{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-158.840","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 158.840","heading":"Legislative findings and intent -- Importance of students' reading and","body":"mathematics skills in achieving scholastic goals -- Roles of statewide entities in\nimproving student achievement.\n(1) The General Assembly hereby finds that reading and mathematics proficiency are\ngateway skills necessary for all Kentucky students to achieve the academic goals\nestablished in KRS 158.6451. It is the General Assembly's intent that:\n(a) All students in kindergarten through grade three (3) having difficulty in\nreading and mathematics receive early diagnosis and intervention services\nfrom highly trained teachers;\n(b) All students in kindergarten through grade three (3) needing to make\naccelerated progress toward proficiency in mathematics based on d ata from\nvalid and reliable universal screening and diagnostic assessments receive\nhigh-quality, evidence-based mathematics instruction and intervention aligned\nto the Kentucky academic standards for mathematics;\n(c) All students demonstrate proficiency in  reading and mathematics as they\nprogress through the relevant curricula and complete each assessment level\nrequired by the Kentucky Board of Education for the state assessment\nprogram established under KRS 158.6453 and in compliance with the\nrequirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Pub. L. No.\n114-95, or its successor; and\n(d) Students who are struggling in reading and mathematics or are not at the\nproficient level on statewide assessments shall be provided evidence -based\nand develop mentally appropriate diagnostic and intervention services, and\ninstructional modifications necessary to learn.\nThe General Assembly, the Kentucky Board of Education, the Kentucky\nDepartment of Education, the Council on Postsecondary Education, colleges an d\nuniversities, local boards of education, school administrators, school councils,\nteachers, parents and families, and other educational entities, such as the Education\nProfessional Standards Board, P -16 councils, the statewide reading research center\nestablished under KRS 164.0207, and the Center for Middle School Academic\nAchievement must collaborate if the intentions specified in this subsection are to be\nmet. Intensive focus on student achievement in reading and mathematics does not\nnegate the responsib ility of any entity to help students obtain proficiency in other\ncore curriculum content areas.\n(2) The General Assembly's role is to set policies that address the achievement levels of\nall students and provide resources for the professional growth of teac hers and\nadministrators, assessing students' academic achievement, including valid and\nreliable universal screening and diagnostic assessment and instructional\ninterventions, technology innovations, targeted reading and mathematics statewide\ninitiatives, research and the distribution of research findings, services for students\nbeyond the regular school day, and other services needed to help struggling\nlearners.\n(3) The Kentucky Board of Education shall regularly review and modify, when\nappropriate, its stat ewide assessment policies and practices to enable local school\ndistricts and schools to carry out the provisions of the statewide assessment and\naccountability system, required under KRS 158.6453 to improve student\nachievement in mathematics and reading.\n(4) The Kentucky Department of Education shall:\n(a) Provide assistance to schools and teachers, including publicizing professional\ndevelopment opportunities, methods of measuring effective professional\ndevelopment, the availability of high quality instructi onal materials, and\ndevelopmentally appropriate, valid, and reliable screening and diagnostic\nassessments of student competency in mathematics and reading. The\ndepartment shall provide access to samples of units of study, annotated\nstudent work, diagnostic  instruments, and research findings, and give\nguidance on parental engagement;\n(b) Work with state and national educators and subject -matter experts to identify\nstudent reading and mathematical skills in each subject area that align with the\nstate content standards adopted under KRS 158.6453 and identify teaching\nstrategies in each subje ct area that can be used explicitly to develop the\nidentified reading and mathematical skills under this paragraph;\n(c) Encourage the development of comprehensive middle and high school\nadolescent reading and mathematics plans to be incorporated into the curricula\nof each subject area to improve the reading comprehension and mathematical\nskills of all students;\n(d) Conduct an annual review of the state grant programs it manages and make\nrecommendations, when needed, to the Interim Joint Committee on Educati on\nfor changes to statutory requirements that are necessary to gain a greater\nreturn on investment;\n(e) Provide administrative support and oversight to programs to train classroom\ncoaches and mentors to help teachers with reading and mathematics\ninstruction; and\n(f) Require no reporting of instructional plans, formative assessment results, staff\neffectiveness processes, or interventions implemented in the classroom,\nexcept for:\n1. Interventions implemented under KRS 158.305(2) and 158.8402;\n2. Funds provided under KRS 158.792 or 158.844; or\n3. Schools that are identified for comprehensive support and improvement\nand fail to exit comprehensive support and improvement status after\nthree (3) consecutive years of implementing the turnaround intervention\nprocess as described in KRS 160.346.