Important Letter to the Community about MSIP 6 and Accreditation
March 8, 2023
Dear Ritenour Families and Community,
Yesterday, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released results of the Missouri Schools Improvement Program 6 (MSIP6) to the public that reflect data only from the 2021-2022 school year. Scores of student academic performance and continuous improvement from all districts in Missouri are now available. These scores factor into an overall percentage which will be used to determine a district’s accreditation status in 2025.
I am very proud that Ritenour has always maintained full accreditation thanks to the hard work of our all of our staff who always make it a priority to reach and teach Every Student, Every Day. I am confident that we will continue as a fully-accredited school district.
Ritenour has an initial MSIP 6 score and overall percentage of 67.3%. This should not cause alarm. We were in a similar situation when the transition from MSIP4 to MSIP5 occurred in 2012. Historically, when a new version of the state standards is introduced, Ritenour makes significant gains and maintains full accreditation.
Since this is the first year using the standards of MSIP6, a district’s accreditation status cannot change. Changes in accreditation status will not be made until the 2024-25 school year.
If you would like to learn more about MSIP 6, you can visit the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website: https://dese.mo.gov/quality-schools/mo-school-improvement-program.
I am especially proud of what some of the MSIP 6 data shows that our students are approaching proficiency in English language arts, math, science and government. This shows that students are moving in the right direction after the pandemic, although we know we must make progress as identified by our monthly district assessments. Our district also earned 90% of the points for continuous improvement. As a district, we also were above average in growth in math. Ritenour High School scored “On Track” for student groups (formerly called subgroups) in English language arts and “Approaching” for overall students in English language arts.
Our biggest area of opportunity for Ritenour to earn points is in the category of attendance. We are one of more than 100 districts from throughout the state that didn’t earn any points for attendance. During the 2021-2022 school year when the pandemic was still causing disruptions, our focus remained to be on health and safety first and academics second, which is the basis of a humanistic approach to supporting the whole child. We encouraged students and staff to stay out of school if they were ill. In fact, we created systems to ensure students and staff were away from one another if they were symptomatic.
Absenteeism impacts every other aspect of a student’s learning experience that is reflected in MSIP 6-including the graduation rate. We are doing more to follow up with students and families to ensure they are getting the resources they need, especially in the area of social-emotional and mental health.
To address student academic performance, our educators are beginning to implement Competency-Based Learning (CBL), which gives teachers, students and their families a better snapshot of specific areas of the curriculum where students are reaching proficiency in individual areas and provides students extra practice and instruction on specific areas where students struggle. You will be hearing more about CBL in coming weeks and months.
The future is bright in our district and we will continue to focus on ensuring that the “Victory is in the Classroom” for every one of our students. We appreciate your partnership as we continue to reach and teach Every Ritenour Student, Every Day!
Sincerely,
Dr. Chris Kilbride, Superintendent
