Morgan County R-2 School District MSIP | Jefferson City News Tribune

VERSAILLES, Mo. - The Morgan County R-2 School District improved just slightly from its 2013 Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) score, earning 128.5 out of 140 points possible - 91.8 percent, up from 91.4 percent in 2013 - on the 2014 annual performance report.

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The district's scores remained identical in academic achievement, attendance and graduation rate.

"We really didn't change all that much on our academic performance. We basically held stable, which we were actually pretty good with because from what we're hearing overall the state went down," said Morgan County R-2 Superintendent Joyce Ryerson. "We're just trying to continue those good things that we're doing."

As for the district's more extreme changes, subgroup achievement scores dropped from 100 to 75 percent, and college and career readiness soared to 85 percent from 71.7 percent last year.

"We were pleased to see our hard work in the area of college and career readiness is apparently paying off," said Ryerson. "Overall, we are pleased with the resulting slight increase in score."

MSIP 5's college and career readiness standard considers factors such as students' grades in dual-credit courses and scores on standardized exams like the ACT and ASVAB.

"We offer lots of dual credit. Kids can leave here and pretty much already be a sophomore in college," Ryerson said. "In many cases, kids who are taking dual credit are taking two or three dual-credit classes."

In previous years, MSIP scores would factor in every college and career readiness factor for every graduating student. Since 2013, though, only a student's highest score - whether in a dual-credit course, ACT or ASVAB exam - is considered.

"It's more about being very thorough to look at how our kids have done and whether we've captured a college and career readiness score for them somewhere among all the options that we have. The goal is every child should have one point. If they don't do well on an ASVAB, for example, they might only have a .25. What we're looking at is how we might be able to encourage kids to take the ACT again or take the ASVAB again to get that higher score," Ryerson said. "It's much more individualized."

MSIP 5 scores school districts' subject-specific academic achievement based on the status and progress demonstrated by students' Missouri Assessment Program, or MAP, test scores in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies - specifically, the percentage of students who scored "advanced" or "proficient" rather than "basic" or "below basic."

Student scores have risen over the past several years in both science and social studies - from 55.9 percent in 2012 to 63.3 percent in 2014 in science, and from 52 percent in 2012 to 56.3 percent in 2014 in social studies.

However, the district's mathematics scores have plummeted from 60.6 percent in 2012 to 53.6 percent in 2014. English language arts scores, too, have dropped slightly from 55.5 percent in 2012 to 52.9 percent in 2014.

Improving attendance will be one of the district's immediate focuses. To earn all the available points, 90 percent of students must attend school 90 percent of the time, despite the district's overall attendance average.

"Our attendance ended at 94 percent for the year; however, we have a small group that are chronically failing to attend regularly," Ryerson said. "We are continuing to try to reach out to our parents in order to strengthen our partnership with them in their child's education. We are hoping that the foundation of this partnership will foster better participation for our students."

Introductory article:

State's MSIP 5 ranks performance, progress of 21 area schools

How 21 Mid-Missouri school districts fared:

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