FRANKFORT — Figures from the 2000 census show Kentucky making significant strides in education through the '90s, yet failing to gain any real ground against the rest of the nation.

        No other state had a bigger increase in the percentage of adults with at least a high school education. But because the rest of the nation was not standing still, Kentucky ended the decade in the same place it began — 49th among the states, trailed only by Mississippi.

        The percentage of Kentuckians who are college graduates increased by more than a quarter. Only three other states — North Carolina, Wisconsin and Georgia — had bigger proportionate gains. Kentucky inched upward in that category but only from 48th to 47th.

        Robert Sexton, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, had two observations about the numbers:

        • Kentucky has emphasized education for the last decade and the effects are showing.

        • Kentucky's overall ranking may not change in our lifetime.

        Mr. Sexton's conclusions are not contradictory. The gap in high school educational attainment between Kentucky and the rest of the nation was narrowed by nearly half during the '90s. However, Kentucky has a lot of history to overcome. Its standing was so low to begin with that long strides had to be made just to keep up.

        Kentucky has 2.6 million people who are age 25 or older. The census shows that 74.1 percent had a high school education or more, a gain of nearly 10 percentage points. Still, Kentucky fell short of the nation's rate, which was 80.4 percent. It failed even to reach the national rate of a decade earlier — 75.2 percent.

        Kentucky lagged in every other category of adult educational attainment as well. It had higher percentages of adults with less than a ninth-grade education, some high school but no diploma and adults who completed high school but went no further. It had lower percentages of adults who attended college and adults holding degrees, no matter the level — associate, baccalaureate, graduate or professional.

        Mr. Sexton said the state's low rankings are symbolic of “our historic education neglect.”

        “It's a result of our history,” he said. “The top states, too — it's their history. You've got to make up for the deficit of our history.”

        Eastern and southern Kentucky counties continued to lag, though as a group the regions generally made the greatest percentage gains in high school attainment.

        In 1990, Kentucky had 36 counties, all in the east, in which adults with at least a high school education were a minority. Ten years later, the number of counties was down to two — Owsley and Clay.

        Gordon Davies, president of the state Council on Postsecondary Education, said eastern counties collectively “are making terrific progress but they're starting from way behind.”

        At Pikeville College, President Harold “Hal” Smith said he was told when he took the job five years ago that he would be talking every day about the value of an education — not quality of education; just value.

        “We're trying to just get people to understand there's value in education. There's value in staying in high school and graduating and then going on to college,” Mr. Smith said. So, how's it playing? “It's always been a hard sell here.”

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