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There is much to be proud of in the Kirkwood School District and the achievement of our students is worth celebrating. Student scores on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests and End of Course (EOC) exams have increased significantly over the last ten years, in most schools and as a district. Standardized tests are but one measure used to gauge success – others will be mentioned later in the report – but our MAP and EOC scores are the primary methods by which we are held accountable to the state, to our community, and in the public eye. When analyzing these measures as a whole, our success is notable.
Among the 23 districts in St. Louis County, Kirkwood ranked first in 2015 for combined MAP scores (grades 3-8) in English/language arts, with 83% of all students meeting or exceeding proficiency standards. District rankings in math (4th) and science (2nd - not shown) were also notable, placing us fourth and second respectively. We can and must continue to improve, but roughly three-fourths of all students in grades 3-8 met or exceeded expectations last year.
Student performance on high school EOC exams has similarly been very strong, as noted in the graph on the following page that highlights 2015 results. High school students in Kirkwood have consistently performed above or well above Missouri averages, with Kirkwood High School regularly cited as a top high school in the county and state. Well over three-fourths of our students met or exceeded proficiency standards in 2015, with the lone exception of Government. Government EOC exams for 2016 have already been taken, with 76% of students scoring at the proficient or advanced level.
Dig deeper into these scores, however, and it is apparent that far too many of our African American students are not meeting those same proficiency standards. Charts over the next several pages highlight the gaps on the 2015 MAP and EOC exams and unfortunately show a pattern of little positive change over the last several years. Our African American student scores are not growing, in most cases, as rapidly or as significantly as white students. In same cases, our trend line is actually going in the wrong direction.
African American scores on MAP and EOC tests have consistently been significantly lower than their white counterparts. Grade by grade, across every discipline, our students of color score at a much different level than their white counterparts. There are exceptions, of course, and the reasons are varied, but the achievement of our African American students as a whole is disappointing, if not disturbing. As a district – and perhaps as an educational system, we are failing an entire population of learners.
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