Success-Ready Students Continuous Improvement System
High School Readiness shows how prepared a student is for success in grades 9-12. Districts use one of several approved Interim Assessment tools to measure the impact of instruction on student learning. This impact is identified as either status (performance at a point in time) or growth (performance over a specific period of time). The Interim Assessments help inform students of their progress in understanding grade level standards and support teachers in providing effective instruction.
Additional Information
We use NWEA interim assessments to inform students of their learning progress and supporting teachers in effective instruction. Interim assessments are used in grade 3-8 for English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. Use the following dashboard to learn more about how students are progressing in ELA and Mathematics.
Growth - Describes the extent to which a student’s growth trajectory estimates they are “on-track” to demonstrate a foundational understanding of grade level standards by the end of that academic year.
Interim assessments used by School Innovation Waiver districts measure growth differently. These measures are used to help understand how much growth a student has made relative to where they started the school year.
Academic Readiness - Describes a student’s level of academic content knowledge at a point in time. Interim assessments used by School Innovation Waiver districts have their own unique achievement level descriptors. These levels are used to share with students where they are in understanding the standards. See examples that follow for the level used for each district's interim assessment.
Academic Readiness by Growth - This quadrant combines the academic readiness measure with the growth measure to describe the extent to which students are growing as expected to demonstrate understanding of grade level standards.
This simulation illustrates the percent of students academic readiness and the extent to which their growth is on-track for what is expected within each interim assessment.
Students use an Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) as a planning tool to set goals and build their College, Career and Workplace (CCWR) portfolio of evidence. Students engage with Market Value Assets, DESE Certification / Credentialing, Qualifying Assessments and/or foundational learning as evidenced in end-of-course exams that support their ICAP.
Success-Ready Students Network - Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Success-Ready Students Network, and why was it formed?
A: The Success-Ready Students Network (SRSN) is a group of school districts from across the state of Missouri that formed in 2022-23 and is collaborating to design a better way for each student to engage in meaningful learning, demonstrate individual growth, and prepare for future success. This group is leading a statewide effort to support a long-term transition to competency-based learning in public schools, including the design and implementation of new state assessment and accreditation systems.
The SRSN was formed as a culmination of many years of research conducted by practitioners in the field in collaboration with representatives from Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Q: Which school districts are participating in this work?
A: As of March 1, 2023, 56 Missouri public and charter districts are participating in the SRSN System Design and Innovation Learning Design zones. A complete, up-to-date list of participating school districts is available on the Success-Ready Students Network website.
These 56 public and charter districts represent 34% (300,670) of all students (897,864) in Missouri. Participating districts are geographically and demographically diverse and represent approximately 10% of the 559 Missouri public and charter school districts in the state. District composition includes rural, urban and suburban. Of the 56 participating districts, 25 are in the System Design Zone (SDZ).
Q: How did this work get started, and why?
A: In January 2022, the State Board of Education tasked the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with exploring alternatives to replace the state’s traditional time-based educational system with a competency-based system.
In response, Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven formed the Success-Ready Students Work Group (SRSWG), and challenged this group to “reimagine and reshape [Missouri’s] education system in ways that provide better access to educational opportunities for all children.”
The creation of the work group was supported by the Missouri School Board Association, Missouri Association of School Administrators, Education Plus, Greater Ozark Cooperating School Districts, and Greater Kansas City Cooperating School Districts. These organizations, along with other statewide entities, helped recruit members from various stakeholder groups, including: students, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, business persons and higher education. Care was taken to ensure that work group membership represented all eight DESE supervisory regions.
Q: Who is leading this work, and how is it being funded?
A: The Success-Ready Students Network is being supported by an experienced team of facilitators who collaboratively work with participants to coordinate and support statewide professional learning, communication of work progress, research including data collection and analysis, and selection of participating school districts.
This cost-free experience will be instrumental in helping Missouri educators determine best instructional and assessment practices while reimagining the current state assessment and accountability system.
Thanks to generous support from the Kauffman Foundation, there is no cost for districts to join the SRSN Innovation Zones.
Q: What support is there from a statewide level?
A: This work began with a directive from the Missouri State Board of Education, and a charge by Missouri Education Commissioner Margie VanDeven to “reimagine and reshape [Missouri’s] education system in ways that provide better access to educational opportunities for all children.”
It is supported by the Missouri School Board Association, Missouri Association of School Administrators, Education Plus, Greater Ozark Cooperating School Districts, and Greater Kansas City Cooperating School Districts.
This work also aligns with Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s Top Priorities for 2023, which include Workforce and Education, and has bipartisan legislative support. Missouri is following the lead of several states nationwide who have successfully reimagined state assessments and accountability systems.
Q: What is the timeline for these changes to take place
A: The Success-Ready Students Network and the Innovation Zones began work in 2022-23. During this school year, System Design Zone districts will share information with their local communities about the work of the SRSN and ask their local Board of Education to approve participation in an innovation waiver request, by which these districts will seek to use a student assessment other than the Missouri Assessment Program to measure student growth and achievement.
