A: The Success-Ready Students Network (SRSN) is a group of school districts from across the state of Missouri that formed in 2022-23 and is collaborating to design a better way for each student to engage in meaningful learning, demonstrate individual growth, and prepare for future success. This group is leading a statewide effort to support a long-term transition to competency-based learning in public schools, including the design and implementation of new state assessment and accreditation systems. 

The SRSN was formed as a culmination of many years of research conducted by practitioners in the field in collaboration with representatives from Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

• SRSN Research Timeline

A: As of March 1, 2023, 56 Missouri public and charter districts are participating in the SRSN System Design and Innovation Learning Design zones. A complete list of participating school districts is available on the Success-Ready Students Network website.

These 56 public and charter districts represent 34% (300,670) of all students (897,864) in Missouri.  Participating districts are geographically and demographically diverse and represent approximately 10% of the 559 Missouri public and charter school districts in the state. District composition includes rural, urban and suburban. Of the participating districts, 20 are in the System Design Zone (SDZ).  

• Success-Ready Students Network System Design Zone Map

A: In January 2022, the State Board of Education tasked the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with exploring alternatives to replace the state’s traditional time-based educational system with a competency-based system. 

In response,  Missouri Commissioner of Education Dr. Margie Vandeven formed the Success-Ready Students Work Group (SRSWG), and challenged this group to “reimagine and reshape [Missouri’s] education system in ways that provide better access to educational opportunities for all children.”

The creation of the work group was supported by the Missouri School Board Association, Missouri Association of School Administrators, Education Plus, Greater Ozark Cooperating School Districts, and Greater Kansas City Cooperating School Districts. These organizations, along with other statewide entities, helped recruit members from various stakeholder groups, including: students, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members, business persons and higher education. Care was taken to ensure that work group membership represented all eight DESE supervisory regions.

A: The Success-Ready Students Network is being supported by an experienced team of facilitators who collaboratively work with participants to coordinate and support statewide professional learning, communication of work progress, research including data collection and analysis, and selection of participating school districts.

This cost-free experience will be instrumental in helping Missouri educators determine best instructional and assessment practices while reimagining the current state assessment and accountability system.

Thanks to generous support from the Kauffman Foundation, there is no cost for districts to join the SRSN Innovation Zones.

• Click here to learn more about the SRSN facilitators

A: The Success-Ready Students Network and the Innovation Zones began work in 2022-23. During this school year, System Design Zone districts have shared information with their local communities about the work of the SRSN, and asked their local Board of Education to approve participation in an innovation waiver request, by which these districts sought to use a student assessment other than the Missouri Assessment Program to measure student growth and achievement. 

Looking ahead through the 2026-27 school year, these districts will work together to help design a new state assessment to replace the MAP test, and to create a better accountability system that supports student learning and school improvement statewide.

A: Current state-required testing is not meaningful for students, teachers or families. 

Missouri MAP test data does not provide an accurate, transparent reflection of student learning that students, parents and teachers can understand. It also does not provide teachers with what they need to effectively inform instruction. Just as important, the Missouri MAP test limits classroom instruction by focusing on compliance, not learning.

A: Students are empowered when they can track and understand their own learning in real time. When students receive timely feedback on their learning progress, they can understand where they are and set goals for their own growth.

A new state assessment would be administered at multiple points during the school year, allowing students to set individualized goals, measure their progress and understand what they need to grow and succeed.

In addition, a growth-based, through-year assessment provides teachers with timely information about each student that they can use to make real-time changes that have a positive impact on student learning.

A: Our district already uses a through-year assessment in addition to administering the state MAP test. We have found this to be beneficial for both teachers and students for the following reasons:

• Analyzing student data throughout the school year allows teachers to make real-time adjustments that will have an immediate impact on student outcomes.
• Teachers feel valued and empowered when they receive timely data that they can use right away to make a positive impact on student learning.
• The current state assessment testing window is valuable time that can be reclaimed for student learning.

A: The Missouri framework for competency-based learning (CBL) includes the seven elements that define a competency-based education system, plus an additional Real World Learning element, for a total of eight elements.

• Students are empowered daily to make important decisions about their learning experiences, how they will create and apply knowledge, and how they will demonstrate their learning.
• Assessment is a meaningful, positive, and empowering learning experience for students that yields timely, relevant, and actionable evidence.
• Students receive timely, differentiated support based on their individual learning needs.
• Students progress based on evidence of mastery, not seat time.
• Students learn actively using different pathways and varied pacing.
• Strategies to ensure equity for all students are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and education systems.
• Rigorous, common expectations for learning (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) are explicit, transparent, measurable, and transferable.
• Students engage in Real World Learning experiences that support high school, college, career and workplace readiness.

“Introduction to Competency-Based Education,” Aurora Institute, 2022

A: System Design Zone districts applied for an innovation waiver request in Spring 2022, and this request was presented to the Missouri State Board of Education in June 2022. The Board will make its decision on the request in August 2023. If approved, these districts will implement a through-year growth-based assessment, which will be used for state level accountability to these districts will implement a through-year growth-based assessment, which will be used for state level accountability. However, students in these districts will continue to take the MAP test as well, and this will continue to be used for federal accountability until Missouri’s student assessment has been redesigned on a statewide level.

A: The short answer is, yes. Accountability is an important component of the work of the Success-Ready Students Network, and will be used to ensure that every Missouri student is high school, college, career and workplace ready. 

A new, improved accountability system will promote internal accountability for school districts and provide community members with meaningful, real-time data that shows how their district is preparing students for success. 

School districts will create public data dashboards and scorecards on their websites, and update them throughout the year as new assessment data becomes available. This will provide parents, teachers and the community with real-time data and full transparency surrounding student growth and achievement.

A: The primary goal of the Success-Ready Students Network is to create a better way for each student to engage in meaningful learning, demonstrate individual growth, and prepare for future success.