St. Joseph School District by the Numbers: Part I

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June 4, 2015

By Brittany Clingen
This article is the first in a two-part series that takes an in-depth look at data from the St. Joseph School District in order to put into context the extent of the corruption that occurred there. The second article addresses budgets and expenditures.

Much has been said regarding the corruption that was uncovered in Missouri's St. Joseph School District. Education experts lamented the duration of the unethical and illegal practices employed by district officials; residents of St. Joe remain skeptical and distrustful of the board; and journalist Sam Zeff, who has been covering this story from the beginning, noted, "If FBI agents come to each and every one of your school board meetings then if you’re not the worst school district in Missouri, you’re certainly in the bottom two."

St. Joseph school district building

Speculation surrounding the health of the district can be drawn based on the auditor's damning report and the amount of money squandered by district officials: as much as $40 million over the course of 14 years. That the board of education declined to renew a portion of its operating property tax levy by placing the question before voters—a decision that cost the district roughly $6.5 million in revenue—is also telling. But to truly gain a thorough understanding of the district, a deeper dive into student performance and other data points is necessary.[1]

From an empirical perspective, St. Joseph ranks below average on certain metrics when compared with other districts throughout Missouri. Serving over 11,000 students, St. Joseph ranked as the 15th-largest of the 572 total school districts in the state, as of 2015. For the 2012-2013 school year, St. Joseph School District students earned an average Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) index score of 359.1. According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), "The MAP assessments test students’ progress toward mastery of the Missouri Show-Me Standards." MAP scores are included as one of the factors in the DESE's Annual Performance Report (APR), which evaluates academic progress in each school district.[2][3]

St. Joseph's MAP assessments for the 2012-2013 school year revealed that students scored highest in social studies, with an index score of 381, but they scored lowest in mathematics, with an index score of 348. Based on the MAP scores, St. Joseph ranked 140 out of the 469 Missouri school districts that reported scores for all four tested subject areas in the APR.[3][4][5]

Of the top 20 largest school districts in Missouri, eight fared worse than St. Joseph on the MAP assessments. Of these eight, only one—the Ferguson-Florissant School District, which ranks as the 17th-largest district in the state—has fewer students than St. Joseph. However, St. Joseph's score of 140 was nearly 20 points better than the 159.2 average MAP score of the top 20 school districts.

The Missouri School Improvement Program, an initiative within the state education department, uses APR information to determine if a district should achieve or retain accreditation. Each district's APR details student achievement across 12 criteria, including MAP scores for grades three through 11, reading test scores for grades three and seven, ACT scores, advanced and vocational courses, college and vocational placement, and attendance. State education officials then conclude whether a district meets or fails to meet state standards for each APR criterion.[3][6]

Since 2006, St. Joseph students have met the 11 categories of criteria 67 times and not met them nine times. Minority students, those with disabilities and students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches have consistently underperformed in St. Joseph. The district has failed to meet the "Subgroup Achievement" category every year since 2007. This category requires a Missouri school district to demonstrate improvement in student performance for these aforementioned subgroups, which St. Joseph failed to do for six years straight (see chart below).[7][8]

APR District Summary, 2006-2012
School year MAP Index Grade 3-5 MAP Index Grade 6-8 MAP Index Grade 9-11 ACT Advanced Courses Career Education Courses College Placement Career Education Placement Graduation Rate Attendance Rate Subgroup Achievement
2006 Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met
2007 Met Met Met Met Met Met Not Met Met Met Not Met Not Met
2008 Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Not Met
2009 Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Not Met
2010 Met Met Met Met Met Met Met N/A Met Met Not Met
2011 Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Not Met
2012 Not Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Met Not Met

The percentage of St. Joseph graduates whose ACT scores were at or above the national average also lagged slightly behind the state average. Between 2011 and 2014, an average of 35.8 percent of St. Joseph graduates tested received scores at or above the national average, which had a mean score of 21.0 over these four years. Meanwhile, 37.6 percent of graduates throughout the state of Missouri achieved or beat the national ACT average.[9][10][11][12][13]

Census data sheds light on factors that likely exacerbate some of St. Joseph's academic deficiencies. Studies have repeatedly shown that poverty has an adverse effect on the educational experience of children.[14][15] Once a bustling city on the edge of the Western frontier, St. Joseph in 2010 had a poverty rate that was 7.9 percentage points higher than Missouri's: 18.4 percent in St. Joseph compared to 10.5 percent throughout the state. Additionally, St. Joseph had a median household income of $42,248 in 2010, lower than the $47,333 median for Missouri as a whole.[16][17]

It's not all bad news for the students of St. Joseph, however. In recent years, St. Joseph has boasted a graduation rate higher than that of the state. Between 2011 and 2014, the state of Missouri averaged a graduation rate of 83.8 percent, while St. Joseph maintained an average rate of 90.2 percent over the same time period.[18]

