DECADE OF DECLINE IN ROCKWOOD

The percentage of Rockwood students that are proficient or above in math, reading and science, is lower now, than a decade ago, in core subjects, in every grade, throughout Rockwood's elementary and middle schools. The same is generally true for high school students. 

Proficient means they've learned what the state of Missouri says they're supposed to learn, in that grade. 

All of this is according to data from Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

As the graphs below show, proficiency has been declining since 2011.

LOWLIGHT SUMMARY:

In 2021, the most recent year available, this is the percentage of Rockwood students proficient or above right now:

Just 18.8% of students are proficient or above in 8th grade math. (Down 47 points since 2011.)

Barely half (51.5%) of students are proficient or above in high school biology. (Down 35 points since 2015.)

59% of students are proficient or above in 5th grade English Language Arts (ELA). (Down 24.1 points from 2016.)

60.2% of Algebra II students are proficient or above. (Down 33 points since 2017.)

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To read the graphics below, note:

They include 10 years worth of MAP standardized test data from DESE (Missouri's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education). MAP stands for Missouri Assessment Program. The most recent data included is the most recent available, from tests in the spring of 2021.

The graphs are courtesy of the St. Louis County Family Association (SLCFA), a new organization dedicated to informing parents and taxpayers about what's happening in public and private schools around the county. The SLCFA got all the DESE data and created these charts.

MATH

DESE Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) standardized tests for math are given every year in 3rd through 8th grade.

3rd grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 3rd graders proficient or above in math.
Down 25 points from its high and down from a decade ago.

4th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 4th graders proficient or above in math.
Down 20.7 points since its high, down from a decade ago.

5th grade

Percentage of Rockwood's 5th graders proficient or above in math.
Down 25.2 points since its high, down from a decade ago.

6th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood students proficient or above in 6th grade math.
Down 21 points since its high a decade ago.

7th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood students proficient or above in 7th grade math.
Down 26.5 points from its high and down from 2011.

8th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's students proficient or above
in 8th grade math. Down 47.3 points from its high in 2011.
Note: This does not include 8th graders that took higher level math.

 

A1 is the "end of course" exam for Algebra 1.

Percentage of Rockwood's Algebra I students that scored
proficient or above in "end of course" exams.
Down 27.1 points from its high and down from 2011.

Algebra II.

Percentage of Rockwood's Algebra II students that scored
proficient or above in "end of course" exams.
Down 33 points from its high but, up slightly from a low in 2013.

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ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
(Reading and writing)

MAP tests are given in 3rd through 8th grade.

3rd grade.

The percentage of Rockwood's 3rd graders proficient or above
in ELA is down 21.7 points since its high.
Also down from 2011.

4th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 4th graders proficient or above
in ELA actually went up from 2019 but is down 16.1 points
from its high, and down from 2011.

5th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 5th graders proficient or above in ELA
is down 24.1 points from its high and down from 2011.

6th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 6th graders proficient or above in ELA
is down 16.3 points from its high and down from 2011.

7th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 7th graders proficient or above in ELA
is down 18.6 points from its high, and down from 2011

8th grade.

Percentage of Rockwood's 8th graders proficient or above in ELA
is down 12.5 points from its high, and down from 2011.

E1 and E2 are the end of course exams for high schoolers in English Language Arts.

Note: We did not include the graph for the E1 ELA exam because it was incomplete. It only included data from 2013 and 2014, instead of all 10 years (2011-2021). 

Below is the chart for the E2 exams:

Percentage of Rockwood's high schoolers that scored proficient
or above during their final E2 "end of course" ELA exam. 
It's down 16.6 points from its high, and down from 2011.

Worth noting: 

More students were proficient in the first ELA exam in 2014 (78.2%) than after the second end of course exam in 2021 (72.9%).  

SCIENCE

MAP tests are given to 5th graders and 8th graders.

5th grade.

The percentage of Rockwood's 5th graders that are proficient or
above in science has gone down every year since 2013.
In 2021, it was 62.1%, down 17.9 points from its high of 80%.

8th grade.

The percentage of Rockwood's 8th graders that are proficient or
above in science is down 15 points from its high a decade ago,
and has gone down every year since 2014.

B1 is the "end of course exam" for high school biology students:

The percentage of Rockwood's high schoolers that scored proficient or above
in the "end of course" biology assessment, B1,is down 35 points since
its high in 2015. It is also down from where it was in 2011.

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MORE INFO

Note:

We previously did a separate post on 8th grade math because it's been in the spotlight nationwide. 

Click here for the info on 8th grade math in multiple school districts across St. Louis County. 

(All of them are down.)

To see all grades and all subjects in those same districts, go here. Click on a school district and click Academic Performance.

As we stated earlier, the above charts are based on MAP test scores.
Information about MAP testing can be found on this site. 

We also have the data broken down by school and by race. 

To see how your school's doing, and more, click here.
Note: Just 13% of the district's Black students are proficient or above in math.