Missouri State Board of Education approves A-F school and district grading framework
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Missouri State Board of Education approved a new A-F school and district grading framework Tuesday, with one board member voting against it.
The vote approves the formula the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will use to calculate letter grades for public schools, charter schools and districts.
In January, Gov. Mike Kehoe signed executive order 26-01, instructing DESE to create A-F school grade cards. The order calls for each public school, charter school and district to receive an overall A, B, C, D or F rating based on a 100-point scale.
- A -- 89% and higher
- B -- 76% to 88%
- C -- 63% to 75%
- D -- 50% to 62%
- F -- Below 50%
The cards are meant to give educators and families an easier way to understand school performance.
“It’s not always the most user-friendly,” DESE Deputy Commissioner of Learning Services Lisa Sireno said. “So this look is designed to be more easy — easy to understand, more clear, a direct representation of student performance. And we’re considering our primary audience as parents.”
Elementary and middle school grades will include academic achievement, value-added growth and growth toward proficiency in English language arts, literacy, mathematics and science.
The executive order defines growth toward proficiency as whether a student with two consecutive years of Missouri Assessment Program results is on track to reach grade-level proficiency within three years.
High school grades will include academic achievement, value-added growth, Success-Ready Graduate measures and the four-year graduation rate.
A school or district that tests fewer than 95% of its students on required state assessments will have its rating lowered by one letter grade. Private schools can choose to participate by opting into state assessments.
Sireno said the letter grades will not affect school accreditation or funding. She said DESE will use the information to help schools identify challenges and connect them with resources available through the department.
DESE will now work with vendors and other partners to create draft grades and determine whether the calculations are functioning as intended. Sireno said the department will review the data with the State Board before providing it to schools and districts.
Sireno said Tuesday that DESE is not certain when districts will receive their first look at the grades, calculated using data from the 2024-25 school year. She said schools and educators will see the grades and provide feedback before they are released publicly.
The executive order also urges the State Board to increase the thresholds for earning each letter grade by five points the following year if 65% of schools receive an A or B.
Several education organizations have opposed assigning individual letter grades to schools and districts.
Missouri National Education Association Vice President Andy Slaughter attended Tuesday’s meeting and criticized the approved framework.
“I think the framework itself is flawed,” Slaughter said. “I think the idea that we can label kids and schools based on where these kids live, it’s all going to be about ZIP code. Grading a kid an F or an A is always going to be about how much money their parents have in their bank account.”
The Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals and the Missouri State Teachers Association have also opposed assigning individual letter grades to schools and districts.
Last week, DESE led a public feedback session on the proposed grading card system. Several people who attended the session spoke against the proposal and questioned whether a single grade would give parents an accurate understanding of a school.
