Even with improvements in English and a big jump in social studies scores on the Missouri Assessment Program's End of Course exams, Fulton High School Principal Jason Whitt said his building "has some work to do."
On the 2014 End of Course (EOC) exams, the high school saw an increase in English/language arts and social studies for 2014, going from 61.9 percent scoring proficient or advanced in 2013 to 67.3 percent in 2014 in English/language arts, and from 36.2 percent scoring proficient or advanced in social studies in 2013 to 52.6 percent for 2014. Performance in math was not as strong, with 40.8 percent scoring proficient or advanced compared to 44.3 percent in 2013. Science also saw a drop, going from 69.9 percent scoring proficient or advanced in 2013 to 62.9 for 2014.
"We continue to score pretty well in English 1 and English 2 - especially English 2, where we have about 73 percent proficient and advanced - but we still have a lot of work to do, and I like the jump we had in our government score, hopefully we continue to improve there," Whitt said. "We have to continue to improve our algebra and math scores - we really need to look at what we're doing in algebra."
"Algebra 1 and algebra 2 and geometry are all directly tied to A-plus, so we have to work hard at getting those kids qualified," he said.
He said every department at the high school has been working on in-depth analysis of EOC scores to determine how to best help students. For example, reports that give information about what the specific question was - including the depth of knowledge being tested - and the percentage of students that got the right answer.
"We look at that and go back to see where we're teaching that and how we can improve teaching that standard," Whitt said.
Whitt said he is hoping a new state requirement that all juniors take the ACT will help the district improve its composite score - which dropped from 22.5 to 20.9. He said part of the preparation for that will include ACT test classes and tutoring.
"Ultimately, it's our job to get everybody to do well on that test," Whitt said. "Hopefully we will show some growth."
He said that is what the high school staff strives for every year.
"We need to help our students get where they need to be, whether that's college or the work force or the military," Whitt said.
He said the thing he is most proud of is the school's graduation rate, which has jumped from 73.2 percent in 2012 to 76.7 percent in 2013 and to 83 percent in 2014.
"I'm proud of the hard work my teachers and staff have done," Whitt said before echoing the previous statement about preparing students for life beyond high school. "Our students are great kids. We've got to do what we can do to help them have a better shot at life."