Northwest Law Academy

Missouri Assessment Program

Why is this useful?

The Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) is useful to track student performance in core subjects. Students in grades 3-8 and high school are assessed in English, Math, and Science.

What does this number mean?

Student performance results are split into four levels: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. School performance is shown as a percentage of students who are Proficient or Advanced.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the School Report Card at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Academic Growth

Why is this useful?

Academic growth scores are useful for comparing how much students progress relative to where they started.

What does this number mean?

Academic growth is calculated by comparing the progress of an individual to his or her academic peers across a state or city region.

Academic growth is calculated by comparing the progress of an individual student to his or her academic peers across the state. Scores of 50 indicate that the average student in this school is maintaining the status quo; scores above 50 indicate the average student is learning more than his or her peers statewide; and scores below 50 indicate that the average student is falling behind his or her peers statewide.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s MSIP5 APR Summary Report (Public).

Advanced Placement Courses

Why is this useful?

Test scores in Advanced Placement courses give an indication of how well students might perform in college-level courses.

What does this number mean?

The stats show the percentage of the school’s students who enrolled in at least one AP course. The success rate is the percentage of students taking an AP exam that received a qualifying score.

For a high school to offer an Advanced Placement course, it must be certified by the College Board.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the US Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection website. Select ‘Detailed Data Tables’. Search for {{ $school[‘name’] }}, then click on the ‘Bullying and Harassment’ links.

Graduation Rates

Why is this useful?

The graduation rate shows how successfully a school retains and educates students through their high-school years.

What does this number mean?

The graduation rate shows the percentage of students who graduate with a regular High-School diploma after 4 and 5 years. It’s calculated by taking the number of graduates and dividing that number by the number of students who were in the 9th grade four (or five) years earlier (adjusting for school transfers, etc.).

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the MSIP5 APR Summary Report (Public) at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

ACT Participation & Score

Why is this useful?

ACT test results are an important indicator of graduates’ readiness for college and career. Colleges use ACT scores for admissions and merit-based scholarships.

What does this number mean?

Scores for ACT tests are reported on a scale of 1 to 36 (36 being the highest score possible). The composite score is the combined score of students’ English, Math, Reading, and Science results divided by four. A score of above 21 is generally above average, but colleges each set their own minimum requirements.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the Building ACT report at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

College Enrollment

Why is this useful?

College enrollment is a useful indicator of the degree to which students are interested in and prepared for college education.

What does this number mean?

The data shows the percentage of the previous year’s graduating class enrolling in either a 2- or 4-year institution of higher education.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the Missouri Department of Higher Education website. Then click the link for Table 1.

Attendance

Why is this useful?

Proportional attendance can give us a snapshot of how many students are regularly attending classes.

What does this number mean?

The Proportional Attendance Rate shows the percentage of students who are attending school at least 90% of the time.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the MSIP5 APR Summary Report (Public) at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Dropout Rate

Why is this useful?

Dropout rates reflect schools’ abilities to meet their students’ needs and retain them throughout high school.

What does this number mean?

The dropout rate shows the percentage of students who don’t graduate with their cohort and don’t return to school for the following year.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the Building Annual Dropout Rate report at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Bullying Incidents

Why is this useful?

The rate of bullying allows us to compare levels of hostility across different schools, regardless of school size.

What does this number mean?

The ratio shows reported instances of bullying in relation to the number of students. E.g. a ratio of 1:502 suggests that 1 in every 502 students experiences bullying.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the US Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection website. Select ‘Detailed Data Tables’. Search for {{ $school[‘ocr_name’] }}, then click on the ‘Bullying and Harassment’ links.

Discipline

Why is this useful?

Rates of out-of-school suspension and expulsion give an indication of the school’s climate and the frequency with which incidents are serious enough to result in disciplinary action.

What does this number mean?

Suspensions: This shows the number of student removals from school for disciplinary reasons per 100 students.

Where is this data from?

For more information download the Building Discipline Incidents file at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Teacher Profile

Why is this useful?

Teaching staff with greater experience and/or advanced degrees are likely to have a strong understanding of their subject material. Importantly, these figures are not necessarily indicative of teacher quality.

What does this number mean?

Average years of experience represents the years of experience held by the average teacher in the school. Teachers on staff with advanced degrees represents the percentage of teachers holding a master’s degree or higher.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the Building Faculty Information report at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Students Per Teacher

Why is this useful?

A low teacher-to-student ratio allows for each student to benefit from more one-to-one interactions with the teacher.

What does this number mean?

This figure represents the average number of students per classroom teacher in the school. It can be interpreted as an estimate of average class size.

Where is this data from?

For more information visit the Building Student Staff Ratios report at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.