Local schools' APR scores vary widely

There's not a school superintendent in Missouri who hasn't memorized the acronyms by now -- AYP, MAP, NCLB.

Recent state and federal laws have generated a dictionary's worth of new terminology and new requirements to match, so much so that the limelight has fallen away from older accountability systems, such as the Annual Performance Reports.

The APR, released each fall, is an annual evaluation of 12 performance standards that are part of the Missouri School Improvement Program -- the state's accreditation system.

Local administrators say they gave this year's APRs a glance -- long enough to make sure their overall score met the minimum accreditation standards -- before turning their attention back to the more stringent requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Local districts all met the minimum requirements, with the Jackson School District earning a perfect 100 score on their APR this year.

"The reports show areas of weakness," said Cape Girardeau superintendent Mark Bowles. "With this report, we just really want to see the bottom line, and if we've passed it's a great thing."

But in two years, the state's accreditation system will join hands with NCLB, potentially causing districts that met the standards this year to fall short and perhaps even lose their accreditation, which could eventually lead to a state takeover or closing of a school.

"It will definitely be more sensitive," said Becky Kemna, coordinator of the school improvement and accreditation department with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Under NCLB, schools that receive federal Title I funding must make adequate yearly progress, known as AYP, on annual state test scores or face penalties such as transferring students to better performing schools or paying for extra tutoring services.

Title I is a program that awards additional federal funding to schools that have a high population of low-income students.

In 2006, Missouri will add AYP to its list of performance standards, which districts are required to meet in order to be accredited.

"Right now, there are no major consequences for non-Title I schools that don't make AYP," Kemna said. "Now, their accreditation will be impacted if they don't make AYP."

Cape Girardeau School District, for instance, scored an overall 73 out of 100 points on this year's accreditation report, high enough above the minimum score of 66 to qualify for a waiver that will postpone an accreditation review but still the 4th lowest score of the 32 districts its size in the state.

If AYP had been part of the standards this year, the district's score may have been significantly lower because two schools in the district did not meet AYP.

In neighboring Jackson, the district's perfect 100 score is a feat that Kemna estimates only 17 percent of Missouri's 524 district achieve each year.

Jackson has qualified for an MSIP waiver for six years, allowing in-depth evaluations that should come every five years to be postponed.

"If you're meeting all these things then they know you're probably doing what they want you to do," said superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson.

Anderson said he feels the district is working harder now than ever to keep up with requirements, despite the perfect scores in recent years.

"When you have a district with a good tradition you have to work harder to continue to reach those points," Anderson said.

As far as the changes to accreditation, Anderson said he does not know how schools will be impacted yet but that whatever happens, his district's focus will remain on improving student achievement.

"There's a lot out there that still has to be sorted out," Anderson said. "The state's in the process of defining what things may look like."

cclark@semissourian.com

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