COLUMBIA — The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) unveiled the latest annual performance report (APR) data for school districts on Monday.
Columbia Public Schools received a score of 70.1% on the APR issued for 2023.
The district received 92.3% of points in the continuous improvement section and 61.9% of points in performance.
2023 Missouri School Improvement Program 6 Annual Performance Report for Columbia Public Schools
This is a slight improvement from the 2021-2022 score, which was 70%.
DESE looks at various metrics including performance and continuous improvement. There are subcategories within those areas, such as English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. This year, DESE also started looking at science and social studies as growth factors.
Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Brian Yearwood said it doesn’t look like there was much change in the district’s score because the scale changed after DESE added science and social studies.
“What has happened with our data and scoring is that two years ago, the denominator was 180 points,” Yearwood said. “This year the denominator has increased, it’s now at 190 points.”
“They look at not only overall performance levels, how many are passing or proficient, but also how many of our scholars are actually growing,” Yearwood continued.
CPS is “on-track” in science and social studies within the performance portion of the APR and is “approaching” for ELA and math.
CPS Performance
Yearwood said the district has implemented strategies to improve achievement in these areas, including multi-tiered support systems, and will continue to improve its strategies to help bring ELA and math to “on-track.”
“One was starting the iReady assessments so that we can look more intimately at data,” Yearwood said. “Professional development has been increased, we did three additional days in October. By us improving our instructional environment, that will also have a very deep effect on what we see happening with our scholars.”
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
According to the report, CPS students are on track or have met the target in graduation rate, post-secondary outcomes, and the number of students taking college level or advanced training courses.
In a press release, Yearwood said CPS plans to acknowledge both celebration and areas where there are opportunities for improvement.
According to the press release, those areas of improvement include college and career-ready assessments.
Jefferson City Schools received a score of 76.7% for the 2022-2023 school year, an increase from 70.9% last school year.
Dr. Heather Beaulieu, deputy superintendent of JC Schools, said she was pleased with the growth shown on the 2023 APR.
“We grew about 6% points and showed growth in the area of English Language Arts so we were very happy about that,” Beaulieu said. “We showed growth in graduation rate.”
Jefferson City Schools Performance
She said she knows they have areas to work on and are continuing to do so.
“Mathematics and attendance,” Beaulieu said. “We have work to do but we put a lot of things in place with instruction and attendance and supporting students in all different ways.”
DESE uses Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) 6 as its accountability model. To score districts on their performance and improvement, DESE uses APRs.
According to DESE’s website, APR scores provide data about the individual performance of local education agencies (LEA) based on standards in the MSIP 6.
MSIP 6 is the state’s accountability system for reviewing and accrediting LEAs. It was approved by the State Board of Education in February 2020.