In recent years, St. Joseph's student-to-teacher ratios, another factor to consider when assessing the health of a district, are more or less in line with state averages. From 2011 through 2014, Missouri consistently averaged 13 students per teacher and 18 students per classroom teacher. During this time period, St. Joseph averaged 13.25 students per teacher and 19 students per classroom teacher. According to the Center for Public Education, "A class size of no more than 18 students per teacher is required to produce the greatest benefits."[19][20][21]

However, according to the Glossary of Education Reform, "'Ideal' student-teacher ratios will depend on a wide variety of complex factors, including the age and academic needs of the students represented in the ratio (younger children or higher-need student populations typically require more time, attention, and instructional support from teachers) or the experience, skill, and effectiveness of the teachers (highly skilled teachers may be able to achieve better academic results with larger classes than less skilled teachers with smaller classes)." Therefore, it's hard to say how St. Joseph—and the state of Missouri as a whole, for that matter—fare based on their respective ratios.[19][20][21]

Unlike the student-to-teacher ratios, St. Joseph's student-to-administrator ratios vary greatly from those of the state. While Missouri has averaged 195 students to a single administrator over the past four years, St. Joseph has averaged 231.25 students per administrator. However, whether the number of administrators actually helps improve student performance is up for debate. A study by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice argues a high number of administrators takes away from classroom resources and has no direct impact on student achievement, while a report by the School Superintendents Association contends the increasing number of administrators in public school districts is appropriate and necessary.[21][22][23]

Part two of this series takes an in-depth look at how St. Joseph's budgets and expenditures have evolved over the past several years and what this means in light of the stipend scandal.

Disclaimer: The data cited here is from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). School districts in Missouri self-report their statistics to DESE.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ News Press Now, "School board decides against levy bid," May 8, 2015
  2. ↑ DESE, "Assessment," accessed June 4, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, "Accountability," accessed June 30, 2014
  4. ↑ Niche, "Largest School Districts in Missouri," accessed June 3, 2015
  5. ↑ Center for American Progress, "Size Matters: A Look at School District Consolidation," August 2013
  6. ↑ Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education, "State Assessment," accessed July 8, 2014
  7. ↑ DESE.gov, "Comprehensive Guide to the Missouri School Improvement Program," July 2014
  8. ↑ Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, "The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America’s Public Schools, Part II," February 28, 2013
  9. ↑ ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 25, 2015
  10. ↑ ACT.org, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 25, 2015
  11. ↑ ACT.org, "2011 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 25, 2015
  12. ↑ ACT.org, "2014 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 25, 2015
  13. ↑ DESE.gov, "District ACT," accessed May 25, 2015
  14. ↑ Princeton.edu, "The Effects of Poverty on Children," Summer/Fall 1997
  15. ↑ CalPoly.edu, "The Effect of Poverty on Child Development and Educational Outcomes," 2008
  16. ↑ United States Census Bureau, "St. Joseph (city), Missouri," accessed February 5, 2014
  17. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
  18. ↑ DESE.gov, "District Graduation Rates," accessed May 25, 2014
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Glossary of Education Reform, "STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO," accessed June 4, 2015
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Center for Public Education, "Class size and student achievement: Research review," accessed June 4, 2015
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 DESE.gov, "District Student Staff Ratios," accessed June 3, 2015
  22. ↑ The School Superintendents Association, "Are There Too Many Administrators?" accessed June 4, 2015
  23. ↑ Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, "The School Staffing Surge: Decades of Employment Growth in America’s Public Schools," October 24, 2012
v • e
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v • e
St. Joseph School District investigation (2014-2017)
The story
2014
The stipend scandal (part 1) • The FBI probe (part 2) • The rescinded suspension (part 3) • The $2 million shortfall (part 4)
2015
The secret tapes (part 5) • The ousted administrators (part 6) • The state audit (part 7) • The fallout begins (part 8) • The superintendent axed (part 9) • The firings continue (part 10) • The board resignation (part 11) • The video recap (part 12) • The investigation spreads (part 13) • The lawsuit settlement (part 14) • The settlement details (part 15) • The education experts (part 16) • The superintendent quits (part 17) • The town reacts (part 18) • The district's data, I (part 19) • The district's data, II (part 20) • The ripple effect (part 21) • The inflated compensation (part 22) • The PSRS investigation (part 23)
2017
The contentious property tax levy (part 24) • The levy and the budget (part 25) • The sides of the battle (part 26) • The ethics complaint (part 27) • The business supporters (part 28) • The cultural debate (part 29)
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Major figures
2014-2016 school board
Elections
Background


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