With the passage of the Numeracy Counts Act in 2024, the General Assembly affirmed that mathematics proficiency is essential to students’ long-term academic success. The law established Kentucky’s goal for all children to develop the procedural fluency, conceptual understanding, and application skills needed to solve real-world problems. The Act required every elementary school to provide comprehensive, standards-aligned instruction in mathematics; implemented a multi-tiered system of supports to help all students achieve grade-level proficiency by the end of third grade; ensured high-quality instruction and targeted intervention by well-trained staff; and established clear expectations to strengthen foundational preparation within Educator Preparation Programs.
KRS 164.3061
Teacher preparation programs for elementary regular education to include instructional strategies and resources for mathematics instruction — List of approved teacher preparation assessments and evaluation rubric — Reports.
- As used in this section, “department” means the Kentucky Department of Education.
- Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, postsecondary institutions offering teacher preparation programs for elementary regular education shall include kindergarten through grade three (3) evidence-based instructional strategies, department-identified valid and reliable high-quality resources for mathematics instruction related to KRS 158.8402, and:
a) Evidence-based instructional strategies determined by the department to be effective at improving student learning for the range of students in their classrooms, including students needing to make progress toward proficiency, exceptional students, and students who are multilingual learners;
b) High-quality instructional resources as determined by the department to be effective at improving student learning for the range of students in their classrooms, including students needing to make progress toward proficiency, exceptional students, and students who are multilingual learners; (c) The use of a range of assessment data for designing instruction and intervention; (d) Progress monitoring of student performance; and (e) Field experience and student teaching placements with teachers that model, and supervisors with knowledge of, paragraphs (a) to (d) of this subsection. (3) By January 1, 2025, the Education Professional Standards Board shall: (a) Develop and maintain a list of approved teacher preparation assessments that are determined by the board to be an effective evaluation of mathematics instruction, content and practice standards, and skills; and (b) Develop an evaluation rubric for observing teacher candidates with focus on mathematics content and pedagogical knowledge. (4) The Education Professional Standards Board shall report program data to an external evaluator for analysis of postsecondary teacher preparation programs with the goal of using the results to help increase the success of new teacher candidates in demonstrating mathematics instruction, content knowledge, and skills. (5) The Education Professional Standards Board shall report to the Legislative Research Commission for referral to the Interim Joint Committee on Education the results provided by the external evaluator’s analysis and data on all assessments required for certification, including the number of students testing, the number of students passing, and the number of times an individual student takes a test prior to passing.
