Carmen Coleman & James Neihof We’ve Been Here Before KERA, Vibrant Learning, and Kentucky’s Unfinished Promise

We’ve Been Here Before: KERA, Vibrant Learning, and Kentucky’s Unfinished Promise

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Summary: Why Kentucky's Learning Revolution is Our Second Chance

Our new "vibrant learning" effort in Kentucky feels familiar for a reason. It mirrors the groundbreaking Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) from 1990, which aimed to develop well-rounded students with good character and real-world skills. However, the initial spirit of KERA was eventually overshadowed by high-stakes testing, creating a stressful system where a child's worth was reduced to a test score. This report, written by two former superintendents who lived through that shift, explains the ethical dilemma educators face: protecting true, engaging student learning while dealing with the pressure of state assessment mandates. Now, Kentucky has a powerful chance to get it right. To make vibrant learning stick this time, we need to ensure that what we value, how we teach, and how we measure success are all perfectly aligned. It’s a call to action to finish the work started three decades ago.