Read much more on these results at STLSchools.org.

In Communication Arts
Grade 3 - Below Basic (21.2%)/Basic (53%)/Prof (16.2%)/Adv (9.6%)
Grade 4 - Below Basic (25.6%)/Basic (51.4%)/Prof (16.4%)/Adv (6.6%)
Grade 5 - Below Basic (23%)/Basic (55.7%)/Prof (15.9%)/Adv (5.5%)
Grade 6 - Below Basic (36.8%)/Basic (47.7%)/Prof (12.6%)/Adv (2.9%)
Grade 7 - Below Basic (36.1%)/Basic (48.6%)/Prof (12.5%)/Adv (2.7%)
Grade 8 - Below Basic (25.8%)/Basic (58.4%)/Prof (12.2%)/Adv (3.7%)
Grade 11 - Below Basic (28.7%)/Basic (53.4%)/Prof (13.6%)/Adv (4.3%)

In Mathematics
Grade 3 - Below Basic (19.9%)/Basic (55.8)/Prof (20%)/Adv (4.3%)
Grade 4 - Below Basic (24.2%)/Basic (55.5%)/Prof (16.7%)/Adv (3.6%)
Grade 5 - Below Basic (23.4%)/Basic (55.1%)/Prof (17.5%)/Adv (4%)
Grade 6 - Below Basic (39%)/Basic (47.3%)/Prof (11.4%)/Adv (2.4%)
Grade 7 - Below Basic (48.3%)/Basic (39.8%)/Prof (10.2%)/Adv (1.7%)
Grade 8 - Below Basic (55.8%)/Basic (31.4%)/Prof (10%)/Adv (2.8%)
Grade 10 - Below Basic (60.5%)/Basic (26.4%)/Prof (11.2%)/Adv (2%)

The first thing to make note of about this year’s Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores is that the grading is different. Instead of the usual five Achievement Level categories (Step 1, Progressing, Nearing Proficient, Proficient and Advanced), there are now only four categories.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) explains that because of a state law enacted in 2004, the MAP exams were revised to align more closely with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams. These are national tests in which all states must participate. Missouri’s academic standards may not exceed those used in the NAEP tests.

Now the MAP tests for communication arts and mathematics are based on four achievement level categories instead of five to describe student performance. These categories (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced) are identical to those used by the NAEP.

DESE advises that these changes make it difficult, if not impossible, to compare 2006 MAP results with previous years.

For example, on the previous MAP tests, a substantial number of students (based on state averages) scored in the “Nearing Proficient” category. This category has been eliminated with the four new achievement levels. Students who might have scored in the middle range could now be in any of the four new categories. The results may vary widely among schools and districts.

In the past, many school officials have looked at student performance in terms of the “top two and bottom two” levels. This kind of analysis may be less meaningful now as a result of the elimination of the “Nearing Proficient” category.

“There will be a natural tendency for people to try to compare this year’s results with prior years. DESE discourages such comparisons,” says the department’s advisory. “Our advice to everybody is: Recognize the important changes that have occurred in the MAP program and be cautious about making comparisons.”

And now St. Louis Public Schools’ results:

In Communication Arts
Grade 3 - Below Basic (21.2%)/Basic (53%)/Prof (16.2%)/Adv (9.6%)
Grade 4 - Below Basic (25.6%)/Basic (51.4%)/Prof (16.4%)/Adv (6.6%)
Grade 5 - Below Basic (23%)/Basic (55.7%)/Prof (15.9%)/Adv (5.5%)
Grade 6 - Below Basic (36.8%)/Basic (47.7%)/Prof (12.6%)/Adv (2.9%)
Grade 7 - Below Basic (36.1%)/Basic (48.6%)/Prof (12.5%)/Adv (2.7%)
Grade 8 - Below Basic (25.8%)/Basic (58.4%)/Prof (12.2%)/Adv (3.7%)
Grade 11 - Below Basic (28.7%)/Basic (53.4%)/Prof (13.6%)/Adv (4.3%)

