The Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education was formed in Spring 2021, under the leadership of Commissioner Dr. Jason Glass, the Kentucky Commissioner of Education and Chief Learner, and in partnership with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), the Center for Innovation in Education (C!E), the University of Kentucky Center for Next Generation Leadership, and the Kentucky Board of Education (KBE). This statewide coalition is bringing together perspectives from across the Commonwealth to drive this work forward. The coalition is co-creating a vision with communities, to foster local innovations and advance policy recommendations to shape the future of education in Kentucky.

The purpose of the Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education is to create a new vision for public education in the Commonwealth. The Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education has four key functions: cultivate learning, make sense of themes and trends from communities, develop frames and messages, and marshal support.

• Cultivate learning: The Coalition will embody the learning orientation that we want to see in schools, districts and communities. The Coalition will support learning in the Local Laboratories and also engage in its own learning with the insights coming from communities.

• Make sense of themes and trends: The Coalition will support KDE and the Local Laboratories in identifying important ideas emerging from the Local Laboratories that will inform systems change.

• Develop frames and messages: The Coalition will support KDE with the development of key stories and frameworks for policy change that build on the emergent themes from the Local Laboratories. These stories and frameworks will be targeting the general public and lawmakers, as well as practitioners in the field.

• Marshal support: The Coalition will develop local and state-wide support for changes that will allow for more equitable assessment and accountability systems.

This guidebook is intended to support district and community leaders with the process of creating enduring and powerful coalitions. The Kentucky Department of Education is partnering with the Center for Innovation in Education, and the University of Kentucky Center for Next Generation Leadership to support local school communities in the important work of co-creating a new vision for schools and the accompanying new systems of accountability.

In the spirit of co-creation and progress, not perfection, this guidebook will serve as a growing, continuously improving set of resources for use by future local communities. To that end, the first section of this guidebook outlines the work at hand. The second section is designed to provide resources to support local communities in the work. And the third section is an appendix of additional information that may support the work.

The work of the Coalition is guided by a commitment to the following principles:

• Caring, Curious, and Critical Communities of Practice - We aim to create communities that cultivate human connection, foster inquiry into new ideas, and sustain thoughtful analysis about the root causes of educational inequity.

• Inclusion as Democracy - We aim to create inclusive communities that practice democracy through shared decision making.

• Courageous Conversations - We lean into challenging discussions, but do so with compassion and assumptions of positive intent.

• Progress, Not Perfection - We strive for improvement, knowing that holding to perfection shouldn’t stop us from taking the next right step.

• Inclusive Co-Creation - We seek to design with those who experience the challenge.