最新杏吧原创

The annual performance reports for 2024 were expected to be used to classify more than 500 school districts statewide on a scale of accredited with distinction, fully accredited, provisionally accredited or unaccredited.

The delay spares 50 districts including Hazelwood, Ritenour and 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools from a downgrade to provisional accreditation, which triggers extra state oversight.

鈥淲hen they don鈥檛 really want to use that system in any way that punishes or points out negatives around performance, they want to give districts cover,鈥� said Susan Pendergrass, director of education policy for the Show-Me Institute, which advocates for school choice. 鈥淲e basically are just writing off kids who happen to live in low-performing districts, as if somehow it will be OK as long as we don鈥檛 tell anyone.鈥�

The performance reports measure test scores, student growth, graduation rates, attendance and school culture among other factors to determine accreditation status. For the past decade, the state has not downgraded any district鈥檚 status because of new standardized tests and school improvement calculations along with disruptions from the pandemic.

School districts will now be judged on their average performance over three years and can鈥檛 drop an accreditation level until 2026, according to officials at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

By then, school districts will have had a 12-year reprieve from losing their full accreditation. Districts will be able to move up on the accreditation scale next fall.

鈥淥riginally, we had anticipated that as early as the 2024 (annual performance reports) we would have enough data,鈥� said Lisa Sireno, assistant commissioner in the agency鈥檚 Office of Quality Schools, on a media call Thursday.

But after 鈥渃onsidering the importance of the stability of measures and using multiple years of data to make decisions,鈥� Sireno said, education leaders decided to wait for more years of data 鈥渟o that we don鈥檛 have the potential for (districts), particularly smaller ones, to bounce in and out of a category.鈥�

The education department does use the performance scores in its annual budget request to Missouri lawmakers. The formula for school funding includes the average per-student spending among the 50 districts that score above 90% on their annual performance report.

With the combined scores from 2022 to 2024, Hazelwood, Ritenour and SLPS would have been downgraded from full accreditation to provisional with scores below 70%. Normandy and Riverview Gardens would remain in the provisional category, and Brentwood and Maplewood Richmond Heights would rise to accredited with distinction, reserved for districts scoring higher than 95%.

In a statement, Hazelwood spokesman Darrin Lilly said the district is 鈥渙bviously quite disappointed with our state test data and will proceed with a sense of urgency to turn this around.鈥�

Hazelwood administrators drafted a plan to raise test scores after admitting to low expectations and a lack of urgency and consistent accountability in the district, according to an August presentation to the school board.

Charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently operated, receive annual performance scores but are not accredited by the state. Locally, the combined scores for half of the charter systems in 最新杏吧原创 fall in the provisional range: Atlas, Confluence, Kairos, KIPP, Momentum, North Side, 最新杏吧原创 Language Immersion and Biome.

The 2024 test scores for each school district and charter network also were released Monday. Statewide, 44% of students tested proficient in English and 42% in math. An improvement plan implemented in 2016 under federal law called for at least 82% of Missouri鈥檚 students to be proficient in English and 74% in math by 2026.

Success stories

Fort Zumwalt School District in St. Charles County scored a three-year average of 93% on the performance report, second highest in the region after Brentwood at 94.4%.

Superintendent Paul Myers credited the nearly 6-percentage point increase from last year in part to the district鈥檚 board of education.

鈥淲e have a very consistent, supportive school board, and I think we鈥檙e also beneficiaries of the fact that we have former educators on our board,鈥� Myers said.

Fort Zumwalt is also a rare exception of a school district that鈥檚 seen relatively low staff turnover in recent years.

鈥淲e have a really consistent group of administrators,鈥� said Jen Waters, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. 鈥淥ur mission and our vision have been the same for many, many years.鈥�

Ferguson-Florissant improved their score in the last year from 69.4% to 73% to move into the fully accredited range.

鈥淥ver the last couple of years, we鈥檝e been really intentional about supporting our teachers,鈥� said Ferguson-Florissant Superintendent Joseph Davis. 鈥淲e still have a lot of work to do, but I can tell you that it鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening in the classrooms that matter most.鈥�

The district鈥檚 overall growth, especially in math, was 鈥渞eally promising,鈥� Davis said. The district used pandemic relief dollars to provide incentives for teachers to get math certifications through the state.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a number of our teachers getting additional training and certifications, especially at the elementary school level with mathematics that has been huge,鈥� he said.

Among charter schools, Lift for Life Academy saw the most improvement with a jump of nearly 13 percentage points over last year, moving them into the fully accredited range.

鈥淚t felt so good to see that,鈥� said Katrice Noble, deputy director of the school with 840 students in kindergarten through high school. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited for the teachers, principals and kids to know hard work pays off.鈥�

After dropping into the provisional range in 2022-2023, the Lift for Life team analyzed student performance to personalize their instruction. The school hired several literacy and math specialists to reduce class sizes as low as seven or eight students.

鈥淲hat we knew was that in order to really service our students and their high needs, that it was going to take that type of teaching and learning and to get them totally engaged,鈥� Noble said. 鈥淚t took a lot, it cost a lot, but it was definitely worth it.鈥�

Students also received a double dose of language arts by adding a class focused on current events that requires a lot of writing, reading and research, Noble said.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e still not all the way on grade level but they are making the growth,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have to make sure they are continuously growing because one day they are going to be where they are supposed to be. Our data has always shown that the longer our students have been with us, the better they are academically, socially and in all other aspects.鈥�

Maplewood Richmond Heights boosted its score from 84.3% in 2023 to 97% this year, in the range of accredited with distinction.

While Superintendent Bonita Jamison said she was excited by the 1,400-student district鈥檚 improvement, she said the scores don鈥檛 capture the full picture of their work.

Jamison has worked in Ferguson-Florissant, University City, SLPS, Jennings and Riverview Gardens school districts, where 鈥渢he lift is a lot heavier.鈥�

鈥淭he processes I used in each of those districts, I just brought here and implemented,鈥� said Jamison, who came to MRH in 2021. 鈥淢y colleagues in the districts that I named are typically vilified when scores come out.鈥�

鈥淵es, we have made increases, but there is still work to be done,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o until I see a smaller gap in the academic achievement of my Black and brown kids, my free-and-reduced-lunch kids, my students who receive support from Special School District, my work is not done.鈥�

Mehlville School District jumped from a score of 77.9% to 93.2% in the last year to land the biggest improvement in the region.

鈥淲e鈥檙e so excited for our students and our staff,鈥� said Superintendent Jeff Haug.

Haug attributes the district鈥檚 gains to a focus on 鈥減rofessional learning communities鈥� 鈥� groups of teachers and staff that study data to identify strategies for students in need of intervention.

The passage of Proposition E in 2023, which boosted staff salaries, has also helped Mehlville retain and recruit experienced teachers, he said.

In north 最新杏吧原创 County, the Ritenour School District saw a climb of nearly 8 percentage points to 70.5% in 2024.

It鈥檚 difficult to pin down a cause, Superintendent Chris Kilbride said. The district鈥檚 graduation rate increased, and the jump coincided with a shift to grading based on competency rather than the traditional letter scale.

The district also joined the state鈥檚 Success-Ready Students Network to move away from high-stakes standardized tests each spring in favor of an accountability system with more regular academic assessments throughout the year alongside career development.

Twenty Missouri districts implemented the success-ready model this year, and about 60 more will make the switch over the next couple years.

鈥�(There鈥檚) a lot of momentum to move it statewide,鈥� Kilbride said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of support from (the state) to do this work.鈥