In Mathematics
Grade 3 - Below Basic (19.9%)/Basic (55.8)/Prof (20%)/Adv (4.3%)
Grade 4 - Below Basic (24.2%)/Basic (55.5%)/Prof (16.7%)/Adv (3.6%)
Grade 5 - Below Basic (23.4%)/Basic (55.1%)/Prof (17.5%)/Adv (4%)
Grade 6 - Below Basic (39%)/Basic (47.3%)/Prof (11.4%)/Adv (2.4%)
Grade 7 - Below Basic (48.3%)/Basic (39.8%)/Prof (10.2%)/Adv (1.7%)
Grade 8 - Below Basic (55.8%)/Basic (31.4%)/Prof (10%)/Adv (2.8%)
Grade 10 - Below Basic (60.5%)/Basic (26.4%)/Prof (11.2%)/Adv (2%)

SLPS has issued the following statement and analysis:

The St. Louis Public Schools today announced the preliminary results from the 2006 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests which reveal increases in achievement among middle and high school students. While the majority of the District’s middle and high schools show increases, elementary school scores declined.

“We obviously have a great deal of work to do to ensure that all of our students are performing at advanced and proficient levels,” said Dr. Diana Bourisaw, Interim Superintendent of St. Louis Public Schools. “The 2006 MAP scores make it clear that we must offer support, including professional development for teachers and more flexibility within curriculum programs, for teachers. We cannot continue to demand accountability without providing the necessary resources for teachers,” she said.

A review of the 2006 MAP scores by grade level reveals:

• In Grade 3, 25.8 percent of students scored at the advanced and proficient levels in Communication Arts, a decrease of 9.4 percent from the previous year.
• In Grade 4, Mathematics scores dropped 15.8% in the number of students scoring at advanced or proficient levels.
• In Grade 7, the Communication Arts combined advanced and proficient performance level percentage was 15.2%, an increase of 4.2%
• In Grade 7 Communication Arts, 17 of 21 (80.9%) of the middle schools experienced increases in the top two levels.

• In Grade 8, there was an increase in Mathematics with 12.8 percent of students scoring advanced or proficient, up 4.6% from last year.
• In Grade 8 Mathematics, 15 of 21 (71.4%) of the middle schools experienced increases.
• In Grade 10, Mathematics scores averaged 13.2% in the top two performance levels, an increase of 9.7% from last year.

• Communication Arts scores at Grade 11 averaged 17.9%, an 11.7% increase from the previous year.
• In Grade 10 Mathematics, 10 of 11 (90.9%) of the high schools experienced small increases in the number of students testing as proficient or advanced.
• In Grade 11 Communication Arts, all 12 of the high schools experienced increases in the advanced and proficient levels.

“While the official results from the State of Missouri will not be available until November, these preliminary numbers suggest three elementary schools previously identified as ‘Needs Improvement’ by DESE may have made enough gains in student achievement to be removed from that status,” Bourisaw said.

The MAP measures academic standards and determines the level to which schools enable students to become proficient. The tests are scored on proficiency standards of Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic. The levels of Advanced/Proficient scores are used to determine each school’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) required by the Federal No Child Left Behind law. New for 2006 was that all students in Grades 3-8 were tested in both Communication Arts and Mathematics. High school testing remained the same as previous years with 10th graders tested in Mathematics and 11th graders tested in Communication Arts.

As a result of the changes in the testing of student performance, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) discourages the comparison of the 2006 data to the test results of previous years.

“All St. Louis students must be given the fundamentals they need in order to demonstrate proficient performance in communication arts, math, and science. We must align our investments in curriculum and professional development for all grades,” said Veronica O’Brien, President of the Board of Education. “It is clear that a top-down approach to curriculum development did not empower teachers to teach, or help students achieve,” she said.

The MAP score information is preliminary, as the Federal government requires the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to provide districts a 30-day appeal process. Final determinations of MAP data and Adequate Yearly Progress will be made by DESE in November.

