Middle School students Lowell Charlton and Ashlee Klinksick engage in the peer editing process in Engish Class

We are proud of our students! This year’s APR, which compares student performance last year with the previous two years, reveals Macks Creek Students are learning and growing. Our school is appreciative of our entire school community for supporting and encouraging our students!  

In the area of Academic Achievement, students in grades 4 – 8 are exceeding growth expectations in English Language Arts (ELA).  These same students are on-track in regards to growth targets in Mathematics. Sub-Group Achievement is the same story, students are exceeding growth expectations in ELA and are on-track in Math.  

In College and Career Readiness (CCR), APR measures indicate our students are on-track in preparation to enter the workforce or pursue a college degree. These same students are also on target when it comes to earning advanced or vocational credits.  Additionally, 90.4% of our graduates are employed, in the military, or seeking further education six months after graduation (which is on target).  

Macks Creek School is thankful to our parents who ensure their children are in regular attendance at school. We are proud of our 95.1% attendance rating which is considered on target.  Lastly, we are proud of our 100% graduation rate which is also on target.  

While we are encouraged by many things our APR data reveals we are doing well, we are also challenged to improve upon areas where data shows we can be more effective.  In some instances the APR indicates the performance of students in grades 4 – 8, when they took the MAP test last year, wasn’t’ quite high enough to be considered on-track. In these instances student scores were at or slightly below the state average. Realizing our sample size is small within each grade level and the performance of a single student weighs heavily on the percentage, we are deeply analyzing the data.  In turn, we are making adjustments to ensure these same students will perform better on this measure next school year.  The last area of improvement, which evaluates growth over last year, is also difficult to interpret when one considers small graduation classes or small groups of students taking an assessment.  An additional consideration is when prior year performance is very high, even a slight reduction cannot be measured as growth.  For example, with our graduation rate at 100% this year, we did not show any gains over past years (which were also 100%) and the APR reports 0% progress in this area.  

In light of our APR and in accordance with our mission (Inspiring success: every child, every chance, every day!), Macks Creek School recently entered into a partnership with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). This joint effort, known as District Continuous Improvement (DCI) will provide our school with the tools to ensure we remain committed to high achievement and continue to improve performance. Through DCI, our district is engaging in an in-depth implementation and evaluation of our academic and behavioral practices relative to instruction and student learning.  Our teachers and administrators are benefiting from professional development activities that focus on policy, process and instruction (all of which are research based and data driven).  Our students are benefiting not only from improved instruction, but also learning how to be more active participants in their own learning.  They are studying more about their own thinking and learning processes and how best to approach any given learning situation.  Our district has set aside 13 separate days this school for our teachers and administrators to be engaged in continuous improvement.  We are excited to more effectively serve the children of the Macks Creek School Community and looking forward to continue to learn through this process! 

For more information regarding our district’s performance on this year’s APR please utilize the following link: https://apps.dese.mo.gov/MCDS/home.aspx?categoryid=14&view=2

In this photo, taken on Monday, October 20, Macks Creek teachers are receiving DCI instruction from Mrs. Shanna Eidson with DESE’s Missouri Model District Initiative.  

 

Middle School students, Dakota Willis and Hunter Cullen engaging in the peer editing process in English class.