EDUCATION: BETERING MINORITY SCORES IS AIM

Of all the information contained in the Cape Girardeau School District profile released Friday, Dr. Dan Steska said he is most concerned about minority student achievement levels and the district's financial outlook.

The annual report, a snapshot of the district's financial, instructional and student achievement levels for the 1999-2000 school year, is being printed and will be available to area residents next week at the Board of Education office, 61 N. Clark St.

The Southeast Missourian was provided an advance copy of the report to comply with state-mandated deadlines requiring all Missouri public schools to release the reports by Dec. 1 annually.

Steska, district superintendent, said there was a wide disparity between the performance of Cape Girardeau's minority students and others on Missouri Assessment Program tests last year.

Although individual results varied, more of the district's black students taking MAP exams in social studies, science, communication arts and math scored in the lowest two proficiency levels.

"If there's one thing I could wave a magic wand and fix, that would probably be my top priority, along with the financial concerns," Steska said.

Overall, students in the school district outperformed state averages on MAP exams in nearly every area.

Strategies for MAP scores

However, the goal of the district and the community should be to ensure every student is getting the best possible educational experience, Steska said. The MAP results indicate more improvement is needed,

Administrators already have pinpointed some strategies to improve minority and overall student performance, including encouraging social and academic programs at schools and promoting more minority involvement in the instructional program.

Next spring, the district will begin an "all-out recruitment of minority teachers," a strategy Steska thinks will help minority students by providing them with academic role models.

"Our state testing, national testing results are above average, and I think that is a very positive sign of the quality of the education," he said. "I think what we need to do is make this a community concern and not just a school concern and get everyone involved, because the major concern of anyone in the community will be student performance."

Steska said a change in the way graduation and drop-out rates are reported make it appear the district experienced problems last year. Graduation rates fell 5 percentage points to 77 percent last year, while drop-out rates reached a five-year high at 8 percent.

The exclusion of students enrolled in the district's GED program made the difference in the data, Steska said. A number of students who previously dropped out of school are on waiting lists for the Alternative Education Center, but funds are not available to expand that program.

"That would seem to be an extra safety net to prevent kids from dropping out," Steska said. "I think that would actually help our drop-out rate if we could afford to expand that program."

State lawmakers began requiring the district "report cards" with passage of the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993..