South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Knost ready to answer residents’ questions

To the editor:

This is in response to the letter submitted last week by Judy Rauh.

Judy asked, “Could someone help me out here?”

Absolutely. My phone number is (314) 467-5001 and I stand ready to answer your questions as I have stated on many occasions. You did not call me, but if your intention is to help the Mehlville School District or provide some constructive criticism, I’m all ears and it doesn’t take a letter to the editor to get my attention.

In some ways I agree with Judy’s analogy: Comparing Missouri Assessment Program, or MAP, scores from district to district, even school to school, with entirely different student populations across the socioeconomic continuum is like comparing apples to oranges.

Regardless, this is what the state and federal government requires us to do.

In fact, if you subscribe to the No Child Left Behind paradigm, by 2014, 100 percent of all students in the country must be proficient or advanced on their state tests. Most would agree that’s a little euphoric.

I would also like to point out MAP scores are not pass/fail. Our goal is to improve each individual child’s progress from year to year. Many children who may not score in the proficient or advanced categories could still possibly be achieving their very best academic success ever.

Like so many other things, a surface level understanding of a topic is only the tip of the iceberg. Regarding dollars spent, return on investment, or ROI, should always be a consideration for school districts.

I’m happy to tell you, when comparing Mehlville test scores to other school districts who spend the same, we are outperforming.

My sincere belief of a united community effort to perpetuate the good things happening inside the Mehlville School District is alive and well. As always, I appreciate your help.

Superintendent Eric D. Knost

Mehlville School District

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