to delay the adoption of the common core standards such as New York awhile others renamed the standards. In the light of the opposition and the political backlash, state officials from Kentucky were sold on the benefits of the common core standards and adopted them prior to their finalization in June 2010. The early adoption saw Kentucky overcome the adoption and transition challenges making it the first state to fully adopt the core standards (Bidwell, 2014). Therefore, the political hesitation, backlash, and opposition of the common core standards and Kentucky’s state officials positive perspective on the common standards saw Kentucky become the first state to adopt the standards.
In conclusion, implementation of the common core has been under a lot of political debate with most of the arguments opposed to them. The design and implementation of the common core in Kentucky have been to do political discussions and decisions by the Kentucky state officials. Evaluation the adoption of the standards in Kentucky shows that their success is as a result of the prior strategic approach that has enabled the state to counter the politics surrounding the common core. Kentucky has had an upper hand in utilizing the core standards given that it adopted the prior to the rise of the political controversy. Therefore, national political influence has been thwarted by Kentucky's early adoption of the standards that have helped the state overcome the underlying issues that cause political debate and hence succeed in the adoption of the standards. The success of Kentucky in the adoption of the common core can hence be attributed to the positive elements surrounding its state politics on the standards and the prior education of the public on the rationale behind the standards. While the public and politics surrounding the common core in other states are against their adoption for teachers, state officials and education stakeholders, Kentucky has full support.
References
Bidwell, A. (2014). The politics of common core. US News . Retrieved on 16 July 2018 from https://www.usnews.com/news/special-reports/a-guide-to-common-core/articles/2014/03/06/the-politics-of-common-core
Chingos, M. M. (2013). Standardized testing and the common core standards. Brookings Institution . Retrieved on 16 July 2018 from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Standardized-Testing-and-the-Common-Core-Standards_FINAL_PRINT.pdf
Day, R. E. (2013). First in reform: The adoption of common core state standards in Kentucky. Kentucky Journal of Excellence in College Teaching and Learning . Retrieved on 16 July 2018 from http://works.bepress.com/richard_day/48/
Kentucky Department of Education. (2018). Kentucky Academic standards. Commonwealth of Kentucky . Retrieved on 16 July 2018 from https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Pages/default.aspx
Nelson, L. (2014). How Kentucky became a rare Common Core success story. Vox Media Inc . Retrieved on 16 July 2018 from https://www.vox.com/2014/10/28/7082599/kentucky-common-core-college-career-ready-act
