State education officials released new “Annual Performance Reports” for Missouri school districts, providing an update on how districts are meeting state standards for academic performance.
The reports are available to the public on the Web site of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (http://dese.mo.gov/)
Cabool and Houston met all of the 14 academic performance standards.
Here are the standards met for other K-12 schools in the county: Licking, 13; Plato, 12; and Summersville, 11.
“For almost a decade, the Annual Performance Reports have been a key element of Missouri’s accountability system for public schools. As a former superintendent of schools, I can attest to the impact and the value of the report,” said Dr. Chris L. Nicastro, Missouri commissioner of education.
Published each year since 2000, the Annual Performance Report (APR) provides a progress report on how each school district is doing, as measured by the 14 academic performance standards that are the cornerstone of Missouri’s accreditation requirements for public schools.
The 14 standards cover measures such as test scores (state-required MAP and end-of-course tests), attendance and graduation rates, ACT test scores and other academic indicators. The new reports provide five years of statistics, including data from the past school year (2008-09).
“The APR provides a concise, practical tool for boards of education, school administrators and staff to identify strengths and needs in their schools and to focus their efforts on improving instruction,” Commissioner Nicastro said. “It is important to recognize that Missouri has a strong record of monitoring the progress of local schools and using the data we collect to help guide local and state efforts to improve academic achievement.”
To be fully accredited, a K-12 school district must meet at least nine of the 14 accreditation standards for academic performance and at least six to be provisionally accredited. A district that meets five or fewer standards may be classified as unaccredited by the State Board of Education.
Currently, 511 of Missouri’s 523 school districts are fully accredited. Nine districts are provisionally accredited; two are unaccredited; one is interim accredited.
In most cases, school districts are formally evaluated once every five years, and the accreditation decision by the State Board of Education is based on five years of performance data. The APR is significant because it provides an annual indicator of trends in a school district and enables state and local school officials to take steps to assist a struggling district.