The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released report cards Monday, providing the public a snapshot of the progress schools and districts are making toward meeting academic and other benchmarks set by the state.
“The district is very excited about the recent release of the Annual Performance Report (APR) which shows positive movement in key areas: academic achievement, academic growth, attendance, school readiness, student readiness for the next academic level and beyond, graduation rates and comprehensive school improvement planning,” said Dr. Justin Copley, Houston superintendent.
Five of the county’s seven school districts showed improvement: Cabool, Houston, Licking, Plato and Summersville. Cabool and Houston led the county at 79.6 and 79.5 percent, respectively. Close behind was Summersville at 78.8.
Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger, this area’s former state senator, said focus is on the educational outcome of each student but the Annual Performance Reports release provides a broader look at how schools and districts are performing as they work to prepare students for college or careers.
For Texas County student districts, it was mostly a picture of progress: Summersville and Houston showed the most improvement from the previous year.
A few district factors that contributed to the growth in Houston include increased performance totals in English Language Arts, Social Studies and Science Academic Achievement. A notable area of growth in the Continuous Improvement area includes the district’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) expansion. The growth of those programs allowed the district to earn two additional points.
“This growth and positive movement is due in part to the amazing staff and students that we have within the Houston R-I School District,” said Copley. “Additionally, the support of our parents and community has also positively impacted our outcomes. As always, the district and individual buildings will reflect on this information, as well as other local sources of information, to continue to drive improvement and growth within the district.”
Here are the scores for Texas County schools and the prior year’s score in parentheses:
- Cabool 79.6 (75.5)
- Houston 79.5 (72.6)
- Licking 75.2 (73.6)
- Plato 70.6 (67.1)
- Raymondville 64 (82.8)
- Success 65 (68.4)
- Summersville 78.8 (70.4)
“These schools are funded with taxpayer dollars and we must be accountable for the work we’re doing and transparent in sharing those outcomes,” Eslinger said.
Eslinger, who stepped into the commissioner role in July, said the 2024 APR scores showed “positive movement because of the hard work at the local level.”
I have the utmost confidence in our schools,” she said. “I am very proud of our students and grateful to the administrators and the teachers and other school personnel who serve our students every day.”
“We are very proud to see all the hard work our teachers and students have been doing since COVID-19 is paying off,” said Karl Janson, Cabool superintendent, responding to his district leading the county in performance.
The APR is a public reporting tool to show how well districts did during the 2023-’24 year, the third year of a three-year implementation of new benchmarks called the Missouri School Improvement Plan or MSIP6.
The report updates the public on the progress a school or district makes in key areas.
“The data shows that Missouri schools are meeting the more rigorous requirements and higher expectations set forth in MSIP 6,” Eslinger said. “MSIP6 takes a closer look at what districts are doing to implement effective practices and sustain improvements, while increasing the focus on individual student outcomes. We are seeing positive movement because of hard work at the local level.”
As a former superintendent at Ava and West Plains, Eslinger said she used the APR as a guide to make sure students’ needs are met.
“We encourage schools to do this as well. Use this as one of the multiple, multiple things you use to inform decisions, to celebrate gains and to drive improvement,” she said.
Missouri schools and districts are awarded points based on how well they meet certain benchmarks. Those results, over time, are used to determine state accreditation levels.
OBSTACLES TO RESULTS
Eslinger pointed to obstacles that have made progress more challenging, such as teacher recruitment and retention.
She said the result is that more courses across the state are being taught by substitutes or others who have not been trained in the specific content area they are teaching.
According to Copley, “The district was able to earn 100% of all Continuous Improvement points with the exception of attendance. Attendance reflected similarly to the 2023 APR at 75% of total points earned and will continue to be a focus of improvement.”
STATE RELEASES DATA
Here are a few of the results:
- Overall, APR scores improved statewide with more than 86% of schools and districts meeting or exceeding the expectations of MSIP6.
- More than 60% of schools and districts increased their APR score from 2023 to 2024. (All in the county – except Success and Raymondville – showed gains).
- The APR is used to determine if districts are fully accredited or not but will not be used to make any classification changes this year because 2022, the first year under MSIP6, was considered a pilot year.
Here is how the state classifieds schools:
- Under 50% (unaccredited range)
- 50 to 69.9% (provisional range)
- 70 to 94.9% (fully accredited range)
- Over 95% (with distinction range)
“MSIP helps us focus on getting better. It does this by encouraging districts and charters to focus on improving student learning, evaluating their local programming, engaging in evidence-based professional development, and impactful collaboration and use of data,” said Lisa Sireno, assistant commissioner, Office of Quality Schools in DESE.
“It does this by promoting healthy practices including effective local school board leadership, strategic planning, focus on strong financial status, and then actively seeking to communicate with stakeholders and involve them in local decision-making.”
Sireno said for the public, the APR provides a view of the overall effectiveness of a school or district.
In the APR, the most weight is given to the academic performance of students and the progress that they – as a whole and in specific subgroups – make toward meeting goals.
This year, 57 districts or charter schools scored at 90% or higher, 190 were at 80-89%, 230 were at 70-79%, 64 were 60-69%, seven were 50-59% and one was below 50%.
