Coronavirus cancels KPREP testing in KY. Beshear warns schools may be closed past April 20.
The Kentucky Department of Education notified state public school superintendents on Tuesday that K-PREP testing for the 2019-2020 school year has been canceled.
U.S. Department of Education officials announced March 20 that students at schools closed due to the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic can bypass standardized testing for the 2019-2020 school year.
Kentucky applied for a waiver and was notified over the weekend that it was tentatively approved by the federal government.
Gov. Andy Beshear said Tuesday that at least 163 people in Kentucky had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The testing window during which the Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) is given annually is within the last 14 instructional days on a school district’s calendar, a news release said.
All of Kentucky’s 172 school districts are now using the Non-Traditional Instruction Program to ensure students continue learning while school buildings are closed. In-person classes have been called off through at least April 20.
Beshear has warned superintendents that there may be a need to keep school buildings closed later than that date to stop the spread of COVID-19, a news release from the state said.
The majority of Kentucky’s public school students took the ACT test March 10. Kentucky is working with representatives from ACT to provide additional options for students that were unable to complete testing. Additional information will be provided when details are finalized.
Accountability data is usually released in the fall in Kentucky.
For this year, Interim Education Commissioner Kevin Brown said all federal ratings will remain the same until after the next testing cycle in the spring of 2021. The list of schools qualifying for Comprehensive Support and Improvement and Additional Targeted Support and Improvement also will stay the same.
“I hope this will help ease some of the anxiety being felt among our families and our teachers,” Brown said. “I want our teachers and schools to concentrate on providing a great education to their students through the NTI Program rather than worry about standardized testing. Let’s end this year strong despite the extra stress COVID-19 has placed on all of us.”