
Superintendent's Update
December 2018
Season's Greetings
A Time of Giving
- Osage Caring Projects- Although the drive has concluded for this year, I encourage you to find out how you can offer support in the future.
- Adopt A Family/Child- Many churches and organizations offer opportunities to anonymously donate gifts to families who need some extra assistance this time of year.
- Salvation Army- Nobody can shield themselves from the persistence of the Salvation Army bell ringers. Two hours of bell ringing can raise about $60 for the local community.
- Pet Donations- Many pet stores and organizations also need a little extra help to support animals in shelters or those who have experienced neglect or abuse.
- Simply ask someone you know if they can help you identify a need in your community.
The act of giving can take many forms other then money and gifts. For those who may not be able to offer gifts, try and find another way to help someone out. Shovel a driveway or sidewalk for someone who may not be able to do so themselves. Share part of your holiday meal with someone who may be hungry. The possibilities are endless and all of them worthwhile.
Release of MAP/EOC/Performance Reports for Districts
Please keep a few things in mind when reviewing data from 2018 MAP/EOC/and APR reports.
- Tests in English language arts (ELA) and math were new and completely different for 2018, so comparisons with results from previous tests would be pointless.
- You will not see a science score because science assessments were field tests, meaning that scores will not be reported. The field test was administered to allow new performance levels to be set before actual test administration in 2019.
- State assessments are an end-of-year measure of overall student performance across a district or charter school and are intended to evaluate the effectiveness of education programs, measure progress toward improvement goals, and, most importantly, to determine learning progress and achievement.
- State assessments are not designed to guide classroom instruction during the school year, they can contribute meaningful information as part of a coherent system of assessments, including interim assessments administered by the school district.
- Teachers and other stakeholders developed the Missouri Learning Standards that were adopted in spring 2016. The new standards set a higher bar, which is reflected in more challenging, teacher-developed state assessments.
State assessments and district performance reports are very important to review and identify what areas we are doing well in, and what areas need to be improved. The nature of educators is to sometimes discredit data that measures a student at a single point in time during the school year. I think this is a mistake. Any data that evaluates the alignment of standards-curriculum-instruction-assessment-performance should be looked at closely. We also can learn a great deal about student performance and growth by implementing formative assessments that provide many data points. We can also evaluate the success of curriculum implementation and instructional practices by promoting a collaborative environment among staff. We can also make progress by reviewing real time data and modifying instruction to help students of all levels work toward the same target.
The process of evaluating school districts based on summative assessments will likely always be a part of our performance evaluation. The state has little flexibility on that topic. However, it appears the new version of MSIP will look more closely at what is happening at the local level. So while most are in agreement that a single assessment does not tell the entire story of a school district, we must prepare for how we want the rest of the story to be told.
Dates to Remember
- Christmas Break December 24-January 2
- Staff In-Service January 2nd
- 2nd Semester Starts January 3rd
- School Board Election Deadline January 15th
- Hermann Basketball Tournament January 21-25
- MLK JR Day January 21- No School
- President's Day February 18-No School
- 3rd Quarter end March 7