(Joplin, MO) – Joplin Schools has announced the launch of its new Complete Report Card website, a one-stop resource where prospective parents, students, and community members can explore everything that makes Joplin Schools a place where students thrive. The site is available now here.
The Complete Report Card brings together the academic achievements, growth, and opportunities that define a Joplin Schools education, from rigorous coursework and career and technical education, to the arts, athletics, and extracurricular programs that shape well-rounded students. It also highlights the district’s ongoing investments in dedicated and supported staff, modern facilities, robust special education services, intentional safety initiatives, and the strong sense of belonging that families find at every grade level.
“We are proud of our students, our staff, and everything our schools have to offer, and we want every family considering Joplin Schools to see the whole picture,” said Joplin Schools Assistant Superintendent of Learning Services Dr. Sarah Mwangi. “Test scores are one part of a much bigger story. The Complete Report Card is our way of sharing that full story directly with our current and future families.”
The launch comes as Missouri prepares to implement Governor Mike Kehoe’s executive order requiring the state to assign a single A–F letter grade to every public school and district beginning this April. While Joplin Schools supports meaningful accountability and transparency in public education, the district has real concerns about whether a single letter grade can accurately or fairly capture the quality of a school or the community it serves.
Among the district’s concerns:
- A single letter grade oversimplifies school quality. Parents consistently say they judge schools by far more than test scores alone. including graduation rates, college and career readiness, class sizes, communication, safety, special education services, and teacher quality and turnover.
- State grades and parent priorities don’t always align. Even when a state grade and a parent’s own assessment of a school happen to match, the reasoning behind them is often very different. National research has found the vast majority of parents want school grades to reflect more than testing alone.
- Socioeconomic factors can distort the results. Research shows that school letter grades are closely tied to the socioeconomic makeup of the community a school serves. This fact raises questions about what an A–F grade truly measures.
- A letter grade risks becoming an unofficial accreditation rating. Missouri’s MSIP 6 accreditation process is a comprehensive review of a district’s leadership, instructional systems, and continuous improvement. A single letter grade answers a much narrower question, but is likely to be referenced as if it were the whole story.
- The grading scale itself is designed to move. Under the executive order, the thresholds for each letter grade automatically rise once 65% of Missouri schools earn an A or B, meaning a school could maintain the very same strong performance and still see its grade fall simply because the bar moved.
- The system is being rolled out quickly. Missouri superintendents and education leaders have called for initial results to be treated as a pilot or clearly labeled as draft, giving districts time to validate data and correct errors before permanent public labels are attached to schools.
“A letter grade is simple, and simple things get repeated – on social media, in real estate listings, in casual conversation – often without the fuller explanation attached,” said Joplin Schools Superintendent Dr. Kerry Sachetta. “We believe our families and our community deserve more than a single letter. They deserve the whole picture, and that’s exactly what the Complete Report Card is built to provide.”
Visitors to the Complete Report Card website can learn about the district’s academic programs and student growth opportunities; hear from students, alumni, and staff members about the real-life impacts being made in Joplin Schools; discover unique opportunities designed to fit our unique students; and dig into data points that paint a full picture of a vibrant and successful school community.
Joplin Schools encourages every family, whether considering enrollment or already part of the district, to visit the site to see the full story behind the numbers. The district also encourages families evaluating any school or district, in Joplin or elsewhere, to look beyond a single letter grade and ask questions about what a school truly offers its students.
About Joplin Schools:
Joplin Schools is committed to providing every student with high-quality education that prepares them for success in college, career, and life. The district continues to invest in its people, programs, and facilities to ensure Joplin remains a destination district for families across the region.
Reference:
Sarah Coyne, Director of Communications
Joplin Schools
sarahcoyne@joplinschools.org
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