South Callaway High School will again attach a grade to students' Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) End of Course (EOC) exams. The South Callaway R-II School District Board of Education voted 4-1 Wednesday night to rescind its 2011 decision that stopped attaching a grade assessment to the exams.
High school teachers presented research and proposals to the board Wednesday night. Those who presented said the 26 teachers at the high school all agreed that attaching a grade incentive to the EOC exams would motivate students to perform better on the tests.
The school surveyed students and asked them what motivates their performance on standard testing. Of the students surveyed, 43 percent said they are intrinsically motivated to do well, 46 percent they are motivated when their grade is affected and 11 percent said they are motivated by their teacher.
During Wednesday night's board meeting, Board President Kit Glover - the only opposing vote - said she didn't see enough research to convince her that attaching a grade would raise test scores. In response, high school English teacher Olivia Brandt said she thinks a grade incentive is a step in the right direction.
"I don't think any of us are saying this is the golden ticket. I don't think any of us are saying this is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that's going to fix everything," Brandt said during Wednesday night's meeting. "We are just saying that we've done a lot of other things, we haven't seen any great jumps so we're asking for you all to let us try and see if it works."
High School Principal Heather Helsel said the teachers were unified in wanting to reverse the board's 2011 decision and again offer a grade incentive for the EOC exams. She said she is grateful to the board of education for giving the school an opportunity to do something different in an effort to increase test scores.
South Callaway High School saw a few minor drops and small increases in its EOC exams from 2014. Helsel recently described the school's EOC exam scores to the Fulton Sun as "level" for the past several years. However, the school wants to see larger increases.
"We are doing things very well. We are in what you would might call a good performance, but we are really working to get to that great achievement performance," Helsel previously told the Fulton Sun. "That's moving more of our students from basic into the proficient range. We have not had any major drops or leaps over the last five years."
The school tied a grade to students' EOC scores prior to 2011. The board voted to stop giving students a grade based on their EOC exams in July 2011. The EOC score was previously 10 percent of students' semester grade. Helsel said there was a perception that there was an inconsistency in how the grades were being documented.
The school's teachers told the board that the grade assessment attached now would be consistent across the board. The teachers who presented Wednesday night recommended the school attach a 5 percent weight on the EOC in the quarter and subject in which it is given. The high school's teachers agreed that would be a fair grade weight for the tests because it would affect student grades but would not a significant determining factor.
The district's superintendent, high school principal and high school teachers will continue to discuss the best way to attach a grade incentive to the EOC exams.
The teachers who presented told the board that in their research, they discovered South Callaway is the only school in its conference and in the area that does not attach a grade to the EOC exam.
To read more about the high school's MAP EOC scores, click here.