The Annual Performance Report (APR) is the evaluative instrument used by the state to determine the accreditation status of school districts. The number of categories evaluated depends somewhat on the size of the school district. The Kennett School District is evaluated in 15 categories. They include: MAP Grades 3-5 Mathematics, MAP Grades 3-5 Communication Arts, MAP Grades 6-8 Mathematics, MAP 6-8 Communication Arts, MAP Grades 9-11 Mathematics, MAP Grades 9-11 Communication Arts, ACT, Advanced Courses, Career Education Courses, College Placement, Career Education Placement, Graduation Rate, Attendance Rate, and Subgroup Achievement. I would like to address the MAP portion of the APR this week, and I will cover the other areas next week.

The MAP scores are recorded and points awarded by using two measures. These are called STATUS MEASURE AND PROGRESS MEASURE.

STATUS MEASURES: This is how the students performed on a particular assessment for this year only.

* High 1 -- 1 standard deviation above the mean for the state.

* High 2 -- 1/3 standard deviation above the mean for the state.

* Average -- Mean for the state.

* Below Average -- 1/3 of 1 standard deviation below the mean for the state.

* Floor -- 1 standard deviation below the mean for the state. The mean is the average score made by students across the state.

PROGRESS MEASURES: Points are earned using the results of the test scores for the past 5 years.

* Annual -- This method measures improvement from year to year.

* Rolling Average -- This method measures improvement by comparing two-year averages. Years 1 and 2 are averaged, years 2 and 3 are averaged, etc.

Last year we met the standards in all areas of the MAP. We did not meet the standards in several of the MAP areas this year even though our MAP scores were very comparable to last year. There are several reasons for this.

First of all, this year was the first time that all grade levels above grade two were tested. Therefore, there was no historical data available to earn PROGRESS MEASURE points. You will note below that we earned 44 points in all but one MAP area with 50 needed to meet the standard. If points for progress had been available in all grades, we would more than likely have met the standard in all but one area.

The reason I believe this is because when the APR was first implemented, most schools in this area did not meet the MAP standards. In order to meet the standard, you had to score at least AVERAGE in all areas. That is difficult when the demographics of the student body are not average in comparison to the state. That is the reason they added the PROGRESS MEASURES. Once these were added, Kennett and most other districts were able to meet the standards in all areas of the MAP.

We did not meet the standard in MAP Grades 3-5 Math (44 points), MAP Grades 3-5 Communication Arts (44 points), MAP Grades 6-8 Communication Arts (34 points), and MAP Grades 9-11 in Mathematics (44 points). Regardless of what the APR says, I can tell you that we have an excellent school. I mentioned earlier that the demographics of the schools in the Bootheel are not average when compared to the rest of the state.

Last year the regional MSBA meeting was held at Malden. The speaker made it very clear that this area of the state was different from any other part of the state. We have a higher percentage of disadvantaged students than in any other area. This is not an excuse, but a fact. Research has proven that there is a strong correlation between test scores and the number of disadvantaged students. Schools with fewer disadvantaged students fare better on the APR than schools with more disadvantaged students.

You only need to look at the number of students who qualify for free and/or reduced lunches to determine which school districts are operating at a disadvantage when it comes to the APR. Most of the schools in the Bootheel have more than 60 percent of their students qualify for free and/or reduced lunches. The state average is 41 percent. Here in Kennett, the number is 66 percent.

Once again, I am not making excuses. Even the state refers to those students who qualify for free and reduced lunches as "at risk" students. In fact, the new funding formula pays more per student if the student qualifies as "at risk."

Experts agree that it costs more to educate "at risk" students. Although I appreciate very much the extra money, throwing money at the problem has never worked. Being poor is a disadvantage; however, there are many good people who just happen to be poor. Their children are at risk because many of them do not have the education to help their children get off to a good start at school.

Students who may not be poor but come from dysfunctional homes are also disadvantaged. These students have so many problems to worry about at home that they have little time to devote to their education and it certainly is not a priority with them.

As long as our society continues along its current path, we are in trouble and there is no way the public education system can save us. Education is very important, but many children will not be interested in their education until things get better at home. Some children do rise above their circumstances, but they are few and far between. Having said all of this, I can assure you that we are doing everything we can to provide your child with a quality education and will continue to do so. Next week, I will address the other areas of the APR.