Cassville R-IV School District: 2022 MSIP Annual Performance Report (APR)
Today, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the latest scores for school districts across the state. We would like to explain a little more about what these results are and what they mean for our district.
What is the APR?
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has an accountability model for school districts called the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP). To score districts on their performance and improvement, DESE provides data through the Annual Performance Report (APR). Additionally, the Cassville R-IV School District monitors and evaluates district data on a daily basis.
How is this score different from previous years?
This is the first year DESE is using the sixth version of its accountability model (MSIP 6). There are a few notable differences between this model and the previous one, listed below:
- This is the pilot year for scoring schools using the standards for MSIP 6.
- The scoring of achieving Status and Growth scores is different.
- Status and Growth are also scored separately, while in the previous model, they could be scored in conjunction.
- As a District, we will continue to learn how the new scoring works as we simultaneously focus on best educational practices for all Cassville R-IV students.
As a district, we received 76.9% of the available data points. It’s important to note that the data noted in the APR is from the spring of 2022. While this data has just recently been packaged and released to the public, our school district has had access to certain pieces of it since the start of this school year. Therefore, we have already implemented action steps and goals to address the needs of our students and continue to do so on a regular basis.
What is the CSIP plan?
During the Fall of 2022, Cassville R-IV developed a team of internal and external stakeholders to develop a Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP). The CSIP is a strategic plan which provides a framework through which the district will support the schools in ensuring the academic success and well-being of each student. CSIP goals were created to address areas of focus and improvement, many of which are also reflected in the recently released APR results.
Below, we would like to share some celebrations and opportunities for improvement we have drawn from our APR score and have addressed within our CSIP.
Celebrations
- CSIP goal 1.1 focuses on student learning and state assessment scores. As a district, English Language Arts (ELA), Math, and Science APR academic achievement status was designated as “on track” in all three core areas.
- CSIP goal 1.4 focuses on student graduate rate. We earned 100% of the available points on our APR score for graduation follow-up and four-year graduation rate.
- CSIP goals 1.3, 1.3.3, and 1.3.4 focuses on the Continuous Improvement standard. The district earned 96.2% of APR points in this category which was a near perfect score as a result of finalizing an updated CSIP, completing Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAP) with eighth grade students, and administering the Kindergarten Entry Assessment to kindergarten students in the fall of 2022.
Opportunities for Improvement
- Adding WorkKeys Assessment: The district’s “Success-Ready Students” performance score has been designated as “approaching.” The Success-Ready Students designation is evaluated upon College and Career Ready (CCR) Assessments which include the ACT, SAT, WorkKeys, Accuplacer and ASVAB tests.
CSIP goal 1.1.8 provides a new relevant assessment, the ACT WorkKeys, for placement when joining the workforce or attending a trade school for CHS graduates.
- Encourage Advanced Coursework: In addition to CCR scores, the Success-Ready Student performance score also evaluates the number of students who are choosing advanced placement courses such as Dual Credit, Dual Enrollment, Project Lead the Way courses, and industry recognized credential programs.
CSIP goals 1.3 and 1.3.6 provides students with additional opportunities for dual credit, dual enrollment, advanced coursework, industry certification and credentials applicable to their chosen career or program.
- Attendance Improvements: The district earned 50% of available points for student attendance.
The district is addressing attendance concerns in the following ways:
- CSIP goal 1.3.1 states celebrations, recognition and incentives will be given for K-12 students who have 90% or above on quarterly attendance.
- CSIP goal 1.3.2 states parents/guardians will receive a phone call or message when their student is absent each day
- Students K-8 with 80% attendance or better participate in the Positive Behavior Support (PBS) incentive and celebration events.
- District counselors check-in with families of students who are frequently absent to encourage attendance and to see if the district can provide support.
- High school students with 94% or higher attendance, have not served school suspension, and have earned a minimum grade of 85% in their course are exempt from end of semester finals.
- Perfect attendance awards are provided to students at the end of each semester.
We plan to celebrate these wins while evaluating and creating updated CSIP goals to improve our school district based on the results of this report. As always, we continue to pursue educational excellence for our students.