NEVC School Board Reviews Test Scores

by Johannes Brann

After reviewing the agenda of last Thursday’s meeting of the Northeast Vernon County R-1 School Board, it would be easy to feature their announced dates for graduation (Sat., May 4, 2024), prom (Sat. April 13) and senior trip (April 26-30, no destination yet set), along with approval of students attending the Future Farmers of America national convention in Indianapolis (Oct. 30-Nov. 3) and the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) conference in Birmingham, Alabama, Nov. 9-13. With only Heather Brown absent, each of these was approved in resolutions with board members voting six in favor and none against.

And yes, the date of the Junior Class Pie Supper has yet to be set. And yes, the board adopted by a vote of 6-0, a total of 11 district policies and four supporting regulations. Among these was a policy which aligns the district to recently adopted rules by the Missouri General Assembly which slightly shortens the allotted time for candidates to file for school board.

As the official summary of Policy 2115 (Transgender Students) states, students are prohibited “from competing in sports designated for students of the opposite biological sex, as determined at their birth.” In addition, students do not have the option of utilizing restrooms of their personally identified gender.

Certainly, the broken water pipe in the women’s restroom which flooded the old gym floor (current offices of principal, counselor and special education) over the Labor Day weekend warranted a report as the process to fully assess what repairs will be required next summer has just begun.

However, the far more significant matter taken up by the board was contained in the reports by each building principal on the past school year’s test results from the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) and End of Course (EOC) examinations.

“Our test scores, meaning our students are nowhere where we want them to be” said Junior/Senior High School Principal Dr. John Lawrence.

Referring to five-page handout he distributed, Lawrence reviewed the test score results in grade seven math and English/Language Arts (ELA), grade eight science, math and ELA as well as end of course test results in algebra 1, biology, government and English II. In each area, results were broken down by percentage of students testing “Below basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced” levels.

“As you can see, we have far too many students testing at the below basic and basic levels and far too few testing at the proficient and advanced levels but I want you to know two things,” said Lawrence. “First, as Superintendent Holcomb explained in a previous meeting—and to which you as the board gave your approval—we are starting DCI (District Continuous Improvement), a multi-year process which I have used before and that I know will have a significant positive improvement on student learning and test scores, as we empower teachers to do even better.”

As to his second point, Lawrence reviewed how many of the students in the below basic and basic levels were within a few points of being in the next higher category.

“With the ‘Basic’ level of proficiency accounting for anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of our students, in each area, improving learning by a relatively small amount will result in having a significant portion of our students in the ‘Proficient’ learning level,” said Lawrence.

He spoke of how utilizing DCI over a number of years will result in consistent positive learning outcomes.

“This district has good teachers who want to be even better and that’s what will drive improvement,” added Lawrence.

The Junior/Senior High School Principal related that the DCI process was received enthusiastically when introduced the previous Monday in a series of Professional Development day faculty meetings at both the high school in Walker and by Principal Eric Rhodes at the Schell City Elementary School.

Elementary enrollment stands at 100 while there are 104 in the Junior/Senior High School. Rhodes said the third grade class enjoyed participating in the Missouri History Day hands-on events at the Bushwhacker Museum in Nevada. Dr. Lawrence mentioned one new enrollee being an exchange student from Italy.