Kentucky

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in Kentucky
Illustration of dollar symbol in rollercoaster.
iStock
Education Funding Funding Ends for School Mental Health Projects After a 'Roller Coaster' Year
Schools, universities, and others thought they had five years to boost student mental health services.
Matthew Stone, December 2, 2025
11 min read
Kanette Yatsattie, 8, left, and classmate Jeremy Candelaria, 10, hang out by a board depicting the race to for best attendance at the school, Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M.
Kanette Yatsattie, 8, left, and classmate Jeremy Candelaria, 10, hang out by a board depicting the race to for best attendance at the school on Oct. 1, 2024, at Algodones Elementary School in Algodones, N.M. New Mexico passed a law in 2019 that shifts schools from punishing truancy to preventing chronic absenteeism, only referring truancy cases to the courts in extreme cases. California is the latest state to change its truancy law, undoing potential criminal penalties like fines or jail time for parents.
Roberto E. Rosales/AP
Families & the Community Should Parents Face Criminal Penalties for Their Children's Poor Attendance?
Schools shift from a punitive approach with penalties for truancy to a greater emphasis on prevention.
Evie Blad, October 7, 2025
7 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Video The Top Priority for This District’s First Female Athletic Director
Protecting student-athletes from heat-related injuries and illnesses is the top priority for this district's first female athletic director.
Yi-Jo Shen & Kaylee Domzalski, September 18, 2025
1:53
Edenton, N.C. - September 5th, 2025: Sonya Rinehart, principal at John A. Holmes High School, walks downtown Edenton.
Sonya Rinehart, the principal at John A. Holmes High School, walks downtown in Edenton, N.C., on Sept. 5, 2025. In small towns, principals balance school management with ambassadorial acts, forging ties that support students and local growth.
Cornell Watson for Education Week
School & District Management In Small Towns, Principals Wear Many Hats—Including 'Ambassador'
Small-town principals juggle daily duties with serving as ambassadors to their communities.
Elizabeth Heubeck, September 9, 2025
5 min read
A student works a problem in a second grade math class at Place Bridge Academy, May 20, 2025, in Denver.
A student works a problem in a 2nd grade math class at Place Bridge Academy, May 20, 2025, in Denver. The math instructional strategies that teachers employ can vary depending on whether they trained as general or special educators—a divide researchers say could hurt struggling students.
Rebecca Slezak/AP
Mathematics How Should We Teach Math? General and Special Ed. Researchers Don't Agree
The divide makes it less likely that students who struggle will get access to proven strategies, researchers argue in a new study.
Sarah Schwartz, August 21, 2025
8 min read
Woman with cross on her mouth, unable to speak, concept of silence.
Getty
Teaching Profession Opinion A New Law Claims to Curb Teacher Sexual Misconduct. What Does It Really Do?
In one state, teachers now face strict limits on how they can communicate with students outside the classroom.
Lora Bartlett, August 21, 2025
6 min read
Megan Marcum, the digital learning coach for the Bowling Green district in Kentucky, and William King, the district technology director, present a poster session on how to create a student Chromebook repair team at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 in San Antonio on June 30, 2025.
Megan Marcum, the digital learning coach for the Bowling Green district in Kentucky, and William King, the district's technology director, explain how to set up a student Chromebook repair team at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 in San Antonio on June 30, 2025.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
IT Infrastructure & Management Why This District Pays Students to Repair School Devices
One district leader says there are no downsides to having students work on Chromebook repairs.
Lauraine Langreo, July 1, 2025
3 min read
boy likely a teenager, sitting in a dimly lit room, holding a credit card and looking at a tablet screen
Nadzeya Haroshka/iStock
Curriculum Teaching Personal Finance to Teens in the Age of Online Gambling
Teenagers have more spending power than ever before. States are pushing schools to teach them how to be responsible with their spending.
Elizabeth Heubeck, April 11, 2025
5 min read
Image of a magnifying glass over budget factor icons.
Getty
States Trump’s Cuts to Ed. Spending Will Hit Efforts to Improve Reading and Math. Here’s How
The Ed. Dept. said federally funded centers were “forcing radical agendas.” State officials say they helped foster academic improvement.
Sarah Schwartz, March 10, 2025
7 min read
Photograph of two multiracial educators walking and talking in a school hallway. The woman on the left is mixed race Hispanic and African-American, in her 30s. Her coworker is a Filipino woman in her 40s.
E+
School & District Management 'Pre-Apprenticeships' Give Teachers a Taste of What It's Like to Be a Principal
Western Kentucky University is piloting a model to develop future school leaders.
Olina Banerji, February 28, 2025
7 min read
Miranda Scully, Director of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) for Fayette County Public Schools, stands for a portrait outside the Family Connection Center northern facility on Dec. 12, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. The Family Connection Center offers programs like ESL classes, college preparation, and household budgeting and money management classes.
Miranda Scully, the director of family and community engagement for the Fayette school district, Public Schools, stands outside one of the district's family connection center's on Dec. 12, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. The center offers programs like ESL classes, college preparation, and household budgeting and money management classes.
Michael Swensen for Education Week
Families & the Community Q&A Family Engagement Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All. Here’s How to Do It Right
This Kentucky district leader emphasizes meaningful family engagement training for educators.
Ileana Najarro, February 3, 2025
4 min read
Miranda Scully, Director of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) for Fayette County Public Schools, assists students during a ACT prep class held at the Family Connection Center on Dec. 12, 2024, in Lexington, Ky. The Family Connection Center offers programs like ESL classes, college preparation, and household budgeting and money management classes.
Miranda Scully, the director of family and community engagement for the Fayette school district in Kentucky, helps students during an ACT prep class held at the Family Connection Center on Dec. 12, 2024, in Lexington. The Family Connection Center offers programs including English classes for non-native speakers, college preparation, and household budgeting and money management classes.
Michael Swensen for Education Week
Families & the Community Leader To Learn From From Haircuts to Home Language, One District’s Approach to Family Engagement
Miranda Scully takes an all-hands-on-deck approach to parent engagement in her Kentucky district.
Ileana Najarro, February 3, 2025
8 min read
school funding lawsuits 836865720
z_wei/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Education Funding These High Schoolers Are Suing for Better Schools. Can They Win?
A new lawsuit joins others currently challenging states to follow constitutional requirements for public education.
Mark Lieberman, January 15, 2025
8 min read
A picture of a gavel on a target.
Bill Oxford/Getty
Law & Courts Biden's Title IX Rule to Expand Protections of Trans Students Struck Down
The Title IX rule improperly expands sex-discrimination protection to gender identity, the judge ruled.
Mark Walsh, January 9, 2025
4 min read