Pub Def editor Antonio D. French, Arch City Chronicle publisher Dave Drebis, and (soon-to-be) State Sen. Jeff Smith were the guests on “Collateral Damage” with host Fred Hessel on Monday. The topics of discussion were St. Louis Public Schools and the Talent-McCaskill U.S. Senate race. Click here to download the 30-minute show.

State Education Commissioner Kent King and four of the five members of the special committee he appointed last month to analyze the current state of St. Louis Public Schools met today on the West Campus of Washington University.

Co-chairs Dr. William Danforth and Attorney Frankie Freeman were joined by St. Louis American publisher Dr. Donald Suggs and Attorney Ned Lemkemeier. Michael Middleton, the group’s fifth member, did not attend today’s meeting.

The group drew criticism for closing their first meeting to the public. Danforth today said it was later brought to their attention that they are subject to the state’s Sunshine Law, which is why today’s meeting was public.

“Now that we know we are subject to the Sunshine Laws, I suggest we obey the law and the spirit of the Sunshine idea,” said Danforth.

In the meeting, which lasted about thirty minutes, King presented to the group some slight modifications to the points of its mission, all centered around addressing what he described as the “turmoil” in SLPS in the past four years.

Danforth introduced the group’s first hire, Bethany Johnson who will serve as study director and an interviewer for the committee.

It was revealed that the co-chairs had already conducted private interviews with some members of the school board. Danforth said they would also be requesting interviews with Interim Superintendent Diana Bourisaw and Teachers’ Union Pres. Mary Armstrong.

Bourisaw and School Board Pres. Veronica O’Brien watched tonight’s meeting from the audience.

Danforth said the committee also plans to convene focus groups of parents, teachers and principals and to hire an expert in school finances to help paint a clearer picture of the district’s finances.

No date was given for the committee’s next meeting, but Commissioner King did say that their work must be completed by early December.

BREAKING NEWS
READ IT HERE FIRST

A Circuit Court judge has upheld School Board member Bill Purdy’s right to sit on the board. Purdy was being sued by two fellow board members, Flint Fowler and Ron Jackson, and 47 other citizens, including fired Vashon basketball coach Floyd Irons. The lawsuit claimed Purdy was serving on the board illegally and should be removed.

The issue was whether a person can run for the school board if he or she has relatives who work in the district. Two of Purdy’s daughters and a grandson are teachers in the district. A recent change in state law allows school board members to serve even if they have family working in the system. But the school board bylaws still say that is illegal.

Those bylaws have not been amended to reflect the state law. But today’s ruling by Judge Steven R. Ohmer affirms Purdy’s assertion that state law trumps board bylaws.

Had Purdy lost the suit and was forced to give up his seat, Mayor Francis Slay would have appointed his replacement, shifting the balance of power on the school board for the second time in six months.

The following letter comes from State Sen. Timothy Green (D-St. Louis County):

Higher education is the foundation of opportunity in Missouri. Nothing will do more to prepare our children for the careers of the future. But today, the cost of college is increasing exponentially. All students should have the opportunity to earn a college degree through hard work in high school and college. Last year, tuition at state universities increased nationwide, by as much as 40 percent in some states.

A Missouri NEA White Paper stated that Missouri tuition increased 45% between 1998-99 and 2002-03, and the state ranks second in the nation in tuition hikes over the past two years. During 2002-03, Missouri (-10.2%) was second only to Oregon (-11.1%) among states which cut support for higher education. This reduction followed a cut of -8.8% during the previous year for a two-year total of -19%.

Nationwide, due to record-high financial barriers, more than 400,000, low- and moderate-income high school graduates who are fully prepared to attend a four-year college will be unable to do so. Students and their parents are being forced to shoulder an even greater share of the rising costs of attending college.

