Interestingly, the bottom ten spenders had a higher average academic letter grade than those in the top ten. However, many of the top spenders in the state are tiny rural districts with fewer than 50 students. That raised an important question: Would this pattern hold when comparing districts of a similar type?

Table 1 begins to answer that question by focusing specifically on suburban and city districts—schools that are far more comparable in size and structure, but still vary widely in student demographics. It should be noted that Table 1 includes non-current spending items like interest and capital outlay (such as constructing a new gym, renovations, etc.).

For reference, in the 2023-24 school year, the average expenditure per student was around $19,500. Of that, about $15,900 were current expenditures and $3,600 were non-current expenditures.

Source: MOSchoolRankings.org

Interestingly, the five highest-performing school districts in the state are split between the highest and lowest total spenders. Table 1 suggests that it is overly simplistic to assume that more money per student automatically leads to better academic outcomes.

Consider Valley Park and Park Hill as examples. Both spend relatively high amounts per student (including non-current expenditures) and serve comparatively lower shares of low-income students, yet neither achieves top-tier academic results. Meanwhile, several lower-spending districts of similar demographics earn strong academic grades.

This does not mean funding is irrelevant, but rather that the process of producing strong academic outcomes is complex and money isn’t everything.

The post The Wide Difference in Spending Per Student in Missouri’s Suburban Schools appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

While the Missouri Legislature continues to debate A–F school report cards, the Show-Me Institute recently released our annual report card update on MOSchoolRankings.org.

Our rankings are built on a model that incorporates 10 academic indicators of student success. All data are sourced from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and all English/language arts (ELA) and math scores are based on the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). Each component is weighted equally, and a full explanation of the methodology is available online.

Table 1 shows all 24 public school districts and charter schools that received an “A” in the 2024–2025 school year.

Suburban and rural districts dominate the top rankings, with numerous districts from St. Louis County (Ladue, Brentwood, Clayton). Many of the rural school districts are exceptionally small: Skyline has 81 students and Thornfield has 48. The largest school district on the list is Nixa Public Schools (near Springfield) with 6,518 students.

The suburban districts have relatively low rates of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL)—a common proxy for school poverty rate. Fewer than 10 percent of Ladue and Clayton students were eligible for FRPL, with Brentwood at 18 percent, Nixa at 26 percent, Festus at 28 percent, and Ozark at 35 percent. However, some rural “A” districts have a sizeable number of lower-income students.

Mansfield R-IV, which had 60 percent of its 622 students qualify for FRPL, performed above average in almost every single category (except in ELA growth). Richwoods R-VII, a small rural district about an hour from St. Louis, had 100 percent of its 125 students qualify for FRPL and had particularly impressive scores in math. These examples demonstrate that low-income schools can achieve academic success.

There is a lot more to delve into for academic performance. Table 1 is just one snapshot of what is available on MOSchoolRankings.org. Accountability tools like these can help highlight success stories, identify areas for improvement, and provide a clearer picture of how schools across Missouri are performing.

The post Looking at Missouri’s “A” Districts appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

I attended the Missouri House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee hearing on Wednesday, January 28. The hearing covered two bills under current consideration—one on A–F letter grades for schools, and the other on literacy reform.

The committee is a diverse group with diverse views, as were the individuals giving testimony. I was expecting a lively debate and opinions from all different angles, and that’s what happened.

However, one thing I wasn’t expecting was the view expressed by several members of the committee that Missouri schools are doing just fine, or even excelling. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. Missouri schools are performing very poorly. The data on this point are publicly available and unambiguous.

The best evidence comes from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, which is widely viewed as providing the most credible test data in the country. Here are charts showing the changes over time in Missouri’s national rank on NAEP, in 4th- and 8th-grade reading, since about the turn of the century:

(These graphs are courtesy of the Show-Me Institute’s Avery Frank.)

Our 4th-grade reading results are especially bleak—we rank 38th out of the 50 states as of 2024, whereas two decades earlier we ranked in the low twenties. Today, an alarming 42 percent of our 4th graders score Below Basic on NAEP.

Making matters worse, our ranking decline since about 2015 is in the context of generally declining test scores nationwide during this time. Our scores are declining faster than the rest of a declining nation.

