Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Kentucky's Durable Education Leadership

In October 2024, Kentucky’s “moonshot” — an ambitious accountability redesign—faced a critical test. Nearly 50 constituents, including students, parents, educators, and community leaders, had gathered to wrestle with a tricky question: should local measures of school quality count in the state accountability system?

After hours of debate, energy was low and the momentum was slipping away. Then, state Commissioner Robbie Fletcher stood up.

“I came in with one perspective and I’m leaving with a different one,” he said. “And I’m as surprised as anyone that this is happening.”

That shift wasn’t accidental. It was the result of a years-long, inclusive design process that reshaped not just Kentucky’s accountability system, but how leadership in the state was perceived.

How It Started: Centering Diverse Voices

Back in 2021, then-Commissioner Jason Glass launched an ambitious statewide initiative that reimagined education from the ground up, with entire communities — not just policymakers — at the center.

To make that happen, the department partnered with the C!E to form the Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education (KCAE). 

More than 60 Kentuckians — many of them “not the usual suspects” — conducted empathy interviews across the state. They asked hard questions. They listened. And slowly, a shared vision emerged ultimately published as United We Learn.

But the process didn’t stop there. The vision was backed with structure.

Building for Continuity: Local Labs and Statewide Learning

Local Laboratories of Learning (L3s) were established to prototype new ways to measure student success, grounded in community input and focused on real-world outcomes. These weren’t symbolic efforts — districts like Lawrence County, Logan County, and Shelby County engaged deeply with their communities to design holistic models that valued career readiness, exhibitions of learning, and student well-being alongside academic performance. 

A statewide community of practice formed, supported by the University of Kentucky. One in four Kentucky students now attend school in a district leading this local accountability work.

Simultaneously, the department, C!E, and national partners launched the Kentucky United We Learn (KUWL) Council, a new, inclusive body charged with creating a more meaningful state accountability system. KUWL included more than 60 stakeholders and drew heavily from local L3 experiences. It served as a design team and an administrative body for the shared vision.

Stress Test: Leadership Change, System Resilience

In 2023, the process faced its biggest test. Commissioner Glass resigned under political pressure. Such a transition could’ve derailed the entire initiative.

But the work held. Why?

• The vision had been co-created and co-owned.

• The Council held authority and trust.

• The L3s were already enacting the vision in local communities.

Interim Commissioner Robin Kinney reaffirmed the Department’s commitment and brought more staff into the fold. Then, in 2024, the Board appointed Fletcher, who was deeply involved and integral to the work from the start, as the new commissioner. Fletcher brought continuity and credibility — someone who had built alongside communities, not above them.

The message was clear: this wasn’t one leader’s agenda. It belonged to Kentucky.

A Shift in Thinking: Local Measures as the Centerpiece

By October 2024, Fletcher and the Council were revisiting the role of local accountability. Presentations from L3 districts showcased rigorous, community-rooted approaches, including performance tasks, industry credentials, student exhibitions, and local dashboards that reflected what families and educators truly valued.

District leaders weren’t gaming metrics. They were telling the truth. And owning it.

That changed the conversation.

What began as cautious openness to local measures became serious consideration of a new model. A model in which the state validates and calibrates rather than dictates and polices. A model built on trust, shared learning, and local agency. 

Why It Worked…and Why It Endures

Kentucky’s work shows that durable systems change doesn't come from mandates. It comes from:

• Designing with — not for — diverse communities

• Embedding habits of inclusion, empathy, and reciprocity

• Creating structures that outlast leadership transitions

• Aligning state and local efforts through mutual accountability

None of this was inevitable. It was built intentionally and iteratively through trust, structure, and shared ownership.

That’s why when Fletcher stood up at the end of a long day and said his thinking had changed, it mattered.

It wasn’t just a change of heart.

It was proof of a system designed to grow and endure.