According to the Missouri Budget Project, over the past 25 years, in Missouri, the students’ share of the cost of education has doubled, increasing from 25% to 50%. Higher education cuts have resulted in a $1,700 per student annual average tuition increase for Missouri’s public four-year institutions, affecting over 80,000 students. Institutions are passing the buck on to the cashed strapped students and their hard working families. Institutions must identify additional cost saving measures by avoiding excesses in order to ensure affordability.

In 1966, a student needed to work 20 hours a week at minimum wage to pay for college costs—today it takes 55 hours. Missouri’s state support for public higher education has declined as a percentage of the overall state budget from 8.3% in FY1980 to 6.8% in FY2000 to 5.8% in FY2003. Missouri has the lowest per capita funding support for higher education among the surrounding states: MO–$321, KS–$496, AR–$449, OK–$477, IA–$507, IL–$411 and the cost to attend out of state is at times lower than in Missouri.

Missouri is rated “F” in college affordability by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. State Auditor Claire McCaskill, in an audit, further indicates the worrying trends in college affordability. Governors Carnahan and Holden both appointed commissions during their time in office to study college affordability and the results of the studies were remarkably similar.

Once again, a Missouri Senate committee has been created to further study the lack of college affordability that plagues Missouri students and their families. It is time to take the results of these studies and craft legislation that helps Missourians afford the rising cost of a quality higher education.

St. Louis Congressman Lacy Clay and Republican Congressman Jon Porter from Nevada will convene a congressional field hearing Friday at 1:00 p.m. at Washington University Medical Center.

According to a press release from Clay’s office, the subject of discussion will be how the creation of a proposed national electronic health records network could “prevent thousands of unnecessary patient deaths each year, save billions of healthcare dollars, and provide emergency responders with a powerful new Homeland Security tool to assist them in the event of a terrorist attack or major natural disaster.”

Experts from the government and the private sector will offer testimony about the issues facing healthcare providers as they attempt to create a secure, electronic health records system.

KWMU reporter Kevin Lavery is leaving the station for Michigan, where he’s getting a promotion of sorts — he’ll be a news director in East Lansing. His last day in St. Louis is tomorrow.

And speaking of KWMU, science reporter Robert Frederick had an interesting piece this morning on empowerment zone funds offered to the Solae biotech company to stay St. Louis. Click here to listen.

The special five-member committee appointed by State Education Commissioner Kent King last month to analyze the current state of St. Louis Public Schools is meeting today — and unlike its last meeting, today’s session is open to the public.

The committee will meet at the Washington University West Campus building (the old Famous-Barr in Clayton), 7425 Forsyth Blvd, at 3:30 p.m.

Check back later for video…

UPDATE: The video is up and the full story is at slswatch.pubdef.net.

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The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will be releasing the results from the 2006 MAP tests tonight at midnight on its website. CORRECTION: DESE won’t be releasing the numbers on it’s website until tomorrow morning some time. But we have the numbers already and we will be releasing them tonight at midnight on slswatch.pubdef.net.

Check back late tonight for SLPS results…

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Bill Bryan of the Post-Dispatch reported yesterday that a 17-year-old male Beaumont High School student was reported to be in stable condition at a hospital after he was shot in the stomach during a fight at a school bus stop.

According the report, it happened about 6:22 a.m. at Thekla and Ruskin avenues. Officers said they suspect the incident was an extension of a separate fight Tuesday night. A suspect was sought in the shooting. Nobody else was reported hurt.

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SLPS Attendance — Day 1: 72%, Day 2: 84%, Day 3: 88%

Get daily news on St. Louis Public Schools at www.stlschools.org

The special five-member committee appointed by State Education Commissioner Kent King last month to analyze the current state of St. Louis Public Schools is meeting today — and unlike its last meeting, today’s session is open to the public.

The committee will meet at the Washington University West Campus building (the old Famous-Barr in Clayton), 7425 Forsyth Blvd, at 3:30 p.m.

Here is a video from Commissioner King’s July 27 announcement of the committee, its members, and its mission:

Related Stories:

State Appoints Board to Look at SLPS
VIDEO: Committee to Look at SLPS ‘Turmoil’