Beating the Odds Recognition
Richards, 3461 CR 1710, West Plains MO 65775, 417-256-5239
Richards is a 2022 PRiME Growth Award recipient!
Top 10 "PRIME" Growth Score for Richards Middle School English Language Arts
The Policy Research in Missouri Education (PRiME) Center recently published the 2022 Beating the Odds Report: Student Growth in Missouri’s Highest Poverty Schools, to examine growth scores on the MAP within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report highlights the top schools “beating the odds” across the state by moving the needle on student learning while serving high concentrations of low-income students. The top schools are ranked for “beating the odds” in student growth in three categories—elementary schools, eleMiddle schools and middle schools—for both English Language Arts (ELA) and math.
What is the PRiME Growth Score? The 2022 PRiME Growth Score is a translation of DESE’s 2020–21 Missouri Growth Model score, which reflects average annual student growth for three school years. PRiME Growth Scores look like scores we are used to seeing in schools: scores in the 90s up to 100 represent high scores and excellent growth, scores in the 80s represent average growth, and scores below 80 indicate schools are growing their students slowly relative to other schools across the state. Importantly, this year's growth scores provide a first look at student growth during the pandemic.
Key Takeaways from the Beating the Odds Report.
Single point-in-time achievement scores can undersell the performance of schools serving high concentrations of students in poverty.
Many high-poverty schools across the state have shown exceptional growth, even in the midst of a national pandemic.
Top-growth schools in each category vary widely in their proficiency rates. While several schools have both high PRiME Growth Scores and high proficiency rates, many top-growth schools have low proficiency rates.
PRiME’s intention with this report is to encourage civic leaders, educators, and the public to focus on student growth when they consider the results of standardized assessments for Missouri students. There are many Missouri schools that are successfully growing student learning regardless of their proficiency rates, and it is important for us to know what is happening in these high-growth schools.
Who is PRiME? The PRiME (Policy Research in Missouri Education) Center was established in 2019 as an independent research center housed in the Saint Louis University School of Education. PRiME’s mission is to provide better evidence on education issues that can support better policies and lead to better outcomes for students and schools in Missouri. The center specializes in generating, collecting and disseminating education policy research in Missouri through blog posts, policy briefs, education reports and profiles, and data tools. Learn more about PRiME’s work at www.sluprime.org.
PRiME's role is to communicate data and evidence to education stakeholders. DESE generates meaningful growth scores for schools in multiple subjects each year. It is PRiME's hope that this report helps to communicate these growth data to school leaders and educators.