Cape Girardeau Public Schools among many districts in state showing drop in performance scores

Missouri's 2023 Annual Performance Report showed that 70% of districts had a lower score for the 2022-23 school year than the previous year. The report showed Cape Girardeau Public Schools scoring 71.2% of possible points this year compared to 74.9% in 2022.

The state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released its report Monday, Dec. 18, that measured districts on standardized tests, attendance rates and other factors.

In the category of Academic Achievement Status, CGPS maintained a designation of "Approaching" the target scores for English Language Arts (ELA), math and science, and "On Track" for social studies.

However, the district dropped from "Average" to "Below Average" in the category of Academic Achievement Growth in ELA and math.

James Russell, assistant superintendent of academic services, shared the performance report with the CGPS Board of Education on Monday and stated they are still trying to figure out what the state's growth model is.

"As are other districts across the state, it's been hard to follow some of the state's reporting and know how it's derived and what their basis of comparisons are," Russell said.

The Missouri Independent newspaper spoke to school administrators across the state who are questioning whether the testing program's formula needs to be adjusted, pointing to massive swings in scores in both directions across the state.

DESE is phasing in the Missouri School Improvement Program 6, known as MSIP 6, over a period of three years to be able to fully apply its point system. This year, the program included "growth scores", which administrators told the Independent can lower a district's overall grade and be misunderstood.

Gregg Klinginsmith, superintendent of the Warren County School District, serves on the MSIP advisory committee and told t he Independent the growth scores show if students are beating expectations on standardized tests, but don't represent how much the student body has learned.

Klinginsmith stated a school can receive a low score for growth, but it only shows that students are not meeting the target the growth formula predicted. He said he would like a deeper look at the way growth is calculated and has asked for a copy of the formula, but only received a summary rather than the full calculation.

Russell said CGPS has incorporated tools, such as Galileo -- a comprehensive assessment system that aligns with the state's scoring benchmarks -- which measure progression at the school, classroom and individual student level and helps them understand what's working, what isn't and where modifications are needed.