High-scoring schools aren't relaxing

Editor's note: The following story has been corrected to reflect that Diann Ulmer is the superintendent of Scott City and Matt Asher is the superintendent of Bell City.

Area school officials are simulteanously delighted and disappointed with results from the fifth incarnation of the Missouri School Improvement Program. But everyone plans to use the data as a way to improve their districts.

Eleven districts were accredited and 10 were accredited with distinction in the Southeast Missourian's coverage area. Results ranged from Oak Ridge's top score of 97.1 percent to Perry County's low score at 70.7 percent. The numbers aren't just a point of pride -- they're used to determine whether state intervention is required to help prop up a failing school. In the worst cases, poor-performing schools may be closed or consolidated.

The goal of the revamped system is to put Missouri in the top 10 states for education by 2020, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spokeswoman Sarah Potter said. This means the tests' rigor will increase, and proficiency levels are expected to drop. English and math tests also will be different next year, because the state's contract with its vendor has expired. One big difference is elementary students will take English and math exams on computer.

Oak Ridge schools scored the highest in the area with 97.1 percent overall, putting them in the top 10 percent in the state, superintendent Dr. Gerald Landewee said. Oak Ridge has about 350 students in grades kindergarten through high school.

Elizabeth Bertrand teaches a science lesson to students in her third-grade classroom Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 at Oak Ridge Elementary School in Oak Ridge. (Fred Lynch)

"Historically, we've achieved distinction in performance," Landewee said. "I believe we've got nine plaques on the wall in the cafeteria. Based on the criteria that DESE will be looking at, 90 percent and above would be classified as distinction in performance. We've got several schools in the area in addition to Oak Ridge. We're happy for all those schools that have made that distinction and recognition, so we congratulate those schools, as well."

Although some superintendents might be tempted to rest their heels on their desks and breathe a sigh of relief, Landewee has no plans for that. The district and others plan to dive into the data to look for areas to improve.

Cape Girardeau scored 73.9 percent overall, up from 59.3 percent in 2012. Like its counterparts, the district will review its data to see where it can improve.

This chart illustrates how local districts scored on Annual Performance Reports.

Academically, Cape Girardeau schools moved up in areas such as graduation rate and academic achievement, but weakened in college and career readiness and attendance, assistant superintendent for academic services Sherry Copeland said.

On attendance, Copeland said, "High school attendance is calculated so 90 percent of students have to be in school 90 percent of the time." Out-of-school suspensions and a reward that allows students to miss fourth or eighth hour, or both, if they make high enough grades, drive the attendance rating down.

"We'll be re-evaluating that incentive," Copeland said.

Perry County, which scored 70.7 overall, earned the Distinction in Performance Award from the state in April. But with MSIP 5, the scoring is different. "This new accountability reporting process does not indicate that student achievement has fallen at our schools," superintendent Scott Ireland said in an article on the district's website. "In fact, we've seen steady improvement over the last 10 years in individual student achievement. Our student achievement increased again this year."

Student achievement is one of the components used to calculate the percentage for accreditation points. Ireland said the district will work on areas that need improvement, such as attendance. Ken Jackson, Region E area supervisor for DESE, said in an article on the district's website that schools such as District 32 may need to consider new attendance and disciplinary policies to meet MSIP attendance goals.

Under most board policies, Jackson said, disciplinary violations may result in three-, five- or 10-day suspensions. But districts may consider using in-school suspensions or homebound instruction as a way to make those students be counted as "present."

"We've already been given some good ideas," such as giving aptitude tests to all juniors, he said on the district's website. "We've already transitioned to professional learning communities that give our teachers the professional development tools they need to affect individual student achievement -- and it's working.

"Now, we dig deeper. We make sure that we're tracking students after graduation and entering that data correctly for the career and college readiness reporting. We work harder to have every student in school every day. We make sure that teachers get individualized training and support to ensure that every minute in the classroom is an effective, instructional minute," he said.

For the second year in a row, Scott City superintendent Diann Ulmer's district scored 91.4 percent.

"We're very happy with our score. It's nice to be on track for accreditation with distinction," Ulmer said, adding that students, staff and parents "work very hard to improve our schools."

Ulmer said the district hopes to maintain its attendance and graduation percentages. It scored a maximum 10 points for attendance and a maximum 30 points for graduation rate. For attendance, 92.2 percent of Scott City's students were in school 90 percent of the time. "That's due to constant attention. We run reports every week. We monitor that very closely," she said.

Additionally, a truancy court was instituted few years ago that has helped keep children in class. "It's made a huge difference for us. We reduced the number of days children are allowed to miss," she said.

The one component of college and career readiness Ulmer wants to improve is follow-up with graduates.

Altenburg, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade, earned a 95.6 percent rating.

"Obviously, we're pretty proud of our staff and students here," superintendent Bleau Deckerd said. "It's been a long, hard road."

In the last five years, the district has incorporated different curriculum items to better prepare students for postsecondary education. This year, it added a science teacher and has revamped curriculum in that area.

Bell City superintendent Matt Asher, whose district attained a 93.9 percent rating, said his district's results were a "testament to the hard work our faculty and staff put in on a daily basis" and the tremendous community support the district receives. He said of 30 schools in his area, Bell City figures it's in the top five.

Like his counterparts, Asher intends to keep moving up. "The places where we didn't get all our points, we'll attack those," he said.

Because of its small size -- 211 students this year -- Bell City tends to struggle when a subgroup doesn't do as well on standardized tests. "We have six children in our graduating class this year, so if one person does bad, it skews the numbers," he said.

Keenan Kinder, superintendent of the Leopold School District, which scored 94.6 percent, said he's always looking to improve things in his district. He said the score is a reflection of the hard work of its students, teachers and support from the community. "I had a lot of great parental support, great children and great parents."

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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