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Schools

Kirkwood School District Middle Schools Talk Test Scores

Principals from Nipher and North Kirkwood Middle Schools present their school improvement plans to the district's Board of Education.

School officials at Nipher Middle School and North Kirkwood Middle School said they plan to takes measures to increase Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores and student involvement in service-learning projects.

During last night's Kirkwood School District Board of Education meeting, Nipher principal Dr. Michele Condon presented the board with test results that indicated a gradual increase in proficiency in communication arts in all grades, despite a decrease in math. Condon said one of her goals for the next year was simple--increase test scores for all students.

"Each student scoring at 'basic' or 'below basic' on the MAP tests will increase their test score to the next category in 2011," Condon said.

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Along with academic concerns, Condon outlined a goal for her school to reach a 10 percent decrease in office referrals in the next year. "One of our core value's is respect, and we want to emphasize that over the next year," Condon said.

Nipher, along with North Kirkwood, is utilizing the UNITE character education program, which promotes school activities outside the classroom like service learning and programs on social justice. UNITE surveys students annually on their school environment, measuring "student safety and sense of belonging," Condon said. She said she was hoping for a 20 percent increase in this category by next year.

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North Middle School principal Tim Cochran presented his own plan to the board. "The fastest way to do this would be to just say 'ditto' to much of what Michele (Condon) spoke to," Cochran said. "You'll see a lot of similar goals and interests in this presentation."

Cochran said that his two academic goals for his next year were identical to the previous years."We didn't meet our goals last year, and we decided as a staff that we weren't going to change them and let ourselves off the hook," Cochran said. One objective was to meet the state goals for MAP scores in the African-American, Individual Education Plan and Free and Reduced Lunch subgroups.

While the middle school scored well above the state average overall, none of the three subgroups are yet scoring at the desired level. Despite this, the middle school continues to rank well among other St. Louis County schools. In communication arts, the middle school ranks No. 3, and No. 5 in math for grades six and eight.

Cochran's established goals were simple; all students will achieve state standards on MAP test scores.

Echoing Condon's vision, Cochran also wants to focus on behavioral policy for students."In two years, we've seen disciplinary measures go down across the board," Cochran said. School suspensions have decreased by nearly 50 percent in two years. Out-of-school suspensions have decreased by more than 75 percent.

Cochran said that this trend was the most promising he'd seen at the school, and it was due to the new UNITE projects being implemented throughout the district. "The students are going out into the community, working on social justice projects, working with each other, and I think it's taught them a real respect for one another," Cochran said.

The board meets again on Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at the district offices at North Kirkwood Middle School.

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