Education

Mo. State Education Board Expands Oversight Of Failing Schools; Talks MAP Scores

St. Louis Public Radio | By Marshall Griffin,

Marshall Griffin

Published August 20, 2013 at 5:40 PM CDT

The Missouri State Board of Education voted Tuesday to increase oversight of the state's unaccredited school districts.

The vote came a week before a new state law takes effect that will allow Missouri to move more quickly towards taking over unaccredited school districts. Education Commissioner Chris Nicastrosays state officials will soon begin to heighten their presence in those districts.

"Instead of doing it twice a month, maybe they need to do it three times a month," Nicastro told reporters. "I think (that it would) mean increased interaction with district personnel, increased visits to classrooms, increased interaction and maybe attendance at (local school) board meetings."

Three school districts in Missouri are currently unaccredited – Kansas City, and two districts in St. Louis County, Normandy and Riverview Gardens. St. Louis city schools regained provisional accreditation last year.

Meanwhile, the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) has released its annual report on student achievement in the state's classrooms, and the results show great improvement in science and a slight drop in math. First, the number of students scoring at the proficient or advanced level in science jumped from 52.2 percent last year to 59.1 percent this year. Math scores, however, dropped slightly from 55.5 percent last year to 53.9 percent this year, while communication arts held steady at 55.6 percent.

"We'd love to see more improvement," Nicastro said. "We've been amazingly steady, I guess that's a good thing in some areas, but when it comes to measuring student performance it's not such a good thing -- it's better than going down, but we would like to see bigger increases."

The full statewide report can be viewed here. Meanwhile, MAP scores for individual school districts will be made public Friday.

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport

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Marshall Griffin

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.

See stories by Marshall Griffin

Marshall Griffin

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.