Joplin Earns 8 Spots on State’s Elite Lists
of Top Ten Highest-Performing Schools in Missouri

Statewide results are in, and Joplin schools are at the head of the class! Thanks to outstanding student performance, Joplin schools ranked eight times on the state's annual lists of Top Ten Highest-Performing Schools in Missouri. Released this week by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), this year’s Top Ten lists recognize schools for high performance on the spring 2007 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests for grades 3-8, 10, and 11 in communication arts and mathematics.

“We are very pleased and excited that Joplin schools made the Top Ten lists for highest performing schools again this year,” says Superintendent Dr. Jim Simpson. “It is a great honor for a Missouri school district to achieve this recognition for academics. Our teachers, staff, students, and parents are to be congratulated for their focused and dedicated efforts.”

Joplin’s rankings on this year’s lists were as follows:

Duenweg Elementary School

• Category: Schools less than 250 students / Math / Grade 5
  87.5% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test
  
  
• Category: Schools less than 250 students / Math / Grade 3
  85.0% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test
  
  
• Category: Schools less than 250 students / Communication Arts / Grade 5
  75.0% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test

Duquesne Elementary School

• Category: Schools less than 250 students / Math / Grade 3
  87.5% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test
  
  
• Category: Schools less than 250 students / Communication Arts / Grade 3
  78.1% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test

Royal Heights Elementary School

• Category: Schools between 250 and 500 students / Communication Arts / Grade 3
  83.3% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test
  
  
• Category: Schools between 250 and 500 students / Math / Grade 4
  81.6% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test

Kelsey Norman Elementary School

• Category: Schools between 250 and 500 students / Communication Arts / Grade 3
  75.6% of students scored at the “Proficient” or “Advanced” levels on MAP test

This marks the second consecutive year that Joplin has made the state’s Top Ten Highest-Performing Schools lists. Last year, Duenweg Elementary was recognized on the Top Ten list for fifth grade mathematics in schools of similar size.

To view the complete 2007 Top-Ten lists, please visit the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website at: http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/assess/TopTen/index.html

(posted 03/27/08)