Message: EOC Parent Letter

EOC Parent Letter
EOC Parent Letter

From | Dickey, Kelli | Date Friday, September 1, 2017 12:33 PM

To | Vandeven, Margie
Cc | Coffman, Robin
Subject | EOC Parent Letter

EOC Parent Letter.doc (101 Kb )

This is the original letter, plus Bill’s changes.

    September 1, 2017

    Dear Parents:

    A top priority of educators is to help prepare Missouri children for success, not only in school but also for life after graduation. We know you are proud of your children, and we are too. That is why we want to inform you about some developments resulting from the 2017 End-of-Course assessments in Algebra I and English II.

    That is why We want to inform you about some developments resulting from the 2017 End-of-Course assessments in Algebra I and English II. The technical advisory committee (TAC) retained by DESE to review assessment results each year determined that the 2017 Algebra I and English II assessments are not suitable for establishing assessment performance trends. So, upon recommendation of the TAC, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will exclude data from these assessments in school district and charter school annual performance reports (APRs). Your student’s class grades and any local decisions about A+ eligibility, as it pertains to these two assessments, are not at risk.

    The APRs that we provide to school districts and charter schools look at multiple factors, including state assessments in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies; a host of college and career readiness indicators; attendance rates; and graduation rates. For each of these indicators, multiple years of data are used. Your child’s student’s class grades and any local decisions about A+ eligibility, as it pertains to these two assessments, are not at risk.The TAC retained by DESE to review assessment results each year determined that the 2017 Algebra I and English II assessments are not suitable for establishing assessment performance trends. We are excluding the results of those two tests for this purpose.

    Please know that we are holding the vendor accountable for not delivering results suitable for school accountability purposes. I appreciate your understanding as we work through this unfortunate event.

    Thank you for supporting Missouri public education and your local school district.

    Sincerely,

    Margie Vandeven
    Commissioner of Education