August 2007
Copyright © 2007 Queue Inc.
IN
THIS ISSUE:
Missouri Gets Dismal Marks For Teacher Policies
In NEW Report—Labeled as ÔUnsatisfactoryÕ
DESE
Lists More Public Schools and Districts That "Need Improvement,"
Based on AYP Standards
ACT High School Profile Report
The Graduating Class of 2007 - Missouri
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The National Council on
Teacher Quality 50-state encyclopedia on statesÕ teacher policies, concludes
that many MissouriÕs policies are counterproductive to the nationÕs teacher
quality goals.
The State Teacher Policy Yearbook is the first
project of its kind to provide a 360-degree detailed analysis of how states are
hurting or helping teacher quality--and what they can do to fix broken and
anachronistic policies.
While Missouri ranks in the middle of all states, its poor
performance illustrates the sorry state of most state polices. In the six areas
assessed, including admission standards into teaching, licensure and
compensation reform, the state earned two ÒCÓ grades and four ÒDÓ grades.
Among the findings:
¥ The state pays insufficient attention to the content preparation
of elementary teachers, increasing the likelihood that teachers finish their
preparation with significant gaps in their knowledge of essential core subject
areas such as American history.
¥ Missouri allows teachers to teach for too many years without
having passed the state licensing test.
¥ The state does not require that schools evaluate teachers
annually as is standard in most professions, nor does it require that a
teacherÕs classroom effectiveness be the preponderant consideration of an
evaluation.
Despite the bleak overall findings, there are some bright spots. For
example, Missouri is one of the few states to require that a teacher has five
years of experience before being eligible for tenure.
To download copies of the Missouri report, which includes national
comparisons:
http://www.nctq.org/stpy/reports/stpy_missouri.pdf
The
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has notified more than 250
public schools (http://dese.mo.gov/news/2007/needimprovement.htm#lists) and school districts that
they are unlikely to meet "adequate yearly progress" goals and will
be classified by state education officials as "needing improvement"
during 2007-08.
Under the provisions of federal law (No Child Left Behind), these schools and districts will be in the category of needing improvement for the first time. They are required to notify parents about the designation as soon as possible. The school districts will be required to prepare a new school-improvement plan.
"We
are making a preliminary identification of new schools and districts that need
improvement, as required by the law and based on 2006 MAP scores, attendance
rates and graduation rates. In previous years, we made this determination after
all schools had received their new test results. Federal officials have told us
we must accelerate our timetable," said Stan Johnson, assistant
commissioner of the department of education.
Results
from the 2007 MAP tests will be released Friday (August 17).
DESE
staff have officially notified local school officials that 102 additional
buildings and 167 districts will be in the "needs improvement"
category for the coming year. In all, the state now has about 200 school buildings that are
designated for improvement.
Students
in some of the newly designated schools may be entitled to transfer to other
schools within their districts, and district officials are required to notify
parents as soon as possible about options they may have.
List
of Districts: (http://dese.mo.gov/news/2007/districtimprovelist.htm)
List
of Schools: http://dese.mo.gov/news/2007/schoolimprovelist.htm
The
ACT High School Profile Report for each state provides information about the
performance of 2007 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors,
or seniors. The reports focus on performance, access, course selection, course
rigor, college readiness, awareness, and articulation.
To
see the report:
http://www.act.org/news/data/07/pdf/states/Missouri.pdf
State
Score is Stable, but the Number of
ACT Test-takers Rises Sharply in 2007
MissouriÕs
average score on the ACT college-entry exam stayed the same for the third year
in a row, but the number of 2007 graduates taking the test increased to an all-time
high.
State
education officials say they are pleased by the trend.
MissouriÕs
average ACT score this year is 21.6, compared to the national average of 21.2,
which increased this year by one-tenth of a point. The maximum possible score
on the ACT is 36. The ACT is the most popular college-entry exam in Missouri
and most other Midwestern states.
New
statistics for the nation and each state were released today by ACT. The new
data reflect the performance of all 2007 high school graduates who took the exam
as sophomores, juniors or seniors.
