The percentage of students who scored proficient or above on the 2014 MAP tests are recorded below for high schools in Jasper and Newton counties:
English 1
Jasper 75.0
Seneca 69.5
Carl Junction 68.3
East Newton 61.2
Webb City 60.9
Diamond 59.1
Carthage 58.2
Neosho 57.0
Joplin 51.3
Sarcoxie 50.9
English 2
Webb City 81.6
Carl Junction 77.3
Jasper 75.7
Seneca 74.6
East Newton 72.1
Sarcoxie 70.6
Carthage 69.0
Neosho 66.3
Diamond 66.0
Joplin 62.8
Algebra I
Webb City 72.3
East Newton 62.6
Carl Junction 57.9
Jasper 50.0
Carthage 45.7
Neosho 41.3
Diamond 40.3
Seneca 38.9
Sarcoxie 32.5
Joplin 27.1
Algebra II
(no listing for Webb City)
East Newton 100.0
Jasper 92.3
Neosho 54.4
Joplin 52.4
Carl Junction 49.1
Carthage 46.3
Seneca 40.8
Diamond 40.3
Sarcoxie 35.4
22 comments:
Why is CJ Huff still in education? That's pathetic. 27.1%. Really?
Joplin's scores should improve by leaps and bounds this school year with the new buildings and all.
Right, C.J.?
Joplin has become the lowest functioning district in this area because of decisions made in the name of innovation by Huff and Besendorfer. Every decision they made was dead wrong. I don't see a change coming soon, because no one at Central Office is smart enough, or cares enough, to do anything about it. And as long as Landis, Steele, and Sharp continue to vote in his favor every time, it isn't going to get any better.
Joplin has nice buildings. So what. Kids learn in grass huts in some parts of the world. The building doesn't make anyone learn. Discipline, attendance, good teachers, and good materials would be a nice place to start. No wonder the teachers leave. I would too, if I taught there.
Why does Joplin continue to put up with this year after year? Can't be using the tornado now. Good grief. What a pathetic mess and waste of resources. I'd think parents would want more than pretty buildings. That won't help their kids once they are gone. Run the board and admin off.
OMG!! This makes me so angry. Paying twice the taxes and getting half the learning. Throw Huff and Co to the curb. Now.
Maybe there will be another special board meeting this week and they'll finally do the right thing and fire Huff.
We can hope, anyway. He can't even blame this mess on Turner. This is poor leadership and decisions from the top. End of story.
This explains the growing numbers at TJ, CJ, WC, and CHCS, doesn't it? Sad situation.
Wait a minute. I assume every person criticizing is fully on board with judging the effectiveness of a school based solely upon one standardized test, right? None of the posters are ever the people saying we shouldn't be using standardized tests (like Turner) to judge our schools and teachers? I just want to make sure we are being consistent. You can't have it both ways. Just because these other districts outscore Joplin doesn't necessarily mean they are better, unless that's how you want to judge all districts. It means their students are excellent at taking standardized tests. Is that how you define success? Is that what we all want? Are joplin kids graduating? Are they attending college or obtaining employment at similar rates? Test scores don't show the whole picture.
5:14 is right--these tests are not as important as whether or not our kids can actually read, write and do math. The tests I've seen aren't real life. I want my kids to be able to function in life, not take tests.
R8 is still a mess no matter what the test scores show.
Mission Accomplished?
How many R-8 seniors could actually spell that correctly if they heard it?
I agree with 6:33. I think that almost every choice that Huff and his administration has made has moved the school district in the wrong direction, but I hate using statistics. They can be manipulated to show almost anything you want them to show. Statistics are abused by driving instruction and could soon be the basis for teacher evaluation. Instead of teaching creativity, problem solving, the ability to think outside the box, civic responsibility, teamwork, etc..., the entire focus of education is on programming students to answer standardized test questions. How is this preparing anyone for the real world? Shoving students heads full of facts that are then regurgitated onto a multiple choice test and quickly forgotten prove nothing.
