Deep Driver: Education

Substantial progress in education over the last six decades is transformational for Louisville, but more improvement is needed.  The Education Deep Driver calls for improving educational attainment at all levels, including high school graduation rates, associate degrees and technical certificates, and adding 10,000 more college graduates by the end of the decade.

Achieving this goal will require:

• Increasing access to high-quality early childhood education.
• Attaining the goal of Every1Reads -- every child on grade level.
• Adopting world-class standards in math and science.
• Improving high-school graduation rates, college readiness, retention and graduation rates.

Louisville now ranks in the middle tier in the percentage of its young adults who hold a bachelor’s degree, although the actual number has declined slightly here and in many other cities since the 2000 Census.

Closer analysis reveals that the challenge lies more in finishing degrees than in starting them: local students enter post-secondary school at rates comparable to those in more educated cities, but fewer finish—creating a ready audience for an orchestrated boost toward graduation.

Progress in K-12 education continues with implementation of new math and science curricula designed to push higher achievement and substantial strides toward the goal of Every1Reads.