JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – For the first time since the pandemic, Missouri schools are making progress in performance.
The annual performance report shows about 65 percent of school districts seeing an increase in their score, which accounts for student test scores and district improvement plans.
The APR plays a role in the process of classifying schools as either accredited or unaccredited.
“Finally, I feel like we’re at that tipping point,” Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger said. “We’re at that point as a state and for our teachers, our leaders, our students, and our communities that we’re starting to see the fruits of our labor. We’re starting to see where we are making progress.”
This latest report shows fewer public and charter schools are in jeopardy of losing accreditation, with more than 85 percent of schools exceeding expectations.
Data also shows an improvement in graduation rates. The four-year rate is above 90 percent, the most since 2019.
“The increase over 2023 was about 1 percent,” Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Quality Schools under DESE Lisa Sireno said. “That’s about 635 students, additional students who walked across the stage and received their high school diploma in 2024.”
On top of that, more students are going to school. Although attendance numbers have not exceeded pre-pandemic levels, the data shows improvement.
“Attendance had declined since 2019, and we saw the most dramatic decline in 2021, 2022, and 2023,” Sireno said. “We thought that decline was flattening. There was a really small increase, but now as we see that improvement in 2024, that looks like a positive trend.”
These scores are based on the sixth iteration of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP6). MSIP6 was launched in 2022 and is considered a “more rigorous” program than previous versions.
Eslinger said this is something the state has been waiting for since COVID, and it shows families the education system is on the right track.
“We are really and truly focusing on literacy,” Eslinger said. “We’re focusing on those math skills; we’re doing things to connect kids to real-world learning, why they are learning these things, and how can I apply that to a real job?”
The APR also shows 94 percent of graduates are either employed, enrolled in college, or have entered the military.
During last week’s press conference, Eslinger told reporters a lack of teachers challenges districts’ performance and improvement.
“We know with fewer and fewer educators, more and more courses across the state are being taught by folks that are substitutes that maybe have not really been trained on that specific content area,” Eslinger said.
The State Board of Education will consider the classification of districts at its January meeting. DESE originally planned for classification decisions to be based off of this year’s APR scores, but instead board members will make the decision based on three-year composite scores. Because of the recent implementation of MSIP6, districts’ accreditations cannot be lowered until 2026.
For more information or to look up a certain district’s score, visit DESE’s website.