Area schools do well on state scorecards

There are basically two ways Missouri parents and taxpayers easily can see if local schools and school districts are doing what they're supposed to be doing and if consumers are getting their money's worth.

First, there's the Missouri Assessment Program, through which educators administer standardized tests on different subjects to students in various grades. The idea is to get a snapshot of how individual classes are moving along in their skills and information about which schools are having the most success with their students.

The second is the state's accreditation system. Reports on 13 standards are made annually, with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education making a decision on accreditation every five years. The MAP scores are an element of the annual performance reports.

The reports were released this month, and the good news is that schools in our area have done well -- again.

Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Oak Ridge and Scott City districts met all the general standards for MAP scores at every level. Perryville missed it with grades 6-8.

In all five districts, students taking the ACT college-entrance exam scored above the national average. The districts have high numbers of students taking advanced classes and high numbers of students going on to college. And the districts all have high attendance daily.

Most of our area districts fell short in at least one area for 2001. In Cape Girardeau, a 7.5 percent dropout rate in grades 9-12 kept the district from meeting all 13 of the standards.

Oak Ridge didn't have enough vocational placements.

Scott City students didn't show enough improvement on MAP retests and didn't meet the standard in third-grade reading or in vocational placement.

And Perryville students didn't meet seventh-grade reading standards or the dropout rate.

Only Jackson successfully met all 13 standards, placing the district among 18 of 500 in the state which consistently exceed standards and do not have to be reviewed for accreditation.

All of the districts are to be congratulated for their efforts. Even before the reports were released, leaders in all of the districts that fell short in some areas had developed programs to address their shortcomings. In Cape Girardeau, for example, educators are taking a holistic view of dropout prevention, starting with young children.

Certainly, any performance review that prompts such a proactive approach is worthwhile.