Kansas City Public Schools receive provisional accreditation

(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Missouri State Board of Education voted unanimously today to classify Kansas City Public Schools as provisionally accredited based on the district's preliminary 2014 annual performance report.<http://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/KC%20Classification%20Board%20Materials%20August%206%202014.pdf>

The district scored in the provisional range last year and again this year. The Department and the State Board of Education insisted on at least two years of performance reports before changing the district's accreditation classification.

KCPS earned 60.0 percent of the points possible on last year's Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) 5 Annual Performance Report (APR) <http://dese.mo.gov/quality-schools/mo-school-improvement-program/msip-5>,
and the district's preliminary report this year shows them at 61.8 percent of the points possible. This level was achieved by earning full points for student growth,< http://dese.mo.gov/data-system-management/missouri-growth-model>
which means individual students are improving from year to year.

Nevertheless, it is clear that the district has continued work to do to help students succeed. The preliminary performance report shows student achievement in the district fell slightly this year with less than 30 percent of students earning proficient or advanced in English language arts and mathematics.

The State Board of Education classified the Kansas City Public School District as unaccredited in 2012.

The Department will continue to work with the Kansas City Public Schools to help maintain its provisional accreditation and build upon its improvement efforts.