Three area schools were among the schools in Missouri with the highest academic growth in 2019, according to a new Policy Research in Missouri Education (PRiME) Center report published Thursday.
Schools with a low percentage of students reaching proficient and advanced levels on Missouri standardized tests are also among the ones that have achieved some of the most student growth, according to the report.
The report finds that schools with high growth are not confined to a single category. They include those with already high test scores as well as those with as few as 11.1 percent of students tested scoring proficient or advanced in a subject.
St. Elizabeth High School ranked 19 in top growth middle schools in English Language Arts school-wide achievement, with a PRiME growth score of 93.4 percent. About 61 percent scored proficient or advanced on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test. St. Elizabeth High School includes grades six through 12.
Miller County Elementary School ranked 13 in top growth “elemiddle” (K-8) schools in English language arts school-wide achievement and 19 in English language arts subgroup achievement growth. Subgroup includes students receiving free and reduced-price lunch, Black and Hispanic students, English language learners and students with disabilities, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Its schoolwide PRiME growth score was 91.4 percent, with 40 percent scoring proficient or advanced on the MAP test. Its subgroup achievement growth score was 90.8, with 29.8 percent scoring proficient or advanced on the MAP test. About 66 percent of Miller County Elementary students are subgroup eligible, according to the report.
Jamestown C-1 Elementary School ranked 13 in top growth elementary schools in English language arts subgroup achievement and 19 in top performing elementary schools in math subgroup achievement.
Jamestown’s English language arts subgroup PRiME growth score was 97.3 percent, with 69.6 percent scoring proficient or advanced on the MAP test. Its math PRiME growth score was 95.5 percent, with 52.2 percent scoring proficient or advanced on the MAP test. About 47 percent of Jamestown C-1 Elementary students are subgroup eligible, according to the report.
Elementary and middle schools in the Jefferson City School District averaged around 84-85 percent in PRiME growth scores across all categories, including English language arts, math and the subgroups for each category.
Callaway Hills Elementary School had the highest growth score among JC Schools at 91.3 percent in English language arts and 93.1 percent in the English language arts subgroup. South Elementary School was closest with 90.7 percent for English language arts and 92.4 percent in the subgroup.
Callaway Hills was also the highest in math with a growth score of 90.9 percent, followed closely by South Elementary at 90.7 percent. Both schools also led their subgroups with growth scores of 92.1 and 91.9 percent, respectively.
Blair Oaks Elementary School had a growth score of 91.3 percent in English language arts and 89.3 percent in math, and the middle school had a growth score of 79.7 percent in English language arts and 80.6 percent in math.