MRH Superintendent: MAP Scores Leave 'A Lot to Celebrate'

Recently released Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test data for the 2010-11 school year show the Maplewood Richmond Heights School District posted impressive gains in mathematics across the board. But some groups of students continue to struggle in the communication arts category.

Dr. Linda Henke, the district's superintendent, shared the results with MRH Board of Education members at a meeting Thursday night. It happened in the library. Henke said the improvements in math resulted from a focused push by teachers and staff that involved finding struggling pupils and giving them individualized instruction. Seeing their hard work bear fruit was affirming for everyone, Assistant Superintendent Karen Hall said.

“Last year, it was dire. We were in a serious situation with mathematics,” Hall said. Teachers "feel extremely efficacious right now because of all the work they did to pull out of that.”

For the first time since 2005, each of the district’s student subgroups met the targets in mathematics set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. into several student groups, including total, white, black, special education and those eligible for free or reduced lunch. Each group must earn a passing grade for the district to be considered passing overall.

According to state testing data, 71 percent of all students district-wide scored high enough to be considered proficient, an increase of 12 percentage points from 2010. The numbers incorporate the growth model used by Missouri and several other states that counts students who did not reach the proficient benchmark but are on track to hit it within the next three years.

Henke said the results were also an important success for the district’s minority students, groups that have struggled to meet the federal goals in previous years.

“There is a lot to celebrate, including the fact that we are reducing the gap in African-American achievement,” she said. “It’s not as quick as any of us would like, but there is substantial progress.”

In 2008, only 32 percent of black students tested proficient or advanced in math, or were on track to meet those goals, compared to 56 percent this year. Scores for students with disabilities have climbed 8 percentage points since then to 41 percent. For students eligible for  free or reduced lunch, scores have shot up by 20 percentage points to 58 percent.

At the same time, the district failed to meet all of its goals in the second testing category, communication arts. Overall, the number of proficient students was on target at 68 percent, but the scores for students with disabilities and those eligible for free or reduced lunch   were lower than those in the previous year.

It’s an area that Henke said causes “deep concern.”

“It’s simply not acceptable. We will be having conversations with our special education coordinator and staff to talk about it,” she said.

Henke explained that part of the difficulty lies in the way St. Louis County handles special education. The Special School District (SSD) hires the teachers and staff, taking some of the control away from individual districts.

“I don’t feel that the special ed services are where they need to be,” Henke said. “I feel like we are trying to fix this with our hands tied behind our back.”

As a consequence of missing its target, Henke said, the district will be required to offer Supplementary Educational Services. Third-party educators will provide these programs to students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. She said more information about the programs will be sent to parents.

Overall, the administrators said they turned in a strong performance this year. Hall pointed out that 80 percent of the district's student groups met their goals with high attendance and graduation rates. She said she is particularly proud of the MRH High School, where all student groups met their targets in math and communication arts.