Low MAP scores shock Cape school officials

Scott City, Jackson students fare better than their Cape counterparts.

Low scores on the state's student achievement tests shocked and dismayed Cape Girardeau school officials who questioned Thursday how the district could fare so poorly in meeting federal education guidelines.

Blanchard and Jefferson elementary schools failed to meet this year's proficiency standard in communication arts.

Several other schools in the district, including Central High School and Central Junior High School, also showed poor marks in math, communication arts or both subjects.

Neither Central High School nor Central Junior High School met adequate yearly progress in math or communication arts, and the scores illustrated a wide gap between minorities and white students.

But unlike the elementary schools, neither the high school nor the junior high face any penalties if the scores don't im- prove next year.

In contrast, all Scott City schools and all but one of Jackson's public schools met the 2005 proficiency requirements.

"We are in a state of disbelief," said Blanchard principal Dr. Barbara Kohlfeld. "We thought we had done a crackerjack job of doing everything we could possibly do to ensure the academic success of our students," she said.

Only 22.6 percent of Blanchard third graders, who took the Missouri Assessment Program test last spring, showed proficiency in communication arts. That's below the required 26.6 percent level.

Scores were even worse for the school's low-income students. Only 12.1 percent of them showed proficiency in the subject, according to MAP scores released by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Among Blanchard fourth-graders last spring, 43.6 percent showed proficiency in math, which was well above the 17.5 percent level required in 2005 by the state. But it was still less than the 55 percent figure achieved by Blanchard students in 2004.

"It is very discouraging" said Kohlfeld, who earlier this week thought the school would receive good MAP scores.

At Jefferson, only 12.5 of the tested students demonstrated proficiency in communication arts. Among low-income students, the percentage was even lower -- 10.5 percent.

In math, 15.9 percent of the tested students demonstrated proficiency, according to DESE. Among low-income students, proficiency was only 10.5 percent.

But thanks to a state "confidence" formula that accounts for margin of error, the school's total adjusted score met proficiency requirements for math, district officials said.

Jefferson principal Mark Cook said his school has worked hard to help at-risk students. The school began an after-school tutoring program last school year.

"Kids do not learn at the same rate," he said.

MAP scores aren't a true representation of the learning taking place in the district's elementary schools, Cook said.

Pat Fanger, executive director of curriculum and instruction for the Cape Girardeau schools, said the complex formula takes into account schools with relatively small numbers of students tested.

But school officials said they can't explain the formula. Local principals said they didn't understand the adjustments.

DESE spokesman Jim Morris said the formula is a margin-of-error measurement that particularly benefits schools with small groups of students where a few students' scores otherwise could create wild fluctuations.

"It helps compensate for the impact of testing very small numbers of students," he said.

Cape Girardeau school officials questioned the accuracy of some of the MAP scores.

At Alma Schrader Elementary School, for example, communication arts scores plummeted from a total of 61 percent proficient in 2004 to 31 percent this year. That was still enough to meet the adequate yearly progress requirement or AYP.

The school's math scores rose significantly, however, from a total of 43.3 percent proficient in 2004 to 68.5 percent this year.

Fanger has asked DESE to review the accuracy of the scores reported for Alma Schrader, Blanchard and Jefferson schools.

Morris said the figures released today by DESE are preliminary. "If there are errors we want to catch them and wash them out so schools aren't penalized," he said.

Statewide, 719 schools or about 35 percent of Missouri's schools didn't have adequate proficiency scores this year, DESE said.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, schools and certain subgroups of students within each school must meet proficiency benchmarks on Missouri Assessment Program tests in communication arts and math to avoid penalties such as paying for students to transfer to better performing schools within a district.

The penalties only apply to schools that receive federal Title I funding. Title I schools in Cape Girardeau include Jefferson, Blanchard, Franklin and Clippard elementary schools. Central Middle School also gets Title I funding, but its students have yet to be tested.

Title I is a federal program that provides funding to schools that have a significant number of low-income students. Most of the funding is used in elementary schools.

Alma Schrader Elementary School, Central High School and Central Junior High School don't receive Title I funding.

Cape Girardeau Middle School students won't begin to be tested until next spring, when the state starts testing all students annually in grades 3 through 8 on math and communication arts.

Previously, third-, seventh- and 11th-graders took the communication arts test and fourth-, eighth- and 10th-graders took the math test.

By 2014, federal law requires that all schools have 100 percent of students scoring proficient in those two academic areas.

Scott City and Jackson school officials praised their achievement scores.

"It is nice to see we are making progress," said Diann Bradshaw-Ulmer, Scott City superintendent of schools.

In Jackson, 27 of 28 subgroups of students met proficiency requirements. "It's not the perfection that you would want. But it is very close," said Dr. Sam Duncan, director of state and federal programs for the school district.

Jackson High School didn't make adequate yearly progress in math because of a drop in scores of low-income students. This year only 7.7 percent of low-income students scored proficient.

The 2005 scores showed mixed results for other elementary schools in the Cape Girardeau district.

Franklin Elementary School's total scores in both communication arts and math increased slightly.

At Clippard Elementary School, total scores decreased by about 10 percentage points on the math test but increased slightly on the communication arts test.

At Central High School, 6.7 percent of black students scored proficient or higher this year, down from 7.3 percent a year ago on the communication arts test. In contrast, 32.3 percent of white students scored well on the test.

Among low-income students, only 1.9 percent were rated as proficient in the subject.

In math, 4.3 percent of black students were scored as proficient compared to 20 percent of white students. Only 3.5 percent of low-income students were proficient in math, MAP results show.

Racial and income disparities also were evident at the junior high school where 44 percent of white students did well on the communication arts test but only 8.1 percent of black students and 16.8 percent of low-income students were scored as proficient.

The federal law requires all subgroups to meet the scoring requirements in order for a school to be listed as making adequate yearly progress.

Although Central High School doesn't face any penalties for not meeting this year's proficiency standard, principal Dr. Mike Cowan said educators ethically must look at how to close the achievement gap between whites and low-income and minority students.

"You don't solve a problem by putting your head in the sand and acting like it is not there," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128