The Blair Oaks School District's results from the Missouri Assessment Program, commonly referred to as the MAP test, show the district above the state average in every subject, sometimes by as much as 20 percentage points.
Results also show Blair Oaks outperforming other nearby districts and conference schools, taking second place only in two categories -- sixth-grade English Language Arts and eighth-grade math. Blair Oaks administrators presented the data at the district's regular January board meeting, putting its scores alongside Boonville, California, Eldon, Hallsville, School of the Osage, Southern Boone and Versailles.
The district outperformed the state average across the board. For instance, 61.4 percent of third-graders were proficient or advanced in ELA, compared to 41.4 percent across the state; 75.6 percent of fourth-graders were proficient or advanced, compared to the state's 44.3 percent; and 66.7 percent of fifth-graders were proficient or advanced, compared to the state's 44. In math, 61.4 percent of Blair Oaks third-graders scored proficient or advanced, compared to 39.7 percent in the state; 79.6 percent of fourth-graders scored proficient or advanced compared to 43.4 percent in the state; and 71.2 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient or advanced to 36.2 percent in the state. In science, 72.4 percent of fifth-graders scored proficient or advanced, compared to 40.6 percent in the state.
Assistant Superintendent Kimberley Walters said she's pleased the district continues to "make improvements with each grade level and with each cohort as they move forward."
But the teachers and administrators are competitive, she said, and like to see how they stack up against the state and other schools. And they're also looking for growth each year.
"It's not just a one year thing for us, we have that kind of that stamina that shows we're consistent across each year," Walters said.
One major piece of the puzzle is Blair Oaks' attendance rate, which is at 93.8 percent.
"I have to commend our faculty and our administrative team and our community for ... supporting the process and getting kids to school and in attendance. Our attendance percentage is -- for post-COVID – really pretty phenomenal," interim Superintendent Mark Harvey said.
"I didn't realize what a struggle a lot of schools are having getting kids to attend school. That's really a key component to the testing and learning process. Kids have to be in the seat, and we have to have high quality instruction," he added. "I think Blair Oaks is an example of that being a focus, high quality instruction, at school, and doing the task and committed to learning."
Blair Oaks also does Algebra EOCs a little differently than some districts. Students are required to take the EOC before they graduate, but are not necessarily required to take it the same year they take the class, Walters said. Even if a student takes algebra in eighth grade, the school may give them the eighth grade MAP test and delay their EOC until high school. Walters said that can bring scores up.
"We just decided as a district we weren't gonna play the game. We weren't gonna play the game to try to get our scores up for DESE," she said. "We were going to do what we thought was best for kids, and so when our kids take eighth-grade algebra EOC, they do not take eighth grade ... MAP."
Walters said it's more reflective of their learning at the time of the test.
While this can sometimes lead to lower scores in that category for Blair Oaks, she said this year, 100 percent of eighth-graders that took the Algebra EOC scored advanced or proficient, and Algebra I scores were up slightly.
Walters said the areas she would target for improvement are the two areas in which Blair Oaks didn't top the conference: sixth-grade ELA and eighth-grade math.
"That's hard, when ... the weakness is that we're ranked second in the conference, but that would be what I would identify," she said.
Walters said Blair Oaks' philosophy is to build preparation for the MAP into its curriculum throughout the year.
"It's not a cram for a test kind of thing," she said. "We want to make sure that we're hitting the standards appropriately all throughout the year and that our summative assessments align to those standards so that they're better prepared."
That means tailoring assessments to match the MAP and EOC tests in terms of rigor, subject and depth of knowledge.
"The question could hit the standard, but if it's not at the depth of level to show that understanding ... they may be able to do it in the classroom, but not on the test," she said.
Students also practice using computer tools ahead of time so that they know what they're doing when it's time to take the test on the computer. That's another reason why computer and typing classes have been embedded in elementary curriculum as well, Walters said.
"It's a hard twist, because you don't want them on the computer all the time, and they have so much screen time, but you want them to be comfortable with it," she said.
Julie Smith/News Tribune
Using a dry erase board, Leah Utterback figures the answers to math fraction questions Wednesday at Blair Oaks Intermediate School.
Julie Smith/News Tribune
Using a dry erase board, Leah Utterback figures the answers to math fraction questions Wednesday at Blair Oaks Intermediate School.
Julie Smith/News Tribune
Ella Rademan, near, and Lucas Godsy are seen working on math problems Wednesday during class at Blair Oaks Intermediate School where both are in the fourth grade.
Julie Smith/News Tribune
In order to enhance their fractions skills, Blair Oaks Intermediate School students played a game similar to Scrabble with small sheets of paper with fractions on them to make equations and find the answer.
Julie Smith/News Tribune
Alayna Bates, left, Addy Moore and Brylee Bolton, at right, and fellow fourth graders in Sheri Holland's class read for their assignment on the computer. Portions of student reading is done using computers in conjuction with books, as is shown here.
Julie Smith/News Tribune
Paige Wilde, near, and Liam White try to answer a kinetic energy question in science class Wednesday at Blair Oaks Intermediate School. Both are students in Heather Dixon's fourth grade room where they were trying to determine the impact and force involved in a collision of two toy cars.