St. Louis Schools Beating the Odds in Student Growth
Photo by Max Fischer
By: Ashley Donaldson Burle
PRiME recently published the 2022 Beating the Odds Report: Student Growth in Missouri’s Highest Poverty Schools which highlights the schools that are “beating the odds” across the state by moving the needle on student learning in high poverty schools. We define “high poverty” schools as schools where the student body eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) is at least 59%. We rank the top schools “beating the odds” in student growth in three categories—elementary schools, eleMiddle schools and middle schools—for both English Language Arts (ELA) and math using the PRiME 2021 Growth Scores. PRiME Growth Scores of approximately 90 and above are considered high Growth Scores.
Recognizing schools that are best serving traditionally underserved students from high poverty schools is especially important in light of the disproportionate effects these schools likely experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this blog, we spotlight the high poverty schools in the St. Louis region who showed excellent academic growth and were featured as top-growth schools in our Beating the Odds Report. We find:
1. Four St. Louis elementary schools earned top Growth Scores. In ELA, KIPP Victory Academy achieved the highest Growth Score (100). In math, Froebel Elementary in St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) achieved the second highest Growth Score (99) while two other schools in SLPS–Bryan Hill Elementary and Oak Hill Elementary–earned the13th and 14th spots respectively.
2. Two St. Louis eleMiddle schools earned top Growth Scores. Saint Louis Language Immersion School earned the 4th highest Growth Score in ELA, while Kairos Academies earned the 10th highest Growth score in math.
3. Four St. Louis middle schools earned top Growth Scores. Long International Middle School (SLPS) and Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls earned top Growth Scores in both ELA and math. Lift for Lift Academy and Carr Lane VPA Middle School (SLPS) earned the 11th and 13th highest Growth Scores in ELA.
The schools highlighted here exhibited high growth while serving the highest concentrations of low-income students and would likely have been overlooked if only examining proficiency levels. As demonstrated by their high Growth Scores, these schools are working to shrink achievement and opportunity gaps and should serve as models for schools serving students with similar demographics. We applaud and congratulate these schools for their ability to move student learning forward in the midst of a national pandemic.
To read more about schools “Beating the Odds” across the state, read our recent report.
