KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Kansas City Public Schools leaders say preliminary high school test results from the spring make them optimistic about the district's chances of receiving full accreditation.
Chief academic officer Vickie Murillo said estimated index scores from the tests showed enough growth to put the district at or above its improvement target for accreditation.
"If we were awarded accreditation off of these scores, we'd be jumping for joy," she said.
The only drop was in English language arts, which was tested for the first time with new Common Core-based exams. The district is still awaiting results for third through eighth grades.
Even if the tests results are above the fully accredited range, the state school board likely will wait for at least another year of performance before raising the district's status, The Kansas City Star (http://bit.ly/1fEC0yu ) reported. The state board gave the district provisional accreditation last August.
The district presented the state's preliminary index scores, which provide a rating based on the number of students who scored in each performance category: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. It's not known yet what percentage of students in the preliminary results scored proficient or advanced. Those official numbers will be published by the state likely in August.
The district saw an increase in the exams in government, biology and Algebra I. The district dipped in English II, but it scored higher than it did in the start of a three-year window the state looks at in considering a district's growth.