From Missouri Digital News: https://mdn.org

JEFFERSON CITY - For a second year in a row, the number of schools in the Education Department's highest performance ranking continued to grow.

The figures come from the Annual Performance Report that grades schools on the basis of student tests and other factors such as attendance and graduation rates.

In 2013, the first year the new Performance Review Report evaluation standard was used, 238 schools scored high enough achieve the highest ranking to be worth of accreditation with distinction.

The following year, that number rose to 280. In the latest report issued Friday, Oct. 23, the number rose to 356 of the 521 public school districts evaluated -- 68 percent of all the districts.

"I want to applaud the educators, administrators and teachers who are helping more of our students graduate high schools prepared for post-secondary success," said Education Commissioner Margaret Vandeven.

During the same period, the number of troubled districts failed. The number of districts that were ranked as scoring below an accreditation fell from five to just one -- St. Louis County's Normandy School District that was taken over by the State Education Department.

At a news conference discussing the report, Vandeven stressed that accreditation decisions are made by the State Board of Education and are based on more than just one year's performance.

The board will take up any changes in school accreditation at its December meeting.

The performance rankings are based on the percentage of possible points that could be earned in various categories of measurement. Scores of 90 percent or higher rank a school as being eligible for "Accreditation with Distinction."

However, the proposed accreditation category has not yet been implemented nor has the Education Board established additional criteria for which "Accredited with Distinction"  would be awarded to a district.

Annual Performance Reporting
Ranking Descriptions

Year	Accredited with Distinction	Accredited	Provisional Accreditation	Unaccredited	Total Districts
2013	238	255	24	4	521
2014	280	225	11	5	521
2015	356	157	7	1	521

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