The only reason not to be worried about this is if you don’t believe these tests tell us anything important. On this point, there is overwhelming evidence that NAEP—and standardized tests more broadly—are highly predictive of consequential long-term outcomes. There are hundreds—maybe thousands—of articles that show a link between standardized test performance and later life outcomes.

In fact, just last year a high-quality study on NAEP scores found the following: “More recent birth cohorts in states with large increases in NAEP math achievement enjoyed higher incomes, improved educational attainment, and declines in teen motherhood, incarceration, and arrest rates compared to those in states with smaller increases.” Whatever outcome you care about for our children, NAEP scores predict it. (If you’re interested in recent, related evidence from Missouri’s MAP test, see here.)

Our declining test scores should concern all of us. Whether the committee members recognize it or not, under their watch and the watches of their predecessors over the last decade plus, Missouri’s academic performance has been declining. An overwhelming body of research tells us the decline will have real consequences for our children, and ultimately this will have real consequences for the future of our state.

I recognize we won’t all agree on the solutions, but it became apparent during the hearing that we don’t even agree on the problem. I encourage skeptics of my message—especially members of the education committee, who have the power to make change—to look at the data themselves. Putting our heads in the sand will not make the consequences any less dire down the road.

(If you’d like to see specific examples to get a sense of the kinds of NAEP questions Missouri children can and cannot answer correctly, see an earlier post here.)

The post To the Missouri House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee: We Have a Problem appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The Early Literacy Reform Model Policy Packet includes:

• An infographic with key facts about Missouri’s reading crisis
• Frequently asked questions for policymakers
• Full model policy language for early literacy reforms
• A detailed policy brief with research and state comparisons
• Contact information for policy experts

Read the full Early Literacy Reform in Missouri Model Policy Packet here.

The post Missouri’s Reading Crisis: 42% of Fourth-Graders Can Barely Read appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

This shift will ripple through many of our institutions that depend on population growth. Social Security is an obvious example. But there’s a broader problem: modern institutions are built for expansion, not contraction. Enter our public school system, which is already experiencing declining enrollment. Statewide, enrollment in Missouri public schools is down 4 percent since the pre-recession peak in 2007–08, a trend recent fertility data suggest will only accelerate. On top of this, traditional public schools must contend with the reality that families are increasingly choosing alternative schooling options (e.g., charter schools, private schools, and homeschooling).

Are we prepared to address declining enrollment in Missouri’s traditional public schools? My gut tells me no, and there are some worrisome indicators. For example, many Missouri school districts already have declining enrollment, in some cases stretching back decades. What are we doing about this? At the state level, one thing we aren’t doing is adjusting their funding to reflect fewer students. Missouri’s “hold harmless” provision allows districts with shrinking enrollment to continue receiving funds as if their enrollment hasn’t fallen. In effect, the state is subsidizing higher per-student spending in these districts (this is also happening elsewhere).

This bury-our-heads-in-the-sand approach is manageable for now, but as more districts fall into the declining-enrollment category, it will be harder to keep overfunding them; education is one of many state priorities and our budget must balance.

More broadly, I worry school districts will be slow to close buildings, reduce staff, and otherwise cut costs in response to declining enrollment. These steps are painful and politically difficult, but delaying them only narrows future options. Ideally, districts—guided by the state—would use realistic enrollment projections to plan ahead. With proactive leadership, we could adapt to a new era of declining enrollment while minimizing harm to students. But if district and state leaders wait until acute financial pressure forces their hand, the cuts will likely be deeper and more disruptive.

The post Are Missouri’s Public Schools Ready for Declining Enrollment? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

What Is Off Limits?

As Show-Me Institute analysts have written about extensively, Missouri parents have fewer public schooling options than families in many other states, including many of our bordering states. First, Missouri does not have a cross-district open enrollment program. This means that the man I spoke with cannot have his son attend a public school outside of his zoned district unless another district chooses to accept him and he pays the tuition set by the new district.

