By Ronica Shannon
Register News Writer
RICHMOND —
The League of Women Voters of Berea and Madison County is joining with the ReadyKentucky initiative and inviting the public to learn more about the new era of Kentucky education.
A public presentation titled “Educational Accountability in the 21st Century,” will be given Monday, Sept. 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Madison Central High School lecture hall. The event will serve as the league’s first member meeting of the new fiscal year.
The ReadyKentucky program is organized by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence based in Lexington, and was given initial financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with other donors.
The program is geared to help educators and parents understand and prepare for the state’s new academic standards.
Senate Bill 1 was passed last year by the Kentucky General Assembly. The bill includes several new regulations including what will be tested, how subjects will be tested and when tests are given.
Visit www.education.ky. gov for more information about what is included in Senate Bill 1.
The presentation will be given by Robyn Oatley, project manager for ReadyKentucky.
Oatley is a retired Kentucky educator and has maintained roles as K-12 arts and humanities educator, principal at Cardinal Valley and Millcreek elementary schools and other positions with Fayette County Schools, including associate director for planning and budget, associate director for student assessment and program evaluation and district assessment coordinator.
“The whole purpose is to make sure that everyone has good information about the standards of what our children should be able to do,” Oatley said. “We also want to make sure that quality information is out there to be used by folks in ways that will help our kids learn more every day.”
Madison County Schools Superintendent Tommy Floyd addressed an invitation letter to all principals, counselors, school board members, parent groups and teachers, said Cecile Schubert, vice president of the League of Women Voters of Berea and Madison County.
The same groups from Berea Community School also have been invited, along with local government officials from Richmond, Berea and Madison County and the general public.
“I would invite them to come get accurate and timely information about the standards, what they are, how they were developed and why Kentucky needs to move in this direction,” Oatley said. “It’s primarily to make sure that our kids are globally competitive and ready for college, the work place or both.”
The league decided to support the ReadyKentucky initiative because of the important role education plays in the lives of Kentucky’s youth.
“It has been found that when children go from county to county, sometimes there’s not a similarity of expectations and so the children are either ahead or behind,” Schubert said. “What this will do is set the playing field on an equal plain so that children and parents will know what to expect. Across the United States, children will all be going toward the same goal.”
E-mail Schubert at cecilel@roadrunner.com or call 623-5832 for more information about the event.
Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 624-6608.
