Missouri has released its annual school report cards, which lay out overall public school performance for the 2022-23 academic year.
The report shows Missouri’s districts and charter schools scored an average of 77%. It also illustrates nearly 100 districts are at risk of losing full accreditation if they don’t make improvements over a three-year period.
State Education Commissioner Margie Vandeven said the pandemic’s effects on learning, as well as lower rates of student attendance and retaining teachers have affected school performance.
“The data indicate that academic recovery is still needed,” said Vandeven. “We are seeing slight increases in proficiency rates since 2022 for the total population. The performance of our student group, which is comprised of Black, Hispanic, English learners, free and reduced price lunch, and special education, continue to see decline in performance, indicating that the gap is growing in some areas.”
Vandeven said student attendance rates have not returned to rates prior to the pandemic.
“Students must be present to learn,” she said. “Regular attendance is sometimes out of the student’s own control, but is a student’s success factor and a workforce readiness expectation. Declining attendance is a concern in Missouri schools, and it has a magnified impact particularly on our lowest-performing students.”
The report cards are compiled based on measuring components such as standardized test scores, attendance rates, graduation rates, district planning and other aspects. The new state data uses a more rigorous scoring system to measure school performance than it did two years ago. The system is the sixth version of the Missouri School Improvement Program, known as MSIP 6.
During a conference call with reporters, Vandeven said that fewer than half of new Missouri teachers keep their job for three years and one-third teach for five years.
Here’s an indicator of how deep Missouri’s teacher shortage goes:
“This past semester, the fall of 2023, a fourth of all student teachers were actually the teacher of record and did not even participate in the typical student teaching experience where the majority of learning about teaching occurs,” said Vandeven.
In the statewide report released today, the highest-achieving districts are Livingston County R-3 and Thornfield R-1 (96.1%), along with St. Elizabeth R-4 (95.0%).
The lowest-scoring districts are DeLaSalle Charter School (28.5%), Missouri’s Schools For The Severely Disabled (34.7%), and the now-closed Hawthorn Leadership Charter School For Girls (36.7%).
Copyright 2023, Missourinet.
