• Publications and Model Policy
    • Blueprint for Missouri
    • Model Policy
    • MOGE
    • Report
      • Case Study
      • Policy Study
      • Essay
    • The Missouri School Rankings Project
    • Testimony
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
      • The Missouri School Rankings Project
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Show Me InstituteShow Me Institute
Support the Show-Me Institute
  • Publications and Model Policy
    • Blueprint for Missouri
    • Model Policy
    • MOGE
    • Report
      • Case Study
      • Policy Study
      • Essay
    • The Missouri School Rankings Project
    • Testimony
    • Newsletter
  • Blog
    • Daily Blog
    • Podcasts and Radio
    • Video
    • Infographics
    • Commentary / Op-Eds
    • Events
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Show-Me Institute Board of Directors
    • Fellows and Scholars
    • Our Authors
    • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Explore Topics
    • Education
      • Accountability
      • Education Finance
      • Performance
      • School Choice
      • The Missouri School Rankings Project
    • Health Care
      • Free-Market Reform
      • Medicaid
    • Corporate Welfare
      • Special Taxing Districts
      • Subsidies
      • Tax Credits
    • Labor
      • Government Unions
      • Public Pensions
    • State and Local Government
      • Budget and Spending
      • Courts
      • Criminal Justice
      • Municipal Policy
      • Property Rights
      • Transparency
      • Transportation
    • Economy
      • Business Climate
      • Energy
      • Minimum Wage
      • Privatization
      • Regulation
      • Taxes
      • Welfare
      • Workforce
×

Education / School Choice

New Website May Open Doors for More Educational Choice

By Brittany Wagner on Jul 16, 2015

Before I spend money on anything, I check out the reviews. Websites like Fandango, Yelp, and Hotels.com ensure that consumers are more informed purchasers of goods and services.

Recently, a new website was launched that can help Missouri parents become better consumers of education. Schoolgrades.org uses an A-F grading scale to evaluate individual schools (as opposed to school districts). The site adjusts for varying academic rigor across state standards and each school’s economic profile.

Prior to this site, Missouri parents had to rely on complicated and hard-to-interpret Annual Progress Report (APR) scores, state standardized test scores, and accreditation statuses, none of which are representative of quality at the national level. Additionally, words like “accredited” and “provisionally accredited” do not intuitively tell parents how a school is doing. A, B, C, D, or F grades provide a better indication.

Within the site, parents can search for a city, place, or individual school.

After looking through a few, let’s just say some Missouri schools did better than others. For example, look at Saline County in West-Central Missouri.

On one hand, Orearville Elementary School received an A. Only 23 percent of schools in the nation earned an A rating. On the other, Bueker Middle, Eastwood Elementary, and Northwest Elementary earned Ds, and Alexander Elementary earned an F.

This highlights the problems of solely looking at APR scores or the state’s accreditation standards. Alexander Elementary is part of the Slater School District, and in 2014 the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education awarded Slater an accredited status. The district earned 66.1 percent of possible APR points, which signifies (by Missouri standards) that the school district is providing students with a quality education. But for students at Alexander Elementary, clearly it isn’t.

I hope that by looking at the wide range of school performances across the state (rural, suburban, and urban) families and voters will see that all is not well. Perhaps it’s time to give students stuck in D and F schools a chance at something better.

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email
  • Print
About the author

Brittany Wagner

More about this author >
Footer Logo
Support the Show-Me-Institute
Showmeinstitute.org is brought to you by Show-Me Institute and Show-Me Opportunity.
  • Publications
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Donate
  • About
  • Contact

Reprint permission for Show-Me Institute publications and commentaries is hereby granted, provided that proper credit is given to the author. We request, but do not require, that those who reprint our material notify us of publication for our records: [email protected].

Mission Statement
Advancing liberty with responsibility by promoting market solutions for Missouri public policy.

© Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved