Missouri schools deserve better than a single letter grade

As the parent of a public education student and a parent organizer, I am concerned about the governor’s proposed A-F School Grading Framework that requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education  to implement a plan that will assign a single letter grade to our public schools and districts.

The current plan to calculate this letter grade is mostly based on the Missouri Assessment Program tests taken by public education students in the spring.

The use of the A-F framework is flawed and will not improve student outcomes. A low grade won’t result in the school or district receiving any additional state funding for reading intervention or math programs and it won’t raise teacher pay to attract and retain quality teachers.

Multiple states that previously adopted letter grade systems halted their programs. A district court ruling and multiple studies found the scorecard systems did not accurately reflect the performance of the school.

Under the A-F framework, only public and charter schools get a letter grade. Private schools, including those that receive our tax dollars through private school vouchers, won’t receive one and they aren’t even required to take MAP tests. If this framework is truly an effective way to measure school success, it should apply to all schools in Missouri that receive public education funding dollars to allow for a more accurate comparison.

A low letter grade impacts more than just the school itself and should concern any group interested in the public perception of a community. People consider the success of a school district when deciding where to raise a family or start a business. The letter grade will become a representation of the community as a whole.

A single letter grade ignores the hard work of public school educators by measuring success solely based on their student’s performance on a single standardized test. Most importantly, this one test doesn’t reflect a student’s knowledge, curiosity, problem solving, creativity, kindness, or future success.

This framework is deeply flawed and should not be implemented because of the harm it will cause our kids, our teachers and our communities. Questions from school districts and community group questions have gone unanswered because the planned implementation is being rushed.

Missouri school districts cannot afford a rushed framework implementation that results in an inaccurate grading system. I urge the State Board of Education to pause the fall preview.

This article was originally published by Missouri Independent and is republished by MetroSTL under a Creative Commons license. The reporting is the outlet’s; please support them.