Scores not high enough to guarantee accreditation

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Reading scores for students of the Kansas City School District did not improve enough to guarantee that the district will regain state accreditation and avoid a state takeover next year.

The district's third-grade reading scores actually declined slightly, but the district retains its points toward accreditation in that area based on its gains over two years.

The seventh-grade reading scores gained slightly, but not enough to to secure accreditation points in that area.

In one respect the district fared well when compared with state averages. Although the percentage of third-graders scoring at the proficient level in reading dropped 4.7 percentage points statewide, it dropped only 0.1 percentage points for the district.

The percentage of proficient seventh-grade readers rose 1.3 percentage points for the district but dropped by the same number of percentage points statewide.

Statewide, however, the percentage of students scoring at the proficient level in reading in those two grades still is significantly higher than in the district.

The state will review the district's accreditation status late this fall, and the Missouri Board of Education will decide early next year whether to take over the district July 1.

Making progress

Arthur A. Benson II, attorney for the plaintiffs in the long-running desegregation case and an opponent of a state takeover, said the district was making progress, particularly when compared with the statewide results. He said the state should restore the district's accreditation.

"The district has made a huge effort to improve reading, and it shows," Benson said.

The reading scores released Friday mean the district still has achieved only three of 11 performance standards toward regaining accreditation.

The district must meet four of 11 performance standards to regain provisional accreditation. The district has submitted data it hopes will show that enough vocational students are being placed in jobs, which could secure a fourth standard.

District officials had hoped, however, to meet a fourth standard by boosting the number of seventh-graders considered proficient in reading by at least three percentage points.

Board member Harriett Plowman said that the district was moving in the right direction, but that she had hoped for bigger gains to lock in accreditation.