Letter to Board Presidents
February 8, 2006
Dear Board President:
The State Board of Education met January 12-13 at Jefferson City. Following is a recap of our meeting.
SETTING NEW “MAP” ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS
As you probably know by now, we approved new “achievement levels” for the expanded Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) exams that will be introduced this spring. This is a major step that was necessary for us to take in preparation for the grade-level tests that your students will take this spring.
Federal law required that we take action now to revise our testing program and the standards we use to gauge student performance. This year, we will introduce “grade-level” tests for math and communication arts as required by No Child Left Behind. As a result, the revised MAP tests will be given to all students this spring in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Math will be tested again in grade 10; reading and communication arts in grade 11.
It was necessary for us to set new “cut scores” for each achievement level (proficient, advanced, etc.) for each of these grade levels.
State law enacted in 2004 also required us to align the MAP exams more closely with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams. As a result, we have adopted the four achievement levels used by the NAEP: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced. These four categories will replace the five achievement levels we have used since the advent of the MAP exams (Step 1, Progressing, Nearing Proficient, Proficient and Advanced).
More than 100 educators and citizens met for three days in December to review the new MAP exams and to recommend adjustments in the “cut scores” that are used to determine how students are rated on the MAP. The State Board reviewed and approved the revised achievement levels that were recommended by these committees. We are grateful for their hard work on this important issue.
The revised “achievement levels” and grading standards to be used with the new grade-level tests are a necessary adjustment in developing the expanded MAP testing program.
Some observers have criticized the action as a “dumbing down” of academic expectations. However, as Commissioner King stated at the time of our meeting, we believe the revised standards are both “rigorous and reasonable.”
The revision of the MAP scoring guidelines does not mean the test will be easier or that the grading process will change. It does mean, however, that the scores will be categorized differently; and it is likely that more students will score at the proficient and advanced levels, according to the new NAEP-based designations.
It is important to remember that the goal, according to NCLB, continues to be “all children proficient” by 2014. Following the introduction of the revised MAP exams this spring, we will be required to set new annual achievement targets that will become the benchmarks for determining Adequate Yearly Progress for 2006 and each succeeding year.
PARTNERSHIP WITH UNIVERSITY HELPS SPRINGFIELD SCHOOLS
We heard a special report about an ambitious project in the Springfield School District. Drury University and several buildings in the school district have been using the Yale University Comer School Development Program developed by Dr. James Comer. James Gordon, principal of Boyd Elementary School, and Dr. Dan Beach, chair of the education and child development department at Drury University, met with us and described how the local schools and the university are working together to improve achievement in a high-poverty, high-mobility Title I school.
The project provides opportunities for partnership and cooperation at many levels for school district personnel and for the university. The schools provide rich opportunities for education majors from Drury to spend time working directly with students, parents and teachers in the schools. School and college personnel have been working together, in a multi-year project, to focus on student learning, support for families, and developing connections between the school and its communities.
As I listened to these Springfield educators enthusiastically talk about the results of their labor, it occurred to me that the students and faculty from the university were providing “intensive care” to this nearby city school. The project is showing positive results on several fronts: improving academic performance, better attendance, less teacher turnover, better community involvement, and improved attitudes and aspirations among students.
We commend all the members of this partnership who have made the Comer-based project work so well in Springfield. Of course, not every school district has the luxury of teaming up with a nearby college or university. Nevertheless, we appreciate the opportunity to learn more about this successful approach to school improvement in Missouri.
ANNUAL MEETING WITH MASA OFFICERS
The State Board met for nearly two hours with the executive committee of the Missouri Association of School Administrators (MASA). This annual conversation is always a good opportunity for us to discuss current and emerging legislative and policy issues. We appreciate the time the MASA leaders spent with us.
At this meeting, the State Board of Education also:
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Approved the accreditation of six school districts. We commend two districts – Clarksburg C-2 and Neelyville R-IV – that moved from provisionally accredited to fully accredited status, based on the result of a re-review.
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Authorized the renewal (extension) of the charters for three charter schools operating in Kansas City. As required by law, the State Board reviewed the status of these three schools; but we took no action regarding their charters, because they had already been approved by their sponsors.
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Approved professional education programs at Northwest Missouri State University (Maryville), William Woods University (Fulton), Missouri Baptist University (St. Louis) and Evangel University (Springfield).
It was my pleasure recently to help honor a former member of the State Board of Education and a former president of the Missouri School Boards’ Association. The late Rev. Raymond F. McCallister, from Fulton, served as a member of the Fulton Board of Education, as president of MSBA (1982-83) and as a member of the State Board of Education from 1986 to 1994.
On January 26, we named the elementary library at the Missouri School for the Deaf, Fulton, in Ray’s honor. Ray had a special place in his heart for the Missouri School for the Deaf, and he worked hard to secure funding for renovation projects at the school. Ray was a gentleman, a strong board member, an advocate for kids, a community leader; and he touched our hearts. I am happy that the State Board of Education is able to honor his memory in a tangible way.
The next meeting of the State Board is February 16-17 in Jefferson City. Russell Thompson, vice president of the board, will chair the meeting in my absence.
Sincerely,
Peter Herschend, President