Missouri Assessment Program questions and answers

Q: What is the Missouri Assessment Program?

A: The No Child Left Behind Act requires schools and the state show students are making adequate yearly progress toward increasing proficiency targets.

Q: Who takes the test?

A: Students in third through eighth grade were tested on math and communication arts during the spring. High school students took the new end-of-course exams this year in English, biology and algebra. Previously, students took a math test in tenth grade and a communication arts test in 11th grade. A portion of each student's final grade is based on the results of the new exam. In the past, there were no consequences for students if they scored poorly on a MAP test.

Q: What are the targets?

A: Each year proficiency targets increase. This year, the target in math was 54.1 percent compared to 45 percent the previous year. The target in communication arts was 59.2 percent compared to 51 percent last year. By 2014, all students are expected to be proficient.

Q: How did schools score statewide?

A: Two-thirds of all school buildings statewide did not meet federal targets this year compared to about 58 percent in 2008. Out of 1,165 Title 1 schools in Missouri, 495 received sanctions.

Q: What are the sanctions?

A: Title 1 schools that do not meet annual proficiency measures face sanctions beginning in the third year:

Year 3: School improvement level 1, notify parents, offer school choice (pay for students to transfer to a better-performing school in the district), develop or revise school improvement plan, spend at least 10 percent of Title 1 funds on professional development.

Year 4: School improvement level 2, make supplemental services available such as tutoring.

Year 5: School improvement level 3, take one of the following corrective actions while continuing previous sanctions: replace failing staff, institute new curriculum, decrease management authority, appoint outside expert to advise, extend school year, provide professional development.

Year 6: School improvement level 4, develop a restructuring plan to do one or more of the following: reopen school as a charter, replace failing staff, enter contract with private management company to operate school, turn school over to state if permitted or significantly change governance.

Year 7: School improvement level 5, implement a restructuring plan.

Delayed: If a school meets proficiency targets in the second year after being identified for school improvement, the school will stay in school improvement, delayed. It must continue to implement the requirements of that level.

Definition of terms:

Adequate yearly progress: Schools that do not show adequate yearly progress face sanctions. Schools can make adequate yearly progress by reaching the proficiency target.

Title I school: Schools that receive money from the federal government to aid low-income students. Because No Child Left Behind is a federal law, non-Title I schools do not face the same consequences as Title I schools. Low-performing non-Title I schools must implement a school improvement plan but are not required to offer school choice, replace staff or restructure.

Subgroups: Besides the total student population, subgroups of students within a school must also show progress. If one group fails, the entire school fails. Examples of subgroups are: black, white, those who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch or special education students, students with an individualized education plan.

Information compiled through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.