(Update Nov. 8) – The St. Joseph School District issued a correction to the total APR results Tuesday.
Dr. Kendra Lau, Dir. of Assessment for the district said she was made aware Tuesday morning of a change that impacted the total points for the St. Joseph School District’s final APR results.
“During a phone call with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, we were notified that an update had been made to the calculation formula which caused a one-point difference in our overall score. The total points should be 117.5 instead of 118.5,” Lau said.
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(Nov. 7) – A state report released Monday show a drop in attendance in the St. Joseph School District.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released its Annual Performance Report (APR), highlighting areas of stability and room for growth in the St. Joseph School District.
The district earned 117.5 points (Corrected) out of 140 points or 84.6 percent of points available. The APR evaluates school districts on academic achievement, subgroup achievement, college and career readiness, attendance and graduation rate. The St. Joseph School District earned 48 out of 56 points for academic achievement, 9.5 out of 14 points for subgroup achievement, 25 out of 30 for college and career readiness, 6 out of 10 for attendance, and 30 out of 30 for graduation rate.
Dr. Marlie Williams, Asst. Supt. of Academic and Education Services for the district said attendance dropped during the 2015-16 school year from the year prior.
“Just over 1,700 of our students missed 16 or 17 or more days of the academic year. That’s really critical for us to get students to school. It’s a workforce readiness habit. We want students who are prepared to attend college or attend their jobs regularly, we also know how critical it is that students are in the classroom,” Williams said.
She said college and career readiness also shows room for growth.
“We placed 83.1 percent of the seniors or 570 students in college, the military or the workforce within six months of their graduation in a field that was directly related to what they studied in high school,” Williams said.
Dr. Kenda Lau, Dir. of Assessment for the district said the APR is just one of the reports used to shape goals for the district.
“It’s a piece of the information that we use. We certainly monitor APR information throughout the year in real time and based on student assessment scores in real time. So we progress monitor how we’re doing all year long with our APR so at a building level and the district level there is an awareness of how we’re preforming at usual intervals,” Lau said. “It lets us know where we are and where we need to go.”
To view the report CLICK HERE.