Missouri schools moving to A-F grading system

JOPLIN, Mo. — Missouri schools are moving toward a new A-F grading system designed to give families a simpler snapshot of how schools are performing.

The Missouri State Board of Education approved the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) A-F School and District Grading Framework during its September 15 meeting.

The framework moves the plan from a proposal into the implementation stage, although details about how the grades will ultimately be calculated and rolled out are still being developed.

Joplin Schools was among four Missouri school systems represented at the September meeting. School leaders presented concerns and recommendations about how the new grading system should be implemented.

For Joplin Superintendent Dr. Kerry Sachetta and Joplin High School Principal Dr. Randy Oliver, one message was clear: the A-F grade should be viewed as a snapshot of student outcomes, not a complete evaluation of a school.

What is the A-F system?

Under the new framework, Missouri public schools and districts will eventually receive an overall grade of A, B, C, D or F, based on a 0-100 scale.

The goal is to provide families and communities with a straightforward way to understand school performance. The system will look primarily at student outcomes, including academic achievement and growth.

Sachetta said the purpose is to give parents an easy-to-understand picture of how a school has performed recently.

"The idea is to give schools a grade based on some metrics that the school has, to give the public, especially parents, an understanding of how their school has done recently."

But he emphasized that the grade should not be confused with Missouri's accreditation process.

An A-F grade is not the same as accreditation

One of the biggest points Joplin school leaders want the public to understand is the difference between the new A-F grade and Missouri's existing accountability and accreditation systems.

A-F is designed as an annual snapshot of outcomes.

MSIP 6 (Missouri School Improvement Program 6) is Missouri's broader school improvement and accreditation system currently in place.

The A-F system focuses largely on measurable student outcomes. MSIP 6 looks more broadly at the quality of a school or district, including its practices, processes, leadership and access for continuous improvement.

Sachetta said accreditation requires looking beyond test scores and graduation rates.

"You do want to look at test scores and accountability measures, state assessments, graduation and attendance rates," Sachetta said. "But what are the outputs students are coming out with? What are the practices and processes that are in place, and how well are you doing in those practices and processes? Those are what create the outputs. That broader view also considers the different circumstances schools and communities face."

Sachetta said schools have different demographics and challenges, and those factors are important when looking at school improvement.

"People need to realize this won't be the de facto report on how your school is doing," he said. "It's a snapshot."

Joplin says its approach won't change

For Joplin High School Principal Dr. Randy Oliver, the introduction of a letter grade isn't expected to change the way teachers educate students.

"It will impact high school with just applying a letter grade, but it's not really going to impact what we do," Oliver said.

He said teachers will continue to have high expectations for students, focus on priority standards and make sure students are learning.

"For the most part, it's just going to rank us," Oliver said.

Instead of changing its educational approach to chase a letter grade, Oliver said Joplin will continue working within the systems it already has in place, MSIP 6.

"It's about the systems we already have in place, in working the systems to make sure kids are learning and teachers are teaching."

Joplin is already several years into its current continuous-improvement process.

Oliver said the district is seeing results from that work and intends to continue moving forward.

"We're three years in on a process, and we're going to continue down the road."

Joplin officials advocate for cautious implementation

Joplin was one of four Missouri school systems that spoke to the State Board about the proposed system on September 15. The group recommended several changes, including allowing a pilot year so districts could review draft grades and identify potential calculation problems before the system is fully implemented.

The school leaders also raised concerns about the timing of the rollout and how the grading formula would account for differences among schools.

The approved framework allows DESE to develop the technical guide, prepare the data needed to calculate grades and establish a pilot timeframe.

Sachetta said Joplin wants to make sure schools receive a grade that fairly reflects their work.

"We want to get a fair grade," he said.

He also pointed to the experience of other states, saying some states have later changed or repealed A-F grading systems after determining the grades did not adequately reflect their school districts.

Another concern, he said, is that competition between schools could interfere with collaboration.

"We don't want a ranking system to get in the way of collaboration," Sachetta said. "People might draw back and not want to share information. We want something we can all work together on."

What happens next?

The State Board's approval does not mean Missouri schools will immediately receive their final A-F grades.

DESE still has technical work to complete, including developing the methodology and implementation details. The department will also establish the pilot timeframe.

For Joplin Schools, district leaders say the new system should not replace the continuous-improvement work already underway.

Sachetta said the district's goal remains the same: meet students where they are and help them make as much progress as possible during the time they are in Joplin Schools.

"We want to take students where they are and take them as far as we can in the timeframe we have them."