State-mandated test scores for Missouri K-12 public school students have slightly improved or are holding steady this year compared to the previous year.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released preliminary results at this week’s state Board of Education meeting. They show about 46% of students are proficient or advanced in English and math, 41% in social studies, and 39% in science.
Student performance in 2024 reached or surpassed pre-pandemic levels in middle school math. Compared to 2023, small declines were noted in the 2024 results for 5th grade English, 8th grade science, and English. A decline was also found in the optional English assessment.
The data illustrates that Black and Hispanic students, English learners, special needs students, and students getting free or reduced lunch are bouncing back from the pandemic. However, they continue to lag behind the state’s total number of students.
“Our initial observation is that this is good news,” said Assistant Commissioner Lisa Sireno.
She said more than 95% of students participated in the end-of-year testing.
State Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger said she expected declining scores.
“Because I considered our teacher shortages and that we are putting people that have sub certifications in front of kids, and then you put a new methodology on top of that, around your letters and your math. And then you also look at the fact that have some of the kids are just not showing up. So, I was truly, truly concerned,” said Eslinger.
Schools nationwide have been working to get test scores back on track since COVID-19 disrupted learning. The state has invested in a variety of ways to help students boost their reading skills and through tutoring opportunities.
Board member Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, of St. Louis County, said she is grateful scores did not decline but felt “deflated” that there was not more progress.
“We made lots of great investments in the last year, last two years, and I think we’re going to see the fruit of that as our score starts to increase. But we have clearly, I’m hopeful, seeing the bottom,” she said.
Board member Kerry Casey, of Chesterfield, advised the board to pay particular attention to the “Basic” scores.
“I think we all have to have patience, but we have to have understanding of details too, and that will come, I think. I respect greatly that the ‘basic’ category is inclusive of children that can read, can do math and maybe just need a little bit of support. But it is also comprised of children that can barely read, they met the bare minimum. You know that’s a very wide range. We have to understand that breakdown of ‘basic,’ because there are some that are teetering on ‘below basic,’” said Casey.
Board member Kim Bailey, of Raymore, praised teachers for maintaining scores, and not allowing them to decline.
“If you focus on too many things, you’ll not get any of them done. So, I love commissioner’s goal of just really, ‘Let’s focus on some things, get some traction, and then add them in.’ We do need to kind of prioritize the next list, but do one at a time, but make sure that we’re not forgetting any of the important concepts,” said Bailey.
Nationwide, schools have been dealing with teacher recruitment and retention. Missouri is no exception. The state has been working to find ways to boost teacher recruitment and retention for many years, but especially when the pandemic exposed the challenges teachers were facing.
Board Vice President Carol Hallquist talked about a school in Kansas City.
“One of our elementary school teachers with 100% reduced lunch, her third graders went from 30% basic to 80%. Huge jump. So, what she’s doing is using that data to say, ‘Wow, what happened in that classroom? And how can I replicate that in other grades?’ And by the way, she’s doing a lot around teacher morale and retention, and it’s starting to pay off in that school,” said Hallquist.
The department plans to release district-level test results at a later date.
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