Union County School District Exceeds Goals on State Tests

With goals established by the state for Union County schools to have a 1-point increase in scores, the overall district and four schools far surpassed the mark with point increases ranging from 3.3 to 9.8. 

The district made a 5.1 point gain in overall score and moved up in percentile rankings from 22 to 54%. Superintendent Patricia Sheffer is pleased with the district’s improvement: “This year’s data tells us we are headed in the right direction,” said Sheffer. “I attribute a great deal of our success to students taking charge of their own learning by personally setting and monitoring their goals. They took great pride in the progress they made along the way and it is evident they were better prepared at KPREP testing time at the end of the year.”

Morganfield Elementary is a standout with a huge gain of 9.8 on overall score, moving up in percentile rank from 24 to 60%, meeting AMO, and earning the designation of being aHigh Progressschool. MES showed strong improvement in all measured areas with a 7.9 gain in Achievement, 7.2 gain in Gap performance, and a whopping 13 point gain in Growth. MES Principal Melissa Brantley agreed with Sheffer that goal-setting was a major factor in their success.  “We spend a lot of time setting goals with students and helping them achieve their goals is top priority”, said Brantley. “With the skills they are learning now, they will be able to achieve any goal they set in their lives.” 

Union County High School has a great deal to celebrate with a 5.2 gain in overall score, moving up in percentile rank from 25 to 55%, and meeting AMO. UCHS showed improvement in three out of five measured areas with a huge 11.2 point gain in achievement, 7.9 gain in Gap, and 8.3 gain in College Career Readiness. This year, the graduation rate was reported using a new method of calculation in which there is a cohort score instead of average freshman graduation rate. The graduation rate is 91.4% using the new cohort calculation method. UCHS Principal Evan Jackson says that the UCHS staff is encouraged by the KPREP results and will celebrate the fruits of their hard work; but they are already well underway in the current school year with “an intentional plan to raise our ACT scores so that our students will be better prepared to succeed in college and/or a career." 

Uniontown Elementary was the district’s strongest performing school last year and true to the cautions offered early this year by Kentucky’s Department of Education (KDE) for last year’s strong performers, they saw a slight decrease. It was explained that the stronger performing schools may not see increases due to the plateau effect and the addition of Growth and Gap in score calculations. UES had a slight decrease in score by a half point and moved in percentile rankings from 50 to 48%. An area of improvement for UES was Growth, where they showed a 2.8 gain. UES Principal Tamala Howard has already identified opportunities for improvement and is making significant adjustments in order to specifically target the needs of students. Howard stated that she is aware “the parents and community of Uniontown have high expectations of UES” and that UES is “committed to making sure our students demonstrate significant progress and have great success this school year.” According to Howard, a strategic plan for improvement is being implemented and several positive changes have already taken place.

Superintendent Sheffer sums up the plan for all schools next year, “Standards set are standards met. We have high expectations for all stakeholders and have established a system of continuous improvement in all areas with goal setting in every department. Both our staff and students begin with the end in mind and regularly monitor progress toward achieving their goals while looking for ways to improve.” 

Sheffer credits the community and the Board for setting high expectations and supporting the continuous improvement mindset. Board Chair Jennifer Buckman feels that the school district is certainly moving in the right direction. “We are pleased to see such great improvement in our district and schools,” said Buckman. “Not only has there been a significant increase in student achievement, but we have seen a huge shift in the culture of our schools.  Along with high expectations, there is a sense of pride and personal integrity as staff and students take ownership of their education. Our vision is becoming reality as we see a true passion for excellence in our schools.”

Although the organization as a whole is very goal-oriented, Sheffer places the majority of emphasis on the human factor. “We simply do what’s best for our students and realize that culture trumps strategy,” said Sheffer. “Every day, we will continue to make good things happen for other people. We look forward to celebrating our growth and keeping our district SMOVING (Smiling + Moving)!”