MAKING THE GRADE: ADMINISTRATORS ENCOURAGED BY DISTRICT REPORTS (PART TWO OF A FIVE-PART SERIES)

Superintendents of four small school districts in Bollinger County are pleased overall with their report cards for the 1996-97 school year.

Leopold, Meadow Heights, Woodland and Zalma school administrators said although data in their reports didn't always meet state averages and trends, they were pleased to have shown improvement in areas like curriculum and dropout rates.

They said compiling the reports allows them to recognize strengths and pinpoint weaknesses.

"It takes time to put it together but it doesn't hurt," said Woodland Superintendent Ron Wene. "It's the only way we can go and get a wider aspect of what we're up against."

Meadow Heights Superintendent Gerald Deardorff agreed. "It's important because it makes administrators stop and take a look at ourselves every year," he said. "The areas where we know we were low in, we took advisement on those. It also showed areas where we've made some improvement."

All Missouri public school districts were required by law to produce detailed annual reports that profiled achievements and failures during the previous school year by Dec. 1.

The mandatory report cards are a requirement under the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993 and include statistical information about finances, staff, salaries, class sizes and dropout rates.

Also included is achievement information such as average scores by seniors on the American College Testing exam and detailed reports of student scores on the Missouri Mastery Achievement Test.

While the administrators said they used their report cards to rate their districts against state trends, they said they avoid making district-to-district comparisons. It's not a good idea to compare districts because each one is unique, they said.

"I think it's a good report to give to the patrons of our schools, but to be used as a comparison between districts is not good because there are unique circumstances that might not be fair comparisons," said Leopold Superintendent Robert Turner.

Deardorff said dwelling on the problems of neighboring districts or those of comparable size won't help an administrator to help his own district. "I believe we should let them focus on their own problems and work on our own one at a time," he said.

All four Bollinger County schools serve fewer than 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grades. Leopold and Woodland are the largest and smallest districts in the county, respectively, and are fully accredited through the Missouri School Improvement Program.

Meadow Heights and Zalma are both provisionally accredited by the MSIP program.

Leopold's dropout rate is unique among districts in the county and state. The district recorded a zero dropout rate, almost unheard in a state whose average dropout rate is 6.39 percent.

Administrators said the size and location of their districts can be both a help and hindrance for students.

Students can benefit from the personal attention gained from smaller class sizes and student-teacher ratios, they said. For example, all of the Bollinger County districts met or exceeded state and national averages on the ACT and student-teacher ratios.

However, smaller districts -- especially those in rural areas -- usually have lower-than-average revenues, which mean fewer advantages in other areas, such as exposure to technology and more experienced certified staff.

The districts all relied much more on state resources than local residents for financial support -- all exceeded at least 10 percent more than the statewide average.

Teacher and administrator salaries in each of the districts also lagged far behind state averages. Woodland, which had the highest average teacher salary in the county, still fell below state averages by $4,300.

Despite the shortfalls in some areas, administrators said they had seen improvement from the 1995-96 report cards.