The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Kentucky edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers could make improvements to benefit both students and teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into six areas that include a total of 27 goals. Broadly, these goals examine the impact of state policy on the preparation, certification, licensure, compensation and effectiveness of teachers across the elementary, secondary and special education spectra. Kentucky's progress toward meeting these goals is summarized on the following page. While Kentucky has met some of out goals, there is significant room for improvement in all areas. Kentucky completely missed nine goals, met a small portion of nine, partially met four, nearly met three and fully met two. The state's best performance is in Area 5, "Alternate Routes to Certification." The state has the most work to do in Area 6, "Preparation of Special Education Teachers." Kentucky stands out for its flexible and practical alternate route certification requirements. The state, however, should work to improve the low and inflexible admissions standards it has for these programs. Kentucky could also make improvements in its special education teacher preparation programs for both elementary and secondary special education teachers. The body of the report provides a more detailed breakdown of the state's strengths and weaknesses in each area. Detailed rationale and "Food for Thought" for each area and corresponding goal are appended. (Contains 69 figures) [Additional funding for this first edition of the "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" was provided by the Ache, Bodman Foundation, Daniel's Fund, Fisher Family Foundation, Gleason Foundation, and The Teaching Commission. This state report is part of NCTQ's State Teacher Policy Yearbook series. For the national summary, see ED506661.]