Columbia Public Schools continues to see steady improvements, earning an 88.7% score in the state’s Annual Performance Report.
The score is a 2.2 percentage point increase from last year and an 18.6 point increase from 2023, and it places the district among the top 15% of Missouri’s 553 school districts.
District leaders gathered Thursday at Oakland Middle School to highlight the achievement and recognize the work of teachers, staff and students who contributed to the growth.
“We’ve chosen our location today intentionally,” Superintendent Jeff Klein said. “Oakland had the highest growth in this year’s APR among all of our schools.”
Annual Performance Reports, or APRs, act as a report card for Missouri school districts.
Since 2022, APR scores have been based on the Missouri School Improvement Program, or MSIP6, which evaluates both student performance and continuous improvement to ensure school districts prepare students for their futures.
The district earned 58 of 60 points in the continuous improvement category and 119.5 out of 140 in academic performance. Out of 20 categories measured in performance, the district maintained or improved in 19 categories, according to a district news release.
The district will use the data to guide its strategic plan, review programs and curriculum and focus on next steps for continued growth and innovation, according to the release.
“It’s difficult to narrow down to just one strategy, because we don’t just do one thing here,” Klein said. “We’ve done a lot of work this past year implementing consistent curriculum across schools so that no matter where you attend, you’re getting the same rigorous learning experience.”
Academic achievement and growth
The district reported improvements in every content area of the Missouri Assessment Program, including a 3.1% increase in math and a 3.6% increase in science proficiency.
This year, a higher number of students are taking college-level or advanced credits, and the district’s graduation rate remained above 92%.
Klein noted that some progress seen in this year’s APR reflects years of effort.
“Some of this data comes from graduation rates and following up on graduates, and that’s really not just one year’s worth of work,” he said. “It’s many years of work that have contributed to these results.”
Attendance and continuous improvement
Attendance continues to be an area of focus for the district. For the second consecutive year, 80% of district students attended school at least 90% of the time, an improvement over past years but still shy of the state’s 90% goal, according to the release.
Board President John Lyman said getting students back in the classroom consistently remains the key to continued growth.
“The more often you’re in school, the better you going to do,” Lyman said. “Students who are in school 90% of the time or more score two to three times higher on assessments. Getting kids back into school — that’s where the learning happens.”
He added that the board views APR data as a valuable tool to understand what’s working and where improvement is needed.
“It’s what they call a lagging indicator, but it gives us a good idea of what we did well and what we need to continue to work on,” Lyman said. “This is just an affirmation that a lot of what we did last year worked — it made a difference.”
Continuing the work
Klein said the APR results are not a stopping point but a benchmark for continued progress.
“We’ll be using APR data as one of the significant sources to determine what needs to be in our next five-year strategic plan,” he said. “That’s probably the largest way that we use the data — to contribute to our long-range planning for student success.”
Both Klein and Lyman also pointed to ongoing efforts to ensure all students benefit from academic growth.
“We want to make sure that all of our students are achieving success regardless of their racial or ethnic identity, gender or background,” Klein said. “I want to be particularly focused and make sure that we’re addressing the areas that will have the highest impact.”
Lyman continued that sentiment, noting the district will continue to “tweak things a little bit” to help students thrive.
“It’s not about grabbing points,” he said. “It’s about using this as a barometer for how successful we’re being and how we can keep getting better.”
