Missouri School Accountability: Current and Future Directions for Elementary and Middle Schools
In this policy brief, we build on our previous brief, Missouri's School Accountability System, and take a deeper dive into two specific components of school accountability systems—school rating systems and accountability indicator weights. We discuss the weight of academic growth within performance indicators at the elementary and middle school level and consider the proposed changes to these areas under SB 341 and HB 558. We add evidence by examining school accountability systems in states with high growth and conclude by providing policy recommendations based on our findings. We find:
School accountability systems in states with the highest growth place greater emphasis on achievement status and growth indicators at the elementary and middle levels.
In most of the highest-growth states, growth accounts for at least 40% of the overall rating, and growth is weighted more than achievement status.
Some of the highest-growth states include a metric that focuses on the growth of the lowest-performing students.
Missouri’s current LEA and school report cards lack a summative rating, making standing determinations and differentiation difficult.
The proposed legislation would increase the weight of achievement status and growth at the elementary and middle school level from 48% (24% each) to 90% (45% each) in Missouri’s school accountability system and emphasize the growth of lower-achieving students.
