Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology are Offically Law

It’s now LAW! We have championed this cause for over 25 years and thanks to the dedication of countless leaders and KDE’s Office of Education Technology, the Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology are officially law and as such are a graduation requirement for all K-12 students.

The following is authored by KDE Education Commissioner Glass (or his staff) in the Standards Newsletter. 

New Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology

704 KAR 8:090 adopts into law the Kentucky Academic Standards for Technology, and it is now available at KYstandards.org.

Today’s society is witnessing an unprecedented explosion of information and the use of digital resources. In an environment where information is doubling at an incredible rate, digital, distance, and remote learning resources are becoming an increased component of the classroom and the workplace, where students face both increased opportunities and difficult challenges all aided by technologies. The successful students, workers, and citizens of tomorrow will be digitally connected agents of their own learning.

Therefore, the Kentucky Education Technology Systems (KETS) Master Plan for Education Technology (2018-2024) identified updating the current Technology Standards as an area of emphasis and priority for the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) in collaboration with local school districts and professional partners. The plan's vision for student learning highlights equitable, personalized, applied and engaged digital, distance and remote learning for all students. Digital tools can enhance student learning as they connect efforts to identify what students should know and be able to do as well as help students and educators assess progress toward achieving academic goals. Strong technology skills can also help students perform, apply and demonstrate what they have learned.

To meet the needs of today's students and to ensure they are transition ready, schools are encouraged to be innovative in providing student learning experiences, adopting technologies and instruction in ways that meaningfully engage the digital generation. KDE engaged with state and local partners to develop the Kentucky Academic Standards(KAS) for Technology, which focuses on providing students with opportunities to develop fundamental skills essential to all transition paths, which can stimulate Kentucky’s economy and workforce.

The KAS for Technology is organized in specific grade bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). This organization enables teachers to create grade level or course-specific student expectations derived from the standards. Additionally, connections exist between standards in different grade bands and demonstrate how one concept builds on another to provide vertically aligned learning experiences for students.

The KAS for Technology represents knowledge and skills that should be demonstrated through the transition of each grade band (i.e. grades 2, 5, 8, and 12). While middle school and high school students generally have the opportunity to demonstrate technology skills and concepts through dedicated technology-empowered projects, students in elementary school may be more likely to learn technology skills integrated throughout the local curriculum in all content areas. Therefore, grade-by-grade indicators are included, per standard, for kindergarten through grade 12.

Moreover, one of the stated requirements of 704 KAR 3:305, the minimum requirement for high school graduation, is centered on a students’ demonstrated performance-based competency in technology prior to graduating.

Key Points:

The KAS for Technology assists in defining competencies.

The KAS for Technology is required for ALL students pursuant to 704 KAR 3:305.

The KAS for Technology has a completely different focus than early technology standards. New Technology Standards have modernized how we think about these skills and have evolved over time.