Next, since he is zoned to attend a school district in western St. Louis County, charter schools are also off limits. Charter schools currently only exist in the City of St. Louis, Kansas City, and Normandy. Why is this the case? Charter schools require sponsors, and for accredited districts, the local school board must approve the charter school to operate. This has never happened in Missouri—the requirement of local school board sponsorship has essentially acted as a ban on charter operations in most of Missouri. And without open enrollment, no one outside of a charter school’s local district can enroll. In other states, schools like the Arizona Autism Charter School attract parents from far and wide.

The Good News

After these options were crossed off, the family is left with the options of the local public school district, a private school, or homeschool.

Private schools charge tuition, but thankfully, Missouri has an education savings account (ESA) program—MOScholars—that can help meet some of those costs for interested families. If the student has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), or if the student’s family household income is less than 300% of the federal poverty level, the student is eligible for a scholarship that can be used for private school tuition. However, the program is capped at $75 million in total funding. That means that even if a student qualifies, there may not be enough money for every eligible applicant to actually receive a scholarship. (If you are interested in MOScholars, you can learn more here.)

Unfortunately, there are not many choices available to the parent who reached out to me, and there is no choice at all when it comes to public schools. This is true for most Missourians. The Show-Me State needs more public options for our students and families. Next year, when someone asks me a similar question, I want to have a better answer.

The post What Are My Schooling Options as a Missouri Parent? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The slow road to recovery is illustrated in the recently released preliminary results of the 2025 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP). The most recent data indicate modest improvements in mathematics, and average scores in at least some grades that are finally eclipsing pre-pandemic levels. However, the state’s stagnant reading scores continue to be a source of concern, as reading scores remain below their pre-pandemic levels in all tested grades.

Figure 1 summarizes MAP trends in the Show-Me State, including preliminary scores from the 2024–2025 school year:

Figure 1: Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) English/Language Arts Mean Scale Scores by Grade Level, 2018–2025

Source: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

In Figure 1, the mean scale scores represent the student body’s performance as a whole. There are several important takeaways from this figure:

• Across all grades, Missouri’s reading scores have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
• Except for scores in the 3rd and 5th grades, reading scores are lower now than they were in 2020–21, when the pandemic was still strongly affecting in-person schooling.

Clearly, there is still work to be done.

Potential Solutions

This post is not meant to be doom and gloom—there is hope. States such as Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee have shown that student literacy can improve substantially with the right reforms.

These states have adopted early literacy policies that are effective, though sometimes unpopular: mandatory third-grade retention, eliminating three-cueing for teaching reading, and ensuring teacher preparation programs teach evidence-based reading practices.

Other states have proved that early literacy reforms can work. The 2026 legislative session is an opportunity to take meaningful steps toward improving educational outcomes in Missouri by taking reading reform more seriously.

The post Missouri’s Stagnant Reading Scores appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The 2024 NAEP results paint a bleak picture for our country. Scores in both reading and math are on the decline, continuing a decade-long trend. The pandemic made things worse, but scores were already declining prior to the pandemic.

The outlook is even worse in Missouri. Across NAEP’s four core categories—4th-grade reading and math, and 8th-grade reading and math—Missouri ranks, on average, 40th out of the 50 states  after adjusting for demographics and poverty. Our highest ranking is 35th in 8th-grade reading—still in the bottom third nationally. There is no way to sugarcoat it: the academic performance of Missouri’s students is abysmal.

This is bad news if you believe (like I do) that an educated workforce is critical for economic growth. Yet the urgency of this problem appears lost on many Missourians and by extension, our elected leaders.

One reason for the disconnect may be that NAEP scores feel abstract. What does a score of 234 in math or 210 in reading actually mean? Without context, the data can seem vague. In this short piece, I hope to provide a more concrete sense of what NAEP scores are telling us about Missouri students’ literacy and numeracy skills.

First, consider this sample question from the NAEP 4th-grade math assessment:

The question asks 4th graders to identify odd numbers. The correct answer is B: Alex, Megan, and David. What percentage of 4^th-grade students in Missouri should be able to answer this question correctly? Ideally, nearly all of them. Maybe at least 90 percent? But in reality, just 6 in 10, or 61 percent, get it right. This means 4 in 10 Missouri 4th graders cannot identify odd numbers.

