South Callaway R-II School District MAP test scores mostly "trending up,' superintendent says

South Callaway R-II School District Superintendent Kevin Hillman described the district's Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) scores as trending up. There's been a lot of work to try to raise scores overall, Hillman said. And since the numbers came out, schools in the district have been looking at the numbers for each class and each student.

District-wide, third, fourth, seventh and eighth grades saw increases in the percent of students who scored proficient in English language arts from 2013 to 2014 while fifth and sixth grades as well as the English 1 and 2 classes saw decreases.

For math, third, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth grades as well as algebra 1 saw decreases from 2013-2014 while sixth grade, algebra 2 and geometry saw increases. And for science, fifth grade had a decrease in the percentage of students proficient while eighth grade had an increase.

The district's largest increase in the percentage of students who were proficient in a specific subject was algebra 2. In 2013, 28.6 percent of students scored proficient in the subject compared to 44.9 percent in 2014.

The district's largest decrease in the percentage of students who were proficient in a specific subject was fifth grade English language arts. In 2013, 43.8 percent of the fifth-grade class scored proficient in the subject compared to 25.8 percent in 2014.

Hillman said schools in the South Callaway School District don't want to just compare last year's fifth grade scores to the previous year's fifth grade scores. Rather, schools want to compare last year's fifth grade scores to the previous year's fourth grade scores. That way the district can compare how the same group of students did from one year to the next.

Fifth grade English language arts saw the largest decrease from last year to this year in the percentage of students proficient in the subject. But, the fifth grade class that had 25.8 percent of students score proficient in English language arts in 2014 was the fourth grade class that had only 18.6 percent of students score proficient in 2013.

"We try to start breaking data down ... to look at it by each pupil in each class," Hillman said. " We try to do that as much as we can to have a true reflection on where we think we are. If student A is falling short we want to make sure why student A is falling short before we make changes just to make changes."

One change the district made last year was the addition of iPads. Hillman said the district gave students iPads to provide more resources for them. This year, the district is providing teachers with strategies and resources for utilizing that technology in the classroom. That professional development has been a focus for the district this school year.

Hillman said the schools have started investigating test scores and what they mean for each student. Hillman said it's important to "tear into the numbers" to have a more-clear picture of where the schools are at and how individuals students are doing.

"I've always said, "I can look from one year to the next and see if fourth or fifth grade scores went up or down, but that doesn't really tell me the story.' Because it's a different class and a different test. So we have to dig down a lot more investigatively with our numbers," Hillman said. "We track those (numbers) across, we compare to other schools ... Are we seeing increases based on the changes that we made or are there any conclusions we can make or shortcomings of where we need to get stronger at?"

Hillman said the district will continue to dig through the numbers. Then, they will decide what changes they will implement going into the second semester of this school year.

"I've always thought education has been awfully quick to assume and make a change sometimes when they don't know where they are heading," Hillman said. "We are looking to - in whatever changes or direction we take - make a truly calculated reason of why we are going there."

Hillman added that the district's APR score, which he previously described as the district's report card, is more than 90 percent. Hillman said the district is happy with its APR score, however, it will take work to stay above 90 percent.

"If we want to stay above that (90 percent), we have to raise test scores even higher. The state will demand it, and it's an expectation to our students and our staff," Hillman said.

Megan Favignano can be reached at (573) 826-2417 or [email protected].