Missouri’s 550 K-12 public schools have received their new annual performance report for the 2024-25 school year. It shows more than 92% of students attend schools that meet or exceed the state’s expectations – compared to 86% the previous year.
“As of today, these scores reflect a vast majority of our districts are meeting our expectations, which means they are fully accredited. That means that 785,000 students are enrolled in public schools that meet the standards put in place by our State Board of Education,” said State Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger.
The district receiving the highest mark, 100, is Thornfield R-1. Maplewood, Shawnee R-III, Brentwood, and The Soulard School follow.
What about the other 8% not meeting expectations? The report shows 29 school districts and 17 charter schools fall within that category.
The marks will not be used to decide whether districts are fully accredited this year but they could next year.
Charter schools, which receive taxpayer dollars but are privately operated, are not accredited by the state. Their sponsor uses the data to decide whether to renew their charter agreement with the school.
For the fourth year, the reports are using MSIP6, a more rigorous grading system to measure school performance. In 2022, MSIP6’s pilot year, 112 school districts and charter schools scored below state expectations.
The report cards are compiled based upon measuring components such as student growth, statewide universal test scores, attendance rates, graduation rates, college and career readiness, school culture, district planning, among other things.
In the new report released, the statewide attendance rate is still low but improving slightly to 78.5% and is the highest attendance rate since the pandemic era.
“We all know we have schools out there that have attendance rates that are not where we need them to be,” said Eslinger. “If you look at the achievement along with those attendance rates, you can see that being there matters obviously.”
The statewide graduation rate also improved slightly to 91.4%.
More than 200 schools expanded their college and career readiness programs, commonly known as Career Technical Education programs.
English Language Arts universal test scores showed slight improvements for most grades. Math test scores showed improvements, except for grades 4 and 5.
The commissioner said schools are on the right track but there’s still work to do.
“Every year we see incremental improvements in the scores, which means that our superintendents, our communities, our business leaders use this report to refine and improve their practices,” said Eslinger. “Our goal is for every student to have access to quality programs that support their needs.”
Where does the most improvement need to happen? Eslinger said attendance and literacy are foundational and good places to start.
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