A local committee representing about 180 Missouri superintendents wants the state Board of Education to level the playing field with regards to some MSIP accreditation standards.
The Committee for Equitable MSIP (Missouri State Improvement Program) Performance Standards said the state should lower its performance standards for poverty school districts seeking accreditation.
The committee, which consists of members of the Southeast Missouri Superintendents Association, said the standards do not reflect the increased challenges faced by districts with a high percentage of socially- and economically-disadvantaged students.
Members will argue its case before the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 30-31.
Supporters contend that districts with a high concentration of economically-disadvantaged students have a more difficult challenge in meeting the state standards for full accreditation and distinctive accreditation in the area of student performance.
They also argue that external conditions like living in poverty and lack of parental involvement will greatly affect a student's ability to achieve in school.
"They want to institutionalize lower expectations for poor kids," Dr. Robert Bartman, director of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said in an editorial in the Springfield News Leader. "But if you leave school with lower skills you're destined to remain poor. You're developing a permanent second-class citizen."
Supporters of the lowered standards disagree with Bartman. Superintendent Michael Greene of Winona R-3 schools has actively supported the committee's efforts since they began last fall. He said the committee's intent is to create realistic and more equitable standards rather than lowered expectations.
"I don't even think they believe we're trying to create second-class citizens," said Greene. "It's a very simple point: Yes, all children can learn, can cross the finish line; but if they don't all start at the same point they won't finish at the same time."
Greene said state officials need to recognize that not all districts are created equal and poorer districts need more time and more realistic goals to get students to reach state standards. Although some argue that poorer districts receive more government funding, he said, the money really doesn't address the issue of student performance.
"People imply that without standards and timeframes, people or districts won't do anything," he said. "I think that would be the exception and not the rule. We know that we need money to have technology, support and an adequate number of teachers to run a good school. We also know that money doesn't support all of the needs we're talking about."
Dr. Howard Jones, Jackson schools superintendent and association member, said the local association wants state officials to take another look at the standards that assess student performances on achievement tests.
The original purpose of the MSIP standards was to evaluate a district's improvement from year to year, he said. The standards are now being used as a measuring stick to mark performance rather than measure incremental growth, which many districts think is unfair, he said.
"It's not so much, are you a great school or a poor school, but are you better than you were last year?" Jones said. "I think some districts we would consider good school districts are beginning to panic a little, because if you fail the MSIP the state can take over your district."
Jones said he has mixed emotions about the committee's concern, but he does recognize the fact that poverty is always an important variable in the rate of success for students.
"One of the things we recognize is it's almost heresy to be against high standards, but the question seems to be how doable is that with all of that the students are coming to the districts with," he said. "Obviously poverty, expectations, motivation and parental involvement all play a part in that success, but poverty seems to be the most important of those when it comes to student success."
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