The Excellence in Education Act of 1985 required the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop criterion-referenced tests that all schools in the state could use to assess student progress. Section 4 of the OSA requires the State Board of Education to develop a statewide assessment system that provides maximum flexibility for local school districts in determining the degree to which students have attained proficiency in the skills and competencies addressed by the State Board-adopted performance standards.
Schools are to use the assessment system to compare their performance against prior years' results.
It is expected that the revised assessment system will be part of the state accreditation process beginning in 1998. The goal of performance assessment is to improve academic achievement by requiring students to apply their knowledge and skills in more demanding, realistic situations. Performance assessment is intended to complement, not replace, traditional methods of testing and assessment, and is designed to encourage learners to understand and apply basic academic skills more effectively. MAP 2000 provides the state's teachers training in the use, scoring, and development of performance assessment. More than 2,000 teachers in 40 percent of Missouri's school districts are currently involved in this intensive training.