Kentucky reading scores rise as state releases 2025-26 school accountability data

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Kentucky students posted gains in reading, graduation rates and postsecondary readiness during the 2025-26 school year, according to assessment and accountability data released Thursday by the Kentucky Department of Education.

The annual results, required under state law and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, show reading performance reached recent highs across all grade levels. State officials also reported improvements in postsecondary readiness and graduation rates among nearly every demographic group. The full results for individual schools and districts are available on the https://reportcard.kyschools.us/.

Results in other academic subjects were mixed, however, and fewer Kentucky schools earned the state's highest overall accountability ratings.

"Kentucky students should be commended for their performance on Kentucky's assessments," Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher said in a statement. "There is still plenty of room for growth, but students in the Commonwealth have worked hard to master the content they have been learning, and there are many areas to be proud of."

Fletcher also credited school districts and KDE staff for efforts to improve literacy and numeracy instruction.

The results include data from the Kentucky Summative Assessments and Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessments administered during the 2025-26 school year.

Students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11 were tested in subjects including reading, mathematics, science and social studies. Reading and math assessments were given annually in grades 3-8 and grade 10, while science was tested in grades 4, 7 and 11. Social studies, editing and mechanics, and on-demand writing were assessed in grades 5, 8 and 11.

The 2025-26 school year marked the final administration of the editing and mechanics and on-demand writing assessments.

State lawmakers approved changes to Kentucky's assessment and accountability system during the 2026 legislative session through House Bill 257. The changes will take effect beginning with the 2026-27 school year and will not affect the data released this fall.

Education officials cautioned that future assessment results should not be directly compared with the 2025-26 data because accountability calculations and indicators will change under the revised system.

Kentucky is also completing the final year of its current accountability model, which evaluates schools using both "Status," a measure of current performance, and "Change," which tracks year-to-year progress.

The state reported that while overall performance levels remained relatively stable, fewer schools received blue or green accountability ratings this year. Officials said lower ratings were driven largely by weaker Change scores, indicating less improvement from the previous year rather than a significant decline in current performance.

The accountability dashboard ranks schools using a color-coded system of blue, green, yellow, orange and red, with blue representing the highest performance level and red the lowest.

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