Education leaders say the best way to improve schools is to let leaders innovate

It’s not necessarily more money that will help Kentucky schools better prepare students for their careers or college — it’s how the schools use the money and creatively reinforce success to students. That’s the message education leaders came away with from a policy roundtable in Louisville on Tuesday.

The Kentucky Leads the Nation group gathered the education experts to hold the discussion to talk about ways to improve education amongst the Kentucky Public Schools. The roundtable was held at the J.B. Atkinson Academy for Excellence in Teaching and Learning — an elementary school in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville.

The school brings in University of Louisville students to interact with the elementary school students and teachers stress the importance of going to college. Another school that was highlighted in the meeting was Eminence Independent School District in Henry County.

As Pure Politics innovative approaches to learning with their students using MacBook computers and the school busing students to Bellarmine University on a bus with wifi internet. And the state’s Director of Innovation David Cook cited Eminence Superintendent Buddy Berry as a model for other districts.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday said the needs in education don’t just stop in the classroom.

Kentucky’s scores have been improving, but even earlier this summer at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce business summit, the state received a “bad “report card”“:http://mycn2.com/politics/low-grades-for-kentucky-s-higher-education-system-disappointing-but-eye-opening-leaders-say when it came to education.

But Alicia Sells of Kentucky Leads the Nation says that has lead to an attitude among people in the state that isn’t exactly true.

“We do have a self-defeating attitude in the state that we are at the bottom of educational attainment, but we’re not. And we all know that” (at :38).

Sells gave the examples of 1990 education reforms and the new core curriculum standards Kentucky schools put into place starting last year.

Kentucky Leads the Nation will hold a summit to help school districts determine what it takes to innovate on October 26-27.