Local school district leaders have mixed reactions to the latest draft of a proposed statewide system for evaluating school success, which is set to be fully implemented in the 2018-19 school year.

Superintendent Gary Fields of the Bowling Green Independent School District appreciates the transparency of the process so far, but also understands the gravity of the task ahead.

“How do you find one measure or one result that you can publish to the public that reflects everything that goes on in the school,” he said. “It’s really difficult.”

As it stands, Warren County Schools Superintendent Rob Clayton said he’s satisfied with the currently proposed changes and the “very transparent process.” But he also understands the complexity involved.

“You can measure so many indicators … but you have to come to an agreement about what is a reasonable approach,” he said.

Teams of educators and others from across the state have been developing the system that’s meant to meet requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced No Child Left Behind.

Kentucky Board of Education members met last month to discuss the proposal that would rate schools from one to five stars. The system has been in development for more than a year with feedback from thousands of Kentucky educators and the general public, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Districts would earn a star rating and a possible supplemental designation focused on narrowing performance gaps for disadvantaged students, or achievement gaps, based on their performance on various indicators. Those indicators include proficiency, growth for elementary and middle school students, how well schools transition students to their next education level, how well they narrow achievement gaps and how well they promote opportunity and access for all students.

Districts and charter schools would also develop a locally-defined measure that highlights an area for improvement or charter school objective, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Fields said he welcomes the idea of moving away from a single, summative score. He said he’s concerned a five-star rating could give the wrong impression that a school is doing “everything right.”

“It’s like we’ve become Yelp,” he said.

Fields isn’t alone in raising concerns. On July 10, various civil rights, education and business organizations signed a joint letter asking that the system be strengthened.

The signees included representatives from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky State Conference of NAACP Branches, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, the Louisville Urban League and Teach for America. All of the signees have been closely involved with the development of the draft system.

“We believe it can and should be strengthened,” the letter reads.

The letter called for more specific and ambitious goals, said the system should move beyond just proficiency, that parents should have full access and that each student should be included in ratings – not just averages.

“The five-star rating system needs clarity and definition to communicate how indicators will be translated into stars and how, exactly, a certain star rating will reflect school performance,” the letter reads.

“Our concern with the current accountability draft is that it doesn’t go far enough,” said Brigitte Blom Ramsey, executive director of the Prichard Committee.

Sherron Jackson, chair of the Education Committee for the Kentucky State Conference of NAACP Branches, said he’d like the system to move beyond proficiency to excellence.

“The system that is being proposed doesn’t appear to have that degree of encouragement that schools stretch and perform beyond just being average,” he said.

Jackson also said data needs to be available based on student groups so that parents of students of color can evaluate how well their school is educating their specific group. He’s concerned that averages could be used to mask true performance.

Ultimately, Jackson wants a system that evaluates how well schools are performing comprehensively, including areas like bullying.

Despite some reservations, Fields said he appreciates Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt’s work.

“I do think Commissioner Pruitt has done a great job of taking input from everybody,” he said, adding he’s confident the system will ultimately help kids.