Here’s another question, also from the 4th-grade NAEP test. This one asks students to complete a number pattern counting by fours:

Only 73 percent of Missouri 4th graders can correctly finish the pattern. That means over 1 in 4 cannot.

Turning to reading, NAEP results reveal that many of our students struggle to extract basic meaning from a text. Consider the following questions from the 4th-grade reading test:

The correct answer, B: Despereaux thinks the light is very beautiful, is selected by Missouri students just 62 percent of the time.

This follow-up question asks students to use the full passage to identify why Furlough’s behavior is important:

The correct answer is D: Scurrying helps mice avoid danger. Only 70 percent of Missouri students answer correctly.

These are just a handful of examples of questions that Missouri 4th graders struggle with. All are considered “easy” by NAEP. Missouri students fare much worse on more difficult items. Interested readers can look up additional examples using NAEP’s sample question tool.

I hope this post provides some clarity around what NAEP scores tell us about the state of education in Missouri. Our students are struggling mightily. We are not a small tweak away from righting the ship. If we want Missouri children to excel, we need big changes.

The post What’s in a NAEP Score? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

-An assessment of the 2025 legislative session
-The trend of unfairly blaming landlords for a variety of ills
-The extremely poor performance of Missouri’s schools
-A new law that will restrict cell phone usage in Missouri schools
-The disappointing lack of progress on budget and spending reform
-How perceptions about crime hurt Missouri cities

Click here to find the newsletter.

The post Show-Me Institute’s June 2025 Newsletter appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Dr. Cory Koedel, the Show-Me Institute’s new director of education policy, joins Susan Pendergrass to discuss the biggest challenges facing Missouri’s public education system. They cover declining student outcomes, the role of accountability and testing, and the promise of school choice. Koedel shares insights from his research on school funding models—highlighting Tennessee’s student-centered formula—and breaks down what Missouri can learn from states that are improving early literacy. They also examine controversial policies like early grade retention and open enrollment, and Koedel outlines his priorities for education research in Missouri.

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Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Education Policy Challenges in Missouri
03:10 The Role of School Choice in Improving Outcomes
05:48 Funding Formulas and Their Implications
08:52 Early Literacy and Reading Instruction
12:05 Retention Policies and Their Effectiveness
15:04 Open Enrollment and Its Impact on Rural Schools
17:58 Future Directions for Education Policy in Missouri

Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

The post A New Voice for Accountability, and School Choice in Missouri with Cory Koedel appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Pushing Back Against Policies that Dilute Standards

Currently, Missouri students are categorized into one of four performance levels based on their state standardized test scores. From lowest to highest, these are: below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced.

HB 607 proposes the addition of a fifth performance category, called “grade level,” which would be above basic but below proficient.

• Proficient: Demonstrates mastery over all appropriate grade-level standards
• Grade level: Demonstrates mastery over appropriate grade-level subject matter
• Basic: Demonstrates partial mastery of essential knowledge and skills for the grade level

This definition of “grade-level” implies that it should not be expected for Missouri students to have mastery over all appropriate grade-level standards.

Rather than diluting standards, Missouri should implement policies that make meaningful use of state assessments. One such example is a third-grade retention policy. The transition from third to fourth grade is pivotal—students shift from learning to read to reading to learn. To combat the well-documented fourth-grade reading slump, states such as South Carolina and Mississippi adopted mandatory retention policies paired with targeted phonics-based interventions. The result has been very positive.

Open Enrollment—Better Choice, Better Accountability

Currently, where you can attend school is largely determined by where you live. This prevents many families from changing schools. Establishing a cross-district, universal open enrollment program would allow more families to vote with their feet. Markets excel at revealing best practices, and districts with best practices will likely attract more students and pressure other districts to change.

There is some potential to align open enrollment with Missouri’s accreditation process. In December 2024, it was announced that for the 10th year in a row, the state’s accountability system would not be used for district accreditation. Perhaps there is fear of a trigger in the policy that would allow students to transfer out of unaccredited school districts, especially because the unaccredited districts must pay the tuition for the transfers to receiving districts. If universal open enrollment were adopted, lawmakers could revisit the tuition rule for transfer students out of those districts and implement a meaningful accreditation system.

