KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Months after students took the state assessment, school districts in Missouri are still waiting for the results.
"You often want your data back mid-June because it gives all summer to respond and be proactive," said Kansas City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell.
Bedell is frustrated.
He knows his district is not fully accredited and in his words, they rely on state numbers to address the problem.
"We are working to become fully accredited," said Bedell. "If we get the data back it will let us know whether or not our curriculum is making sense, if the professional development we provide works."
The question, why is it taking so long.
"Anytime we have new tests, there is a process that we go through with Missouri educators to set cut scores for performance levels," said Nancy Bowles with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Bowles says the guidelines were not set until last month.
"We are hoping to move ahead and get some final data after that to get the results out to the school," said Bowles.
Bowles admits soon is more like the end of this year. She says the new test scores can't be used against a districts accreditation status.
For Bedell, he says those scores dictate how he is judged.
"We want to know where we are, we want to be transparent with our community. It is also how I am being evaluated as a superintendent," said Bedell.
