MSIP5 Top Ten Issues
1. The State Board of Education and DESE did not provide an opportunity to allow public comment on
the proposed MSIP5 standards prior to submitting them to the Missouri Registry. What happened
to the recommendations of the first MSIP5 statewide advisory committee?
2. The scoring guide for the standards has not yet been established or communicated, so the state
board is considering passing standards without an accountability plan by which they will be judged.
Who will be involved in establishing these standards?
3. The elimination of the Resource and Process Standards can have a long-term impact on the services
that schools offer. An accountability system based solely on performance standards equals No Child
Left Behind.
4. Students will not be able to earn career and technical skills they need to prepare them for whatever
career they choose to pursue beyond high school because state requirements will mandate that
they take courses including Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English I,
English II, English III, American Government, American History, and World History in addition to the
other graduation requirements.
5. The proposed rule will significantly impact the staffing of Missouri high schools by requiring that all
students take Chemistry and Physics. How can we expect students who have never taken a course
to take an end-of-course exam? This seems to return us to the era when high school students had
no motivation to perform well on the MAP test. We are setting our students and schools up for
failure.
6. The measures of college readiness are not comparable. There is a heavy emphasis on ACT and SAT.
Aptitude tests are being considered measures of college readiness. Technical skills attainment (TSA)
assessments are subjective and not written for all career education courses.
7. Who is going to fund the development of the additional tests? Additional testing does not mean
increased rigor. The “Top 10 by 20” campaign calls for fewer standards not more.
8. Are the comprehensive end-of-course exams in communication arts and mathematics going to
become a high-stakes graduation assessment? What could be covered on these tests that is not
already covered on the multitude of end-of-course exams proposed?
9. Why are school districts not given credit for the number of students enrolled in dual credit courses?
The proposed MSIP5 rule only references “the percent of students who earn a qualifying score on an
Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), or Technical Skills Attainment (TSA)
assessments and/or receive college credit through early college or dual enrollment in approved
courses…”
10. Why are there reporting measures that include status and improvement? These are measures that
in most instances are beyond the control of the local school district. There is no uniform standard
agreed upon by Missouri colleges for placing students in remedial classes. School districts should
not be held accountable for issues that may prevent a student from earning an associate’s degree in
three years or a bachelor’s degree in six years. Why is there no mention of students entering the
military or entering a career?