Field Elementary fails MAP test

Field Elementary School may be sanctioned for the first time for its performance on the Missouri Assessment Program. If the sanction occurs when the 2006 standardized test scores are finalized, Field parents will have the option to transfer their children to other schools.

Overall, about 50 percent of students in the Columbia Public School District performed at the proficient or advanced level — the two highest achievement levels.

An estimated 35 percent of students statewide were at least proficient.

MAP results, which were released by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, are preliminary until November; schools have until late October to review and appeal the results.

MAP scores are important because they help to determine whether schools remain eligible for federal funding under the No Child Left Behind Act.

To keep the federal dollars, schools must meet Adequate Yearly Progress — the percentage of students required to perform at the proficient or advanced level.

Last year, Field did not meet the yearly progress in the testing category of communication arts. This year, the school did not meet it in mathematics.

MAP evaluates students in communication arts and mathematics with optional categories of science and social studies.

Columbia Superintendent Phyllis Chase said the public needs to remember that there are other measures of student growth in the classroom — for example, the PLAN test, which is a practice exam for the ACT college entrance exam.

“(MAP) is an important measure but not the only measure by which to judge quality in our schools,” Chase said.

In MAP, if one subcategory — race and ethnicity, special education students with individualized education plans, students with limited proficiency in English and students who qualify for free or reduced lunch — fails to meet the yearly progress, the entire school does not meet the required standards.

For example, at Field, one subgroup met the yearly progress in communication arts and no subgroup met it in mathematics.

“It is way too early to say what improvements will be made” at Field, Chase said. “We will certainly adhere to the No Child Left Behind Act.”

Schools sanctioned for the first time must allow students to transfer. Schools sanctioned for the second consecutive time must offer more supplemental services such as tutoring during the school day. Schools repeatedly sanctioned face changes such as firing staff.

The Adequate Yearly Progress goals for this year are 34.7 percent for communication arts and 26.6 percent for mathematics. This is up from 26.6 percent and 17.5 percent last year.

This year, 62.6 percent of Missouri public schools met the yearly progress. Last year, 65.2 percent met it.

In a change this year, all Missouri third- through eighth-graders were tested in both communication arts and mathematics instead of one or the other; that nearly doubled the number of tests taken. Tenth-grade students are tested in mathematics and 11th-graders in communication arts.

“Usually when you test more students on any standardized test, scores go down,” Chase said, “but we are not seeing that trend in Columbia Public Schools.”

Among other changes, students are now placed in one of four achievement levels: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced. Previously, the state used a five-tier system. The reason for the change was to fall more in line with national standards and prevent Missouri students from scoring too low by comparison.

But state officials won’t be able to tell that this year. Because so many changes were made to the 2006 MAP test, it is nearly impossible to compare it to past years.

“It is kind of like measuring your height in centimeters one year and then in inches the next,” said Sally Beth Lyon, director of research, assessment and accountability.

“And having no conversion chart,” Chase added.