The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently released the 2016 district-level Missouri Assessment Program results.
"When the state gives us the (initial spreadsheet), it's two years of data totalling about 90,000 lines," New Bloomfield Superintendent David Tramel said.
Third- through eighth-graders take tests in English language arts and math. Fifth- and eighth-graders receive end-of-course assessments in science. There are also social studies and high school biology tests.
Callaway County school districts - Fulton 58, New Bloomfield R-3, North Callaway R-1 and South Callaway R-2 - had mixed results compared to Missouri's overall scores and previous years.
Scores reflect the combined percentages of students scoring "proficient" or "advanced" on each test.
This year's English language arts and math tests contained new questions, and the score thresholds for the different proficiency levels have changed. This means this year's results in those subjects can't be accurately compared to previous years.
Fulton 58
Fulton's lower grade levels excelled in math and ELA, with third- through sixth-grade students beating state averages in math and third through fifth-graders doing the same in ELA.
"As a district, we've typically outperformed the state in English language arts and math in grades three through five," said Suzanne Hull, Fulton's assistant superintendent. "Our teachers teach a curriculum that's aligned to the standards with fidelity."
She said the teachers use benchmark data to track students' learning and are able to predict how well the students will perform before they even take the assessment.
As the grades climbed, however, scores in math dropped by an average of 8.9 percent per grade level between fourth and eighth grade.
Eighth-graders struggled in math across the board, both at the state level and in each county school district.
"The challenge for school districts is that we've always received IBD (Item Benchmark Description) reports," Hull said. "We would take the reports and identify exactly where we fell short on our instruction."
But because of budget cuts, the DESE has not released the reports for the past two years.
"It's been a killer for us," Hull said.
Fulton's science scores have dropped since 2014, mirroring a statewide trend, down from 47.5 to 36.1 percent for fifth-graders and 47.2 to 33.1 percent for eighth-graders. High school biology scores held relatively steady, at about 59 percent.
Once more, the lack of IBD reports made it difficult to pinpoint problem areas. Thankfully, this year the DESE will finally begin releasing IBD reports again, to Hull said.
"We'll be able to address our areas of concern, adjust our instruction and improve our skills for next year," Hull said.
New Bloomfield R-3
New Bloomfield results were generally near state averages in math. Only sixth- and eighth-graders had noticeable departures from the average. Sixth-graders were 22.6 percent proficient or better, compared to 43 percent statewide; eighth graders were at 16.7 percent, compared to 40.3 percent statewide.
However, Algebra 1 and 2 proficiency was an average of 5 percent higher than the state as a whole.
ELA scores were close to the state's, at an average of 6.6 percentage points below state scores across grade levels. This is an improvement since the previous year, when New Bloomfield trailed the state by an average of 9.3 percentage points.
"When you compare our growth over last year, we're happy it shows some improvement," Tramel said.
Eighth-grade science scores seem to be rebounding. After 2015 scores saw a drop from 50 to 33.9 percent proficient or better, this year, numbers climbed back up to 45.4 percent.
Also worth noting is that New Bloomfield led the pack in high school biology. At 70.6 percent proficient or better, the school exceeded the state average by just under 4 percentage points.
As for when they'll start prepping for next year: "The principals are already chomping at the bit," Tramel said.
New Bloomfield has been working with the University of Missouri to hone educational strategies. High school and middle school Principal Jeremy Davidson said one area of focus is grading. Grades at New Bloomfield schools mainly reflect assessments like quizzes and tests, giving administrators a more genuine idea of how well students are meeting Educational Opportunity Center standards.
"The most genuine assessment of what the child knows is what they can do in front of the teacher," Tramel said.
North Callaway R-1
This year saw North Callaway scores fall further behind the state than last year in almost every grade and subject.
While ELA and math scores this year can't be compared directly to last year's scores, the gap between the state and the school can be compared.
Last year, in math (not including Algebra I), the school lagged behind the state by an average of 10.7 percentage points. This year, they were behind by an average of 17 percentage points. Eighth grade math was a particular trouble spot, with only 10.3 percent of students testing proficient or better, versus 40.3 percent statewide.
ELA told a similar story. The gap between state and New Bloomfield scores grew from an average of 7.5 percentage points to 15 percentage points.
Scores likewise lagged in fifth- and eighth-grade science, though about 4 percent more fifth-graders (33.7 percent) scored proficient or better than in 2015.
North Callaway has one big, ongoing success, however. For at least the past three years, the school has exceeded the state average in high school biology. This year, 68.5 percent of test takers scored proficient or better.
North Callaway administrators could not be reached for comment.
South Callaway R-2
South Callaway found a sweet spot with math this year, beating state averages at all grade levels except eighth.
In Algebra 1, 100 percent of kids scored proficient or above, versus the 65.8 percent state average.
"One hundred percent," Superintendent Kevin Hillman said with enthusiasm. "My gosh, we're really excited about that."
However, the school plans to analyze those results as closely as they would a less desirable outcome.
"We're excited when some scores come back that are really good, but we take the same approach: Why is that?" Hillman said. "Do we have some top kids coming through, or is it a change we've made that worked well?"
He points out during the past few years, teachers at South Callaway schools have been working hard to improve curricula.
Scores in ELA were at or below the state average by a few points, except for sixth grade. At 40.4 percent proficient or better, sixth-graders fell 18 percentage points lower than the state.
And while South Callaway exceeded the state average in fifth- and eighth-grade science, scores in high school biology fell by 17.2 percentage points since the previous year.
As previously reported, in Missouri, science scores have been trending downward for the past three years.
Hillman mentioned there was some concern over the summer changes in the grading methods might have lowered the scores.
"There's a chance that we have some curriculum that's not matching up with standards," he said.
He said schools across the state are working together to learn what the issue is.
Overall, Hillman is proud of the school's performance.
"We feel pretty good about the work we've put in," he said. "I think our staff has been working extremely hard trying to make the changes (to curricula) and we see scores that are trending in the right direction because of that work."