Dr. Mwangi talks Joplin Schools’ Annual Performance Report

Joplin Schools was very pleased with the latest results of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Annual Performance Report, and for good reason.

Missouri’s MoSPE standards define expectations for Educator Preparation Providers (EPPs). DESE’s Annual Performance Report for Educator Preparation Programs (APR-EPP), based on these standards, serves as the primary tool for annually evaluating EPP performance and recommending continued accreditation to the State Board of Education.

Dr. Sarah Mwangi, Assistant Superintendent of Learning Services, joined the Morning Newswatch to discuss Joplin Schools’ performance, and the school district’s thoughts on those results.

“(The annual report) breaks it down really into two big parts, one being performance and one being continuous improvement,” Mwangi said. “There’s different components within each of those. So performance is going to look at status and growth as well as some advanced credit, some college and career readiness assessments, as well as graduation rate. Then on the continuous improvement side, you’re really looking at what are your processes? Do you have a plan? Do you have a strategic plan? How do you implement some of those action steps to continually work to get better, as well as attendance measures and things like our ASBR and our submission to data. So just some components that are part of our regular school business.”

Mwangi added that Joplin Schools have really been focusing on boating the continuous improvement aspect. In 2022, Joplin Schools were at 69 percent. This year, Joplin Schools improved to 81 percent.

“Specifically within that report, we specifically focus on status,” Mwangi said. “So, there is the growth measure in there. I would just caution people on the growth because you can have really high and really low just how it’s calculated. So, we look at the statistics of the growth, but how those points get assigned at the state level can be a little misleading sometimes. So if you see districts that jump really high or drop really low, and if you dig into their growth, if that’s the reason why, there’s probably a little more to look into where that status, that top portion, really, it’s a static number. … The super exciting part is Joplin schools are on track in everything except math. And math is only two points away. So, it’s not like we’re far off. We’re really optimistic this year with the work that we’ve been doing, that our goal this year is that we come out with everything on track.”

Why is the growth measurement so erratic? Each student gets a predicted score based on past performance. Schools are measured on “growth” (how much students improve beyond predictions). However, the state forces all schools into four fixed quartiles (like quarters of a ranking). Growth points depend entirely on which bucket you land in — not just how well your students actually grew.

This makes scores unpredictable and hard to explain: one year a district might get 31 growth points, the next year 24, then 20 or 35, even if actual student progress is similar, simply because of where the state draws the quartile lines that year.

While Joplin is on track with at-risk students on Individual Education Plans, the school system is well-above the 400 threshold on all subjects with not-at-risk students. Joplin Schools also reported its highest-ever graduation rate.

“(Joplin Schools wants) the public to know you can trust us with your kids,” Mwanji said. “We’re working hard for them to meet the state standards that we’ve been set forth to accomplish, and that has not been short of a lot of moving parts and energy. Our teachers are phenomenal. Our principals are phenomenal. They’ve worked really, really hard, lots of hours outside of the school day to put together a guaranteed and viable curriculum. We named it in our strategic plan in 2022 that that was critically important to our system, and we’re seeing the fruits of that labor. So I think, as a district, we are finding a lot of celebration. The fruits of the labor are paying off right now, and it’s really exciting to watch our kids succeed.”