Study ranks Missouri's public schools, districts w/ links to Missouri school & school-district rankings

By Joe Hadsall and Melissa Dunson

news@joplinglobe.com

Royal Heights Elementary in Joplin is one the best elementary schools in Missouri, while McDonald County’s Rocky Comfort Elementary ranks among the worst in academic performance, according to the Show-Me Institute.

The ranking of 540 school districts and 2,105 schools in Missouri is aimed at giving people a more accurate view of how their schools and districts compare, said Justin Hauke, policy analyst with the St. Louis-based think tank.

“We didn’t feel like there was a tool available for parents where they can get a cut-and-dry comparison between school districts,” Hauke said. “In one school year, more than 15,000 observations for test scores are made. There is a lot of information.”

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education isn’t rewarding the list’s top performers or punishing underachievers. Jim Morris, public information director, said the department won’t be using or even recognizing the list.

“The list was created by the institute for their purposes,” Morris said. “We don’t rank schools in lists, because a ranked list is a crude tool for measuring improvement.”

Schools in Southwest Missouri showed up at both ends of the spectrum.

Royal Heights ranked 30th among 2,105 schools. Seven other Joplin elementary schools, three Webb City elementary schools and Webb City Middle School also earned spots in the top 25 percent. They are joined by Monett Middle School, Carthage’s Pleasant Valley and Mark Twain elementary schools, and Carl Junction Primary 2-3.

The bottom 25 percent includes East Newton, Sarcoxie, Miller, Lamar and McDonald County high schools. They are joined by Joplin’s Emerson Elementary, and Noel and Rocky Comfort schools in McDonald County.

Monett had the best high school in the area, at No. 804 on the list, followed by Joplin at No. 1,012.

In the overall ranking of 540 school districts, Webb City finished at the top among Southwest Missouri’s schools, at No. 96. Joplin came in at No. 160.

Method

The “Show Me: The Grades” project is based on 2007 Missouri Assessment Program index scores. The index is a formula based on the percentage of students scoring at each of the four levels on the MAP tests.

Hauke said that is the best option available.