Innovation Zones
SRSN organizes Innovation Zones to support the work of moving to a competency-based learning (CBL) system. The Innovation Zones provide a space where public school educators, partners and stakeholders engage in high quality professional learning. That learning is used locally to support school improvement efforts, and statewide to inform system design.
Participants in the Innovation Zones will be guided by the study of three essential questions:
- What do students at all levels need to be empowered in their learning so they can develop understanding of the knowledge, skills and dispositions they need to be high school, college, career and workforce ready?
- What professional learning is foundational to designing and implementing a personalized, competency-based assessment for learning system (inclusive of federally mandated state assessments) that ensures students develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions they need to be high school, college, career, and workplace ready?
- How can assessment for learning approaches be used to inform system improvement and creation of reimagined assessment and accreditation systems that support every student in being high school, college, career and workplace ready?
By design, the levels of System Design and Innovative Learning Design Zones are intended to meet participants where they are in their journey, supporting them with high quality professional learning and a network of partners. It is important districts apply for the level they feel best aligns with their current reality.
The 2022-2023 school year was the start of the Success-Ready Students Network and the Innovation Zones. The goal is to expand membership through 2026-2027. We encourage all districts, regardless of participation, to pay close attention to this important work.
System Design Zone (SDZ)
This zone is for leading CBL districts (representative of the state) who desire to collaborate to improve local practice through professional learning and collectively support designing up a reimagined assessment for learning system. SDZ participants will also engage in study and research to deepen understanding of CBL practices and collaborate on state and federal waiver requests. This zone will need to have a board resolution supporting this work, but this will be submitted after receiving notification of being selected.
Evidence of Practice
Districts wishing to participate in SDZ should have evidence the following practices are in place or are under construction in their system:
- Use of competency-based learning (CBL) practices.
- Use of data to inform system change and improvement.
- Use of assessment for learning practices (especially formative, summative, interim assessments that demonstrate student growth).
- Professional learning that supports implementation of CBL, including current or desired future use of real-world learning opportunities for students done in collaboration with identified partners (e.g. businesses, industry, entrepreneurial opportunities, etc.)
Commitments
Districts in the System Design Zone commit to the following:
- Sharing examples of how a competency-based mind-set is used to create personalized learning experiences, digital (e.g. text, video, etc.) examples of which can be used for professional learning by other districts.
- Creating real world learning opportunities for students in collaboration with identified partners (e.g. businesses, industry, entrepreneurial opportunities, higher ed. etc.).
- Participating fully in regularly scheduled meetings (e.g. virtual, hybrid).
- Engaging in study and research (within approved and secure protocols) which inform instructional practice and system design that help identify important qualities of an assessment for learning and reimagined accreditation system.
- Supporting development of and considering participation in group designed waiver request(s) to DESE (e.g MSIP 6, federal) that identify solutions to barriers currently impeding the goal of every student mastering the knowledge, skills and dispositions they need to be high school, college, career and workplace ready.
- Using learning from the SDZ to support DESE in design work leading to creation of reimagined assessment and accreditation systems.
- Serving as a site visit location for other Missouri educators and stakeholders.
Participating districts will be asked to secure from their Board of Education a resolution supporting participation in the System Design Zone.
Districts who believe they meet System Design Zone (SDZ) qualifications and can make the required commitments are encouraged to apply. Districts who apply for the (SDZ) but are not selected are automatically accepted into the Innovative Learning Design Zone (ILDZ).
Innovative Learning Design Zone (ILDZ)
Commitments
Districts, schools or teachers selected to participate in the Innovative Learning Design Zone (ILDZ) commit to the following:
- Demonstrate a desire to grow in the use of competency-based learning (CBL) practices.
- Engage in monthly statewide professional learning.
- Support professional learning design and development of CBL related training materials as appropriate for use locally and/or statewide.
- Support improvements in curriculum and assessment design.
- Engage local stakeholder groups in using a CBL mind-set to support high school, college, career and workplace readiness.
- Prepare for engagement in a future System Design Zone cohort.
- Submission of an application serves as agreement to commit. In addition, a signed letter of support from the Superintendent is required.
It is anticipated that participating ILDZ districts will grow to the point where they are ready to participate in future SDZ cohorts.
Collaborative Network Zone (CNZ)
The Collaborative Network Zone (CNZ) is a space designed to foster collaboration and coordination among state and regional educational organizations, including institutions of higher education, to design a personalized professional learning system for educators working both in the System Design Zone and the Innovative Learning Design Zone. The Collaborative Network Zone supports development of a statewide professional learning model that helps all educators effectively implement personalized competency-based learning (CBL) for the students they serve. Business leaders are also encouraged to support the work of the Innovation Zones by serving as experts on essential employability skills needed by students and helping educators make connections to Real World Learning opportunities.
Commitments
- Demonstrate a desire to grow in the use of competency-based learning (CBL) practices.
- Engage in monthly statewide professional learning.
- Support state-wide and regional efforts to collaboratively create aligned structures and processes that support a competency-based learning mind-set. As one example, higher education institutions work together to ensure all preservice, new teachers and veteran educators have access to a continuum of quality professional learning.
- Submission of an application serves as agreement to commit.