PRiME Growth Report: 5th Edition (Copy)

Highlighting the Missouri Schools that Achieve the Highest Growth in ELA and Math

Courtney Vahle, Ed.D., Andrew M. Camp, Ph.D., and Collin Hitt, Ph.D.

Instead of simply comparing Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) scale scores year to year to track growth, experts advocate using statistical models which examine the relationship between the previous year’s score and the current year’s scores. Because standardized test scores often reflect factors outside schools’ control, student growth is a fairer measure of how well schools are doing at promoting student learning. This report communicates both 2025 growth scores and, to give a more stable picture of growth, three-year average growth scores for each of the highest-scoring schools across the state .

Key Points

• The “best” schools are usually thought to be those with the highest scores or proficiency rates on standardized tests. But that’s not necessarily the most effective way to evaluate school performance.  In this report, schools are ranked according to the progress students made from one school year to the next.

• Every state in the country attempts to calculate student growth, in one fashion or another. Missouri has the best growth model in the country. Measuring student growth, rather than proficiency, provides a more equitable lens for evaluating school effectiveness because it accounts for where students start.

• Many of the schools ranked in the Top 20 lists are considered “low performing” when measured according to proficiency rates or average standardized test scores. Those performance measures are biased against schools with high populations of students living in poverty, students who are homeless, English language learners, or who have special needs. The  rankings in this report illustrate how important it is to consider the progress that students can make in a single school year, even in the face of challenging circumstances.