Poplar Bluff R-1 Schools saw a substantial increase for the second year on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's annual performance report. DESE collects data in several categories from Missouri school districts and uses the compiled score as a basis for accreditation.
Districts scoring 70 percent or above are considered accredited, while schools falling below the 70 percent mark risk provisional accreditation and schools falling below 50 percent could lose accreditation entirely.
Poplar Bluff scored 86.4 percent, earning 121 of 140 available points, on the 2017 report. Those numbers reflect a 7-percent increase from 2016, a 15-percent increase from 2015, and a 14-percent increase from 2014.
"Obviously, we're very pleased," said superintendent Scott Dill. "We need to really delve deeply into these data to determine if we can identify the antecedents that have led to this success. We have to know what we've done right to merit this increase. This is the beginning of a process, not the end."
Scores from Missouri Assessment Program end-of-year testing weigh heavily into the report, accounting for 56 of possible 140 points. Poplar Bluff earned 48 points in this category in 2017.
Curriculum superintendent Patty Robertson said a gain of six points was due to better scores in science. She attributed several new teaching strategies for the rise.
"We increased points in all groups and in our subgroup achievement for science," Robertson said. "Of our academic measure, science was the one that stood out as a significant increase."
Due to a formatting error by the company DESE contracted to provide end-of-course exams, schools throughout the state were not able to count scores from English Language Arts II or Algebra I.
"Our kids did really well this year in those two subjects," Robertson explained. "Our most advanced 8th graders take the Algebra I EOC, so this isn't really comparing apples to apples. I believe our overall scores could have been higher had they been counted."
The district also received 1.5 more points than last year in the category of subgroup achievement. DESE defines "subgroups" as disabled, minority, free and reduced lunch and other students. Subgroup achievement accounts for potentially 14 of the total 140 points. Poplar Bluff earned 11.5 in this category in 2017.
"In our subgroup achievement, our science scores made a significant jump. We had almost 24 percent more students reach that proficient mark in science out of the subgroup," said Robertson, crediting intervention and tracking data, which helped teachers "to truly know where out students are."
Poplar Bluff gained 2.5 points in 2017 for College and Career Readiness, which accounts for a possible 30 of the total 140. The district earned 24 points in this category.
The APR takes into account advanced placement courses, post-secondary placement, and college entry exam scores when looking at college and career readiness. Attendance, which landed at 84 percent for R-1, is also measured, earning the district 7.5 of 10 possible points on this year's APR.
"The Poplar Bluff School District has been locked at 7.5, I think, since this program began despite all the work we do on attendance," Dill said. "Some of our students have difficulty meeting that mark. I know we've all talked to other districts who are getting that perfect 10 and I still don't know how they do it. We are bending over backwards to get them here."
Poplar Bluff's graduation rate exceeded 90 percent this year, earning the district 30 out of 30 possible points in that category in 2017. Since 2015, the graduation rate has climbed from 86.8 percent to 91.8 percent to date.
"It's nothing we have changed since last year that warranted these results," Dill said. "It's consistent effort over the course of years that yields change and yields positive results. It's a matter of focusing on where we want to be and implementing the programs with fidelity that will get us there. A lot of this credit for the score we realized this year needs to be given to Mr. (Chris) Hon, to Mr. (Mike) Kiehne, and to all the administrators who have been here for years, doing solid work and pushing us forward."