\n(5) The Education Professional Standards Board, in cooperation with the Council on\nPostsecondary Education, shall exercise its duties and functions under KRS 161.028\nto ensure that teacher education programs are fulfilling the needs of Kentucky for\nhighly skilled teachers. The Education Professional Standards Board shall:\n(a) Coordinate the federal and state grant programs it administers with other\nstatewide initiatives relating to improving student achievement in reading and\nmathematics to avoid duplication of effort and to make efficient use of\nresources;\n(b) Submit a report every three (3) years to the Legislative Research Commission\nfor referral to the appropriate Interim Joint Committee on Education and the\nInterim Joint Com mittee on Appropriations and Revenue, summarizing the\ncompliance of each teacher preparation program for alignment to early\nchildhood education or elementary regular education standards and to the\ninstructional requirements set forth in KRS 164.306(1) and 164.3061;\n(c) Regularly report program data to an external evaluator for an annual analysis\nof the ability of teacher preparation programs to properly train and equip\nteacher preparation program students with the literacy and mathematics\ncontent knowledge and skills to educate students in kindergarten through\ngrade three (3); and\n(d) Exercise its duties and responsibilities under KRS 161.030 and 161.048 to\nensure highly qualified teachers.\n(6) Colleges and universities shall:\n(a) Utilize institution -wide re sources to work with elementary and secondary\neducators and other entities to align curriculum content to ensure that students\nwho achieve proficiency on standards established at the prekindergarten\nthrough secondary levels will require no remediation to s uccessfully enter a\npostsecondary education program;\n(b) Provide quality undergraduate teacher preparation programs to ensure that\nthose preparing to teach reading or mathematics at all grade levels have the\nnecessary content knowledge, assessment and diag nostic skills, and teaching\nmethodologies and that teachers in all subject areas have the requisite skills\nfor helping students at all grade levels develop critical strategies and skills for\nreading and comprehending subject matter;\n(c) Deliver evidence -based continuing education for teachers in reading and\nmathematics through institutes, graduate level courses, and other professional\ndevelopment activities that support a statewide agenda for improving student\nachievement in reading and mathematics;\n(d) Conduct or assist with research on best practices in assessment, intervention\nstrategies, teaching methodologies, costs and effectiveness of instructional\nmodels, and other factors as appropriate to reading and mathematics;\n(e) Provide staff to consult and provide technical assistance to teachers, staff, and\nadministrators at elementary, middle, and secondary school sites;\n(f) Assume active roles in the statewide initiatives referenced in KRS 156.553\nand 158.842; and\n(g) Develop written procedures for measurin g the effectiveness of activities\noutlined in paragraphs (a) to (f) of this subsection.\n(7) School councils at all school levels are encouraged to identify and allocate\nresources to qualified teachers to become coaches or mentors in mathematics or\ncoaches or mentors in reading with a focus on improving student achievement in\ntheir respective schools.\n(8) Local school boards and superintendents shall provide local resources to\nsupplement or match state and federal resources to support teachers, school\nadministrators, and school councils in helping students achieve proficiency in\nreading and mathematics.\n(9) Local school superintendents shall provide leadership and resources to the\nprincipals of all schools to facilitate curriculum alignment, communications, a nd\ntechnical support among schools to ensure that students are academically prepared\nto move to the next level of schooling.","path":["KRS Chapter 158"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56113","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:06Z","sha256":"8df4cda0492e6641e2f9b9203a537ce38a9919d644ddea1e5bec11289df34d2b","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-158.838","next":"us-ky/krs-158.8401"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}