Education, Department of

The Kentucky School for the Blind was founded in 1842 when the Kentucky Institution for the Blind was chartered. The Kentucky School for the Blind provides comprehensive educational services to all Kentucky students who are blind and visually impaired, birth to 21.

The Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB) is authorized by KRS 161.028, and was originally created in 1990. In 2000, the Board became an independent agency wholly separate from the Department of Education. The board is charged with establishing standards of performance both for preparation programs and practitioners; accrediting educator preparation programs at colleges, universities, local school districts, and private contractors; selecting assessments for teachers and administrators; overseeing internship programs for new teachers and new principals; operating the Continuing Education Option for Rank Change; administering Kentucky's incentive program for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification; and issuing, renewing, suspending and revoking Kentucky certificates for professional school personnel. EPSB is run by an Executive Director and is comprised of the following divisions: Certification, Educator Preparation and Internship, Legal Services, and Professional Learning and Assessment.

Picture Photo File (2 albums of albumen prints) 1879-1880

The Lincoln Institute was formed in response to the 1904 Day Law, which was upheld by the 1908 Supreme Court decision forbidding the education of whites and blacks in the same Kentucky school. The law was aimed at Berea College, which had been integrated since 1863. The Lincoln Foundation was founded in 1910 and the Lincoln Institute opened in 1912 in Shelby County, KY and closed in 1966. The school offered vocational instruction, unlike the classical education that had been offered at Berea. The first African American president was Dr. Whitney M. Young, Sr. and he led Lincoln Institute for over 40 years as it became a prominent boarding school for African American children. Following the 1954 United States Supreme Court ruling that outlawed separate but equal schools, Lincoln experienced a steady decline in enrollment. After more than fifty years of education, Lincoln Institute held its final graduation in 1966. The same year, Lincoln School, an integrated school for gifted students, opened. Community pressure and the state’s ambivalence toward education for gifted students led to the closing of the Lincoln School in 1970 with the graduation of one class. Today, the Lincoln Foundation, which was established along with the school, carries on the work of the Lincoln Institute by providing educational programs for disadvantaged youths in the Louisville area and preserving the Lincoln Institute's historic legacy

The Lincoln Institute was formed in response to the 1904 Day Law, which was upheld by the 1908 Supreme Court decision forbidding the education of whites and blacks in the same Kentucky school. The law was aimed at Berea College, which had been integrated since 1863. The Lincoln Foundation was founded in 1910 and the Lincoln Institute opened in 1912 in Shelby County, KY and closed in 1966. The school offered vocational instruction, unlike the classical education that had been offered at Berea. The first African American president was Dr. Whitney M. Young, Sr. and he led Lincoln Institute for over 40 years as it became a prominent boarding school for African American children. Following the 1954 United States Supreme Court ruling that outlawed separate but equal schools, Lincoln experienced a steady decline in enrollment. After more than fifty years of education, Lincoln Institute held its final graduation in 1966. The same year, Lincoln School, an integrated school for gifted students, opened. Community pressure and the state’s ambivalence toward education for gifted students led to the closing of the Lincoln School in 1970 with the graduation of one class. Today, the Lincoln Foundation, which was established along with the school, carries on the work of the Lincoln Institute by providing educational programs for disadvantaged youths in the Louisville area and preserving the Lincoln Institute's historic legacy.

Agency description/history