Student test scores in Missouri show distressing downward trend

A disturbing downward trend turned up in statewide data that the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released this week. Students throughout the state apparently did not do well on the 2016 Missouri Assessment Program tests.

State officials cautioned that the English language arts and math tests were new, and scores cannot be compared with student performance from previous year’s tests.

Because of the change, the scores that define the “below basic,” “basic,” “proficient” and “advanced” achievement levels also have changed.

What the state provided in the numbers, however, were the percentages of Missouri students who scored at proficient or advanced levels on the 2016 grade-level tests. And they were disappointing.

Statewide results will be discussed next Tuesday at the state Board of Education meeting. On Sept. 29 the department will release the school district MAP data, determining how well students performed academically in individual districts.

Because of the downward trend revealed this week, state and local educators must tackle these problems with more rigorous instruction, higher expectations for students and possibly longer school days.

The statewide numbers show higher scores for the lower grades than for the eighth grade. But all of them were far too low.

▪ In English language arts, 60.7 percent of third-graders were proficient or advanced on the MAP tests. For eighth-graders it was 59.2 percent.

▪ In math, 52.1 percent of third-graders were proficient or advanced, compared with 40.3 percent of eighth-graders. Overall, more than half of the students in the state in math were only basic at best in their test performance.

▪ In science for grades five through eight, the data can be compared with previous years. In 2014, 48 percent of fifth-graders were proficient or advanced in science, compared with 47.5 percent in 2015 and 42.7 percent in 2016. For eighth-graders the trend was similar with 52.5 percent proficient or advanced in 2014, 49.4 in 2015 and 47.8 in 2016.

▪ On a positive note, the state provided data for students who scored proficient or advanced on high school end-of-course exams. In English II, 73.6 percent were proficient or advanced in 2015, compared with 79.2 percent in 2016. That is an improvement worth noting. In algebra I, 62.1 percent were proficient or advanced in 2015, compared with 65.8 percent in 2016. Again, a good uptick.

▪ But the numbers slumped in biology, with 74.3 percent scoring proficient or advanced in 2015, compared with 66.8 percent in 2016. The downward trend continued in American government with 63.4 percent scoring proficient or advanced in 2015, compared with 63.2 percent in 2016.

Student achievement on MAP exams factor into whether school districts are fully accredited by the state in the Missouri School Improvement Program. Kansas City Public Schools and the Hickman Mills School District are only provisionally accredited.

How students did on the MAP tests will help determine whether the districts rise to full accreditation.

The low proficiency or advanced scores statewide will cause local school officials to brace for their district numbers later this month. Many of these educators must be ready to redouble their efforts to help their students raise next year’s scores.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Student test scores in Missouri show distressing downward trend."