JEFFERSON CITY 鈥 One in six Missouri school districts and more than half the charter school systems fail to meet state standards for accreditation, according to new state data.
The 2023 annual performance reports released Monday measure school districts on standardized test scores, graduation and attendance rates along with strategic plans and other factors. Missouri school districts and charters scored an average of 77%, down from 96% in 2018, when scores were last calculated with a different methodology.
鈥淭he data indicate that academic recovery is still needed,鈥 said Margie Vandeven, the outgoing Missouri commissioner of education, on a conference call with reporters.
Local districts that scored in the top 10% statewide include Brentwood, Clayton, Crystal City, Festus, Fort Zumwalt, Francis Howell, Kirkwood, Lindbergh and Lafayette Prep charter school in St. 不良研究所导航网址. Ladue, Rockwood and Webster Groves fell out of the top 10% since last year.
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The bottom 10% statewide includes Grandview (Jefferson County), Normandy, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens and St. 不良研究所导航网址 Public Schools plus St. 不良研究所导航网址 charter schools Confluence, Kairos Academies, Lift for Life and North Side Community. Hawthorn and La Salle charter schools, also among the lowest performers, closed this fall.
Republican state legislators such as Sen. Andrew Koenig, of Manchester, have said that school choice policies from open enrollment to expansion of private school vouchers will dominate the next session in Jefferson City.
鈥淎cademic outcomes are embarrassing. Parents are increasingly frustrated. Public education is no longer solely focused upon education,鈥 Koenig wrote in an October letter to the state board of education.
The annual performance report, in its second year with a more rigorous scoring system, is the primary component of school district accreditation. Any changes to accreditation won鈥檛 be made until three years of data are available in fall 2024.
This year鈥檚 scores indicate that 87 school districts statewide fall in the range of provisionally accredited, 50% to 69%, including Ferguson-Florissant, Hazelwood, Normandy, Ritenour, Riverview Gardens and St. 不良研究所导航网址.
Six Missouri districts are currently under provisional accreditation based on the previous scoring system, including Normandy and Riverview Gardens.
The state doesn鈥檛 classify charter schools, but their scores are used by their sponsors for renewal decisions every five years. Half of the charter school systems in St. 不良研究所导航网址 fall in the provisionally accredited range for 2023: Biome, Confluence, Kairos, Lift for Life, Momentum and North Side Community.
Districts with provisional accreditation get extra attention from the state board of education because they are at risk of losing accreditation entirely. No school district in the state is currently unaccredited, which triggers a state law allowing students to transfer to higher-performing districts.
Vandeven, who will be replaced by state Sen. Karla Eslinger as education commissioner next summer, mentioned low teacher retention and student absenteeism as main factors that have negatively affected school performance.
Fewer than half of new teachers in Missouri keep the job for three years, and only a third stay for five years, Vandeven told reporters.
鈥淚 cannot underestimate the importance of a highly trained, highly skilled teacher in every classroom,鈥 she said.
Chronic absenteeism is a lingering effect of the pandemic. About 1 in 4 Missouri students is chronically absent, defined as missing more than 10% of class days. For Black students, the rate of chronic absenteeism is closer to half.
Another hot topic in Jefferson City is expected to involve the increasingly popular four-day school week, used by nearly one-third of Missouri鈥檚 school districts this year. Legislators have proposed bills that would require a public vote in any districts considering the schedule change. The Show-Me Institute libertarian think tank proposes an 鈥溾 of open enrollment in any district that switches to a four-day week.
The 2023 performance scores do not show a significant difference between school week schedules. School districts with a four-day week averaged 75.9%, while those on full weeks averaged 77%.
One of the bright spots in the data is Crystal City School District in Jefferson County, which reached a score of 89.7% this year after switching to a four-day week in fall 2020. The district鈥檚 550 students attend school Tuesdays through Fridays with an extra 45 minutes each day for academic interventions. On Mondays, educational aides provide free day care for elementary students.
Teachers receive professional development training one Monday a month. Test scores, attendance and teacher retention are all on the rise, said Taylor Massa, director of student services, curriculum, learning and assessment.
鈥淥ur staff works so well together, and we are a true community,鈥 Massa said. 鈥淚t really comes together, and it shows through the data when we work together for our kids, we do what鈥檚 best.鈥