As Fayette County Public Schools sent individual score reports from state testing to students at the end of October, the district prides itself on good performance.

Fayette County Public Schools as a whole was ranked in the 82nd percentile for performance on the 2012-13 round of testing, up from the 69th percentile last year– enough to move FCPS from the “Needs Improvement” to the “Proficient” category.

Dunbar scored in the 91st percentile, scoring “Distinguished” in the round of testing.

Unbridled Learning, the state’s new assessment program, combines results from End of Course assessments, State-wide ACT administrations, and K-PREP On-Demand Writing and Language Mechanics prompts.

Unbridled Learning is based on the Common Core, a national series of standards set for all public school students. Sponsored by the National Governor’s Association, the standards would be first instituted in Kentucky, where they are aimed at promoting college and career readiness.

A report of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development which urged the states to pass the Common Core standards saw these goals as necessary to the progress of education in the nation.

“[The] adoption of [the standards] by a majority of states is a turning point in education,” the report said. “For helping each child, in each school, in each community, achieve college, career, and citizenship readiness.”

However, the implementation of these standards has been met by criticism for the presentation of new content that students and teachers may be unfamiliar with.

In September, the Kentucky legislature rejected the plan of the Kentucky Department of Education to include a newer set of Common Core standards for education in science called the Next Generation Science Standards. This rejection was quickly met with the Governor’s decision to implement them anyway– a legal act.

However, as the standards continue to develop in Kentucky and in Fayette County, many look to the results of the tests to determine if they are working.

“Since implementation of the Common Core, Kentucky has seen improved college/career readiness and graduation rates,” Governor Steve Beshear said in an op-ed piece in The Lane Report.

As the testing round of the 2013-14 school year approaches, many are no doubt hoping the same successes will continue.