The latest Kentucky Core Content Test scores show that students continue to struggle with writing, both locally and statewide.

        The scores, part of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS) 2002 index released Thursday, show that only 1.7 percent of Kentucky students scored in the “distinguished” range.

        Less than 14 percent of Kentucky students were “proficient” in writing.

        In Kentucky's statewide testing system, writing scores are gauged through portfolios featuring examples of different types of writing from students in grades four, seven and 12, as well as essays written on demand.

        “What we've found in successful schools is that they teach writing throughout the curriculum every year,” said Lisa Gross, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Education.

        “You shouldn't just be writing in fourth, seventh and 12th grades. You should be writing in all grades.”

        The Kentucky Department of Education also trains teachers on exactly what constitutes offering too much help on the written component of the CATS test, after investigating several complaints in recent years that teachers in various schools had improperly edited students' portfolios.

        During the 2000-2001 school year, Campbell County High School seniors had to redo their writing portfolios for that reason.

        To ensure that the debacle wasn't repeated, the school trained teachers, students and parents on proper portfolio editing. Some teachers responsible for the mistakes also were reassigned.

        “People will do things accidentally, not intending to cheat,” Ms. Gross said.

        “That's why we train teachers and make sure they understand what their responsibilities are. A cheating scandal can bring down an entire assessment system. You don't want that to happen.”

        Of the eight subject areas tested at the high school level, Kentucky students showed the lowest achievement in writing, scoring 60.1.

        However, Northern Kentucky seniors' writing skills ranked first in the state, tying with Region 3 students in Louisville.

        In middle schools, 41.7 percent of seventh-grade students scored at the novice level.

        Although that's a 4 percentage point decrease in novices from last year, Kentucky education officials describe middle-school writing as “an area of concern.”

        Northern Kentucky middle-school students scored second in the state in writing, while local elementary pupils scored lowest in that subject.

        At Miami University in Oxford, Meg Jones is co-director of the Ohio Writing Project, which evaluates students' writing portfolios and assesses how individual schools and districts' writing skills compare with others.

        The 22-year-old program — open to teachers throughout the Tristate — also provides professional development opportunities. Last year, the program trained 574 teachers how to help their students become better writers.

        Just as schools have embraced a philosophy of making students lifelong readers, they need to take the same approach with writing, Ms. Jones said.

        “There needs to be daily writing, writing across the curriculum and different types of writing,” Ms. Jones said.

        “There needs to be a shared commitment in K-12.”

        Districts also “need to put their money where their mouth is” and train teachers in all subject areas how to make their students better writers, Ms. Jones said.

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