FRANKFORT — The unusually high rate at which Kentucky State University graduates failed exams that qualify them to become teachers shows poor management at the school, according to the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education.

        The school's 36 percent pass rate on the national Praxis II exams was by far the lowest among Kentucky institutions, public or private. Second-lowest was Alice Lloyd College at 70 percent.

        “It is very easy ... to say, "Well, it's an African-American population that didn't score well,'” Gordon Davies said in a speech Wednesday to Rotarians.

        “But, in fact, at our other universities African-Americans scored just as well as their white counterparts on that examination,” Mr. Davies said. “It's not a race issue. It's a management issue. I think that's critical.”

        Mr. Davies is leaving June 30 as head of the council, which oversees funding of the state universities. He said Kentucky State is well-funded for its size but fails to use its money wisely.

        The university needs help from “a third-party outsider” who can analyze its performance and allocation of money, he said.

        In addition, President George Reid, now in his fourth year, needs to acknowledge his administration's responsibility, Mr. Davies said. “You can't stand there and say, after four years, "Well, those students aren't ours. They came before we got here,'” Mr. Davies said.

        Kenoye Eke, the school's vice president for academic affairs, said the scores released last week were disappointing but not surprising and that the education program's curriculum is being revised to meet new teaching standards, and the school has raised its standards for admission.

        Alan C. Moore, a music professor who is president of the KSU Faculty Senate, said Mr. Davies was right.

        “They don't accept responsibility for anything,” Mr. Moore told the State Journal. “It's always the fault of the previous administration, which has now been gone since 1998.”

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