Jefferson City Public Schools students continued a trend last spring with the 2015 version of the Missouri Assessment Program tests - more of the district's scores fell below that state average than in previous years.
The MAP tests are given in elementary and middle school grades 3-8, while high school students are tested on "end of course" exams. All students are tested in math and English language arts, while some districts also give tests in science and social studies.
There are four scoring levels, but the goal is to get all students in the proficient or above-proficient range.
Jefferson City students, as a whole, scored better than the state average in only four of 22 test areas: seventh-grade English language arts, 59 percent compared to the state's 57.3 percent; and high school classes Algebra II, 80.5 percent versus the state's 66.1 percent statewide; Geometry, 66.2 percent compared with 63 percent; and American history, 53.2 percent, compared with the state's 49.5 percent.
"We've had fewer and fewer areas that were above the state average every year," Dawn Berhorst, assistant to the superintendent for planning and assessment, said. "But I think it's safe to say that this is the first year that we've had this many."
In English language arts, Jefferson City's scores ranged from a low of 50.5 percent (eighth grade) to a high of 70.7 percent for high school English II - but the statewide average at that level was 73.7 percent.
In math, Jefferson City's lowest score was 11.3 percent among eighth-graders, versus a state average of 28.3 percent.
But, both state and local officials noted, those scores come with a qualifier - those eighth-grade students who took the Algebra I test didn't have to take the MAP math test as well, dropping the scores on the general math test because those students taking the Algebra class generally were those more proficient in math to begin with.
Besides the Algebra II and Geometry scores, Jefferson City's best math results score was 59.4 percent for Algebra I.
"We're doing something right in Algebra I," Superintendent Larry Linthacum said, "or we wouldn't be doing as well in Algebra II," even though the Algebra I scores are below the state average and the Algebra II scores are above it.
Trying to figure out what's being done well, and improving what isn't, will take some time, he said.
"But, just because you have a student, or a group of students, who are not proficient doesn't mean they're not attaining grade level."
And, Linthacum said, it's too soon to cite specific reasons for the lagging scores.
"We're trying to dig in and determine (that) at this point," he said. "It's one tool to measure how we're doing.
"It's not the end-all tool - but you can't ignore it."
Linthacum said district officials are "not excited about the results - we want to do better than. So, we're trying to determine, where are we? And where do we want to be? ...
"If we messed up, we'll say we messed up - and let's move forward, focus on kids and student learning."
Berhorst also reminds parents: "A proficient score is above grade-level ... (the scores) don't mean kids aren't on-track with their grade-level expectations. We want all our kids to be "proficient.'"
But several issues need to be considered in determining what needs to be addressed, she said.
For instance, when the state Elementary and Secondary Education department released the statewide results last week, DESE officials lauded the technological advance that had all Missouri elementary students taking the tests online.
However, the Missouri Association of School Administrators challenged that, citing a "potential for an inherent bias with online assessments that needs to be considered when evaluating how a school or student performed."
In addition, last spring's exams were new and the standards they were testing were different from the past, preventing direct comparisons with previous years' results.
Berhorst said: "There's a lot of things that changed, and that kind of muddies the waters on what change affected what."
There were wide-ranging differences among 30 Mid-Missouri school districts' overall scores for each subject matter.
The highest scores in the region included Blair Oaks' English language arts, with 80.1 percent proficient or advanced, and Osage R-1 Chamois' social studies, 85.7 percent.
The lowest scores were in the High Point elementary only district, with 29.8 percent in math and 28.6 percent in science.
For districts with elementary and high school classes, math was the weakest point in Belle, 32.5 percent, and in New Bloomfield, 35.4 percent.