While test scores and statistics don't tell the whole story, if all the districts and schools within are being measured the same way Joplin still comes out near the bottom.
I don't buy the excuse that students just don't do well on standardized tests. If that is the case, Joplin would seem to have a disproportionately high percentage of students who do poorly on tests relative to students in neighboring districts.
Hope Dosier,Stevens,and Cravens are ready to become the fall guys! What a joke this district has became!
5:28 AM: this theory is valid if we all agree that what a standardized test measures is what society is going to call success. WC and CJ and Jasper students are "learning" what is measured by the tests. Joplin kids are either learning nothing, or in a way that cannot be measured by a test. If Joplin has transitioned to an innovative, creative, student-centered model of education, success won't translate to a standardized test. Joplin leadership is a mess, no doubt about it. But are we ready to say nearly every classroom is a mess as well? What I'm stressing is that what is going on in the classroom may not be less valuable than what is occurring in neighboring districts. What if Joplin students graduate with collaboration skills, research skills, critical thinking skills, and other independent learning skills? We can't truly know if Joplin academics are a disaster unless we take a look at the true measure of student success which is application of learning outside of the classroom. These numbers make Joplin teachers look really bad, but maybe they aren't bad. It will take strong, confident educators to stick through this. I hope the good ones stay and keep teaching for the sake of the kids, despite the disaster that is Joplin Admin.
5:14 and 6:33--
You are switching the subject. The topic isn't whether or not we are on board with the tests, because there is no choice about the tests. And like Bessie, 5:14, you might like to say there are many ways to measure success, but the state measures scores. And, according to the scores, Joplin students do not know as much as their peers in surrounding schools. As far as the tests go, 6:33, they are not simply "regurgitating" material. The tests measure analytical, critical thinking far more often than they measure recall. So, it would appear that Joplin students do not have the basic computation or comprehension skills to do the same skills some of the other districts' students seem to be able to do.
My question is, how does Joplin compare to other districts or schools around the state with similar demographics? That would be a more accurate comparison.
6:33
These tests MEASURE whether the students can read, write, and "do math," which is what you claim you want your kids to be able to do. For your kids to "function in life," they have to have these basic skills. You do not specify which tests you have seen, or how you came to see them, either, or if you have the qualifications to judge one assessment from another.
8:14-
Collaboration is wonderful as a skill set, for sure, but how can students collaborate if they don't know the basics? Colleges consider accomplishment in academics before anything else, also. Those trite terms of "collaboration, innovative, and student-centered" sound like a throw back to Bessie's "there are more ways than tests to measure achievement." She started that when we lost the rank of Accredited with Distinction that we had for six years before the new "Joplin Way" was implemented. Also, who said every class is a mess? That's an overgeneralization. The scores measure overall success of a building or district. No one here said no teacher anywhere was experiencing success.
8:14--
In case you hadn't noticed, many of Joplin's "strong, confident educators" have fled the district because of fear of retaliation if they try to do the right thing, or out of frustration due to lack of student discipline, lack of appropriate materials, or fear of a constantly meddling administration. These numbers don't make Joplin teachers look bad. Joplin teachers were gaining ground until Huff and Besendorfer came. These numbers make Huff look bad.
Once those experienced capable teachers left R-8 the toothpaste was out of the tube. There is no putting it back.
There are lots of things to criticize the Joplin district over. I am not sure a standardized test score without a trend line is the best way to do so. Also, by the way, these are EOC tests and not MAP tests.
The administration continues to point to the high graduation rates and high percentage that go onto college. They fail to talk about the fact that the kids not going to college and straight into the work force are doing so at a rate of pay less than there peers from other local schools due to their deficiency in these areas. The kids going on to college will be forced to take remedial level classes in these subject, thus paying the going hourly rate apporx $175 to be taught something their Highschool was responsible to teach them and failed to do. The classes also don't count toward their hours needed to graduate. It's time for someone to step up and put these kids futures first, they deserve it.
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