In
Missouri, 45,354 graduates took the ACT – an increase of nearly 2,500
over 2006. The percentage of Missouri graduates taking the ACT jumped to 74
percent this year from 70 percent last year. The total number of ACT-takers in
Missouri has hovered at about 42,800 for the past four years.
Among
states in which at least 50 percent of all high school graduates take the ACT
exam, Missouri now ranks ninth with its average state score of 21.6.
"It
appears that many of the additional ACT test-takers in Missouri this year were
African-American or other minority students, and that is an encouraging
sign," said D. Kent King, Missouri Commissioner of Education.
"Across
the country and in Missouri, too few minority students are going to college and
succeeding. Students need to see the ACT as an essential part of the process of
pursing higher education," he said.
According
to ACT, the number of white students taking the test in Missouri dropped
slightly this year (99), to a total of 32,801. The number of African-American
test-takers increased by 362, to 4,563. However, the number of students in the
category of "other/no response" jumped by more than 2,000 –
more than 50% – to a total of 6,003.
The
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education encourages all high school
students to take a full menu of challenging academic courses, regardless of
their immediate plans after graduating.
In
Missouri, less than half of this yearÕs graduates (47%) reported that they took
the "core curriculum" recommended by the ACT. The recommended core
courses are:
4
units of English and at least 3 units each of math, science and social studies.
Under
new graduation standards adopted by the State Board of Education in 2005, all
students, beginning with the Class of 2010, will be required to take a slate of
courses in high school that meets or exceeds the ACT recommendations.
Students
who take at least the recommended core curriculum in high school always score
higher than the average on the ACT and substantially higher than students who
do not take the more rigorous academic courses.
Students
Post Gains on 2007 State "MAP" Tests
Missouri
students posted small to moderate gains in reading and math at all grade levels
on this yearÕs state-required MAP tests, state education officials said today.
At
the state level, African-American students also made a small gain in narrowing
the gap with white students by making faster progress toward meeting annual
goals.
Last
spring, students in all Missouri public schools took the Missouri Assessment
Program tests in communication arts and mathematics. The tests are required for
all students in grades 3-8. The communication arts exam also is given in grade
11; the math exam in grade 10.
The test
results: (http://dese.mo.gov/news/2007/mapresults.htm#Missouri_Assessment_Program_State_Results,_2006_and_2007 ) are used by the state to
evaluate public schools for accreditation purposes and to satisfy the
accountability requirements of federal law (the No Child Left Behind Act).
"The investment our state is making in education is paying off with Missouri students making gains in their performance on this year's MAP tests," Gov. Matt Blunt said. "There is still much work to be done and that is why education will remain my highest priority. As Missouri's governor I have signed budgets over the last three years to increase education funding by more than half a billion dollars. Our children hold the keys to the future and it is imperative that we help provide the educational resources they need to succeed and compete in our global economy."
"Overall,
I am pleased with this yearÕs MAP results," said Stan Johnson, assistant
commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. "We
see positive change in the percentage of students scoring at the ÔproficientÕ
or ÔadvancedÕ levels in nearly every subject and every grade. We also have
moderate state-level gains in the middle grades (6-8), where our scores
have been flat in recent years," he said.
The
rate of progress, however, is not fast enough in many schools to meet the
"adequate yearly progress" (AYP) targets that are required under
federal law. As a result, more public schools in the state will be identified
this year as not meeting the ever-increasing AYP goals. More schools also will
be identified as "needing improvement" or some other type of
corrective action.
This
year, about 190 school buildings that receive federal "Title I"
funding will be identified as "needing improvement," compared to 130
schools last year.
To
meet the 2007 AYP goal, 42.9 percent of the students in a school had to score
at the proficient or advanced level in communication arts. For math, the target
was 35.8 percent. These requirements apply to all students and to nine
subgroups, including minority students, students with disabilities, students
who are learning English, and children from low-income families.
At
the state level, Missouri students as a whole successfully met the AYP targets
in both communication arts and math. However, only two subgroups – white
students and Asians/Pacific Islanders – met the stateÕs AYP goals.
While
African-American students did not meet the AYP goals, their rate of progress
this year exceeded that of white students in both communication arts and
mathematics, Johnson said.