These strategies offer ways to maintain high standards for our schools and children. Better accountability systems in education are the key to learning which strategies are working and which are not. Encouraging transparency and openness will generate more competition and innovation in our schools, and should ultimately strengthen our education system.

The post Accountability in Missouri’s Public Schools appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

See where your school ranks here.

The post New Data Update: See the Latest Missouri School Rankings and Spending Reports appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Click here to read the full policy brief.

The post Loss of Learning Time in Missouri Public Schools appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

The 2024 results indicate that 4 in 10 Missouri 4th graders scored below the Basic level on the assessment. What does that mean? According to a researcher from the University of Virginia, “students performing below NAEP Basic level have less vocabulary knowledge and less world knowledge, which would limit their inferencing and comprehension capability.” Another researcher describes it thusly: “Below Basic on the NAEP means that a student is performing below the minimum expected level of academic achievement for their grade, indicating a lack of foundational skills and inability to demonstrate even basic mastery of the subject matter being assessed.”  The 42 percent of Missouri 4th graders who scored at below Basic last year are most likely now in the 5th grade trying to figure out what the heck their textbooks in any subject are trying to teach them.

Here is how the performance of Missouri 4th graders has changed over time.

This graph shows scale scores (NAEP is on a scale from 0 to 500). While Missouri was hovering just above the national average until 2017, we then began a steep slide that is barely leveling out.

But scores everywhere have declined because of COVID, right? Not so. In 2024, we outperformed just five states—Oregon, Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Virginia. Here is the same chart for Mississippi.

Twenty six years ago, we outperformed Mississippi by 16 scale score points. Now, it’s ahead of us by seven.

What will Missouri look like in 15 years, when almost half of 25-year-olds are barely literate? We have a new governor and a new commissioner of education. Perhaps these questions should be put to them.

The post Missouri Public Schools Have a Very Serious Reading Problem appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Now that we have reached the (projected) enrollment peak and are heading down the cliff, Missouri needs to begin considering the implications for higher education and the workforce. First, the state should focus on the cost and access of public colleges and universities. Second students not planning on attending college should have access to career-building skills and certificates while still in high school. Finally, and most importantly, every Missouri high school graduate should leave school college or career ready.

We’ve known about these trends for a while, but there’s still time to adjust to our new enrollment reality if we make needed changes now. We’ll see if Missouri lawmakers actually follow through.

The post This Is Not a Drill appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

James Shuls, David Stokes, and Avery Frank join Zach Lawhorn to discuss what the latest test scores reveal about Missouri schools, the debate over a four-day school week as a budget solution, Town and Country’s controversial property tax increase, opposition to a comprehensive plan in Cole Camp, and more.

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Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

The post Missouri’s Accountability Crisis, Ghost Students and Tax Hikes appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

There is hope. Several members of Missouri’s state board of education are serving on expired terms. Missouri’s governor-elect has an opportunity to reshape the state board of education. By appointing new members who are committed to bold, innovative policies, the governor can break the cycle of dysfunction that has plagued the board and department. (Does anyone recall the disaster called Common Core or the Top 10 by 2020 initiative?) These appointments can bring a renewed focus on empowering families, fostering school choice, and improving student outcomes across the state.

Missouri has long struggled with underperforming schools and bureaucratic inefficiency. A revamped board with a clear vision and a commitment to reform could transform the educational landscape. For instance, new appointees could push for greater autonomy for local school districts, promote policies that expand educational options for families, and ensure that resources are directed where they are most needed—toward helping students succeed.

If President-Elect Trump follows through on his pledge to return education to the states, Missouri must be ready to rise to the occasion. This begins with a strong, forward-thinking state board of education. It is time to seize this moment of opportunity, embrace meaningful reform, and truly make Missouri education great.

The ball is in the governor-elect’s court. Missouri’s future—and the future of its children—depends on what happens next.

The governor-elect is currently looking for qualified individuals to serve on the state board of education. If you are interested in serving, notify the governor-elect of your interest by completing the form here.

The post Make Missouri Education Great appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

Click here to download the booklet.

Find every public school in Missouri ranked by performance at MoSchoolRankings.org 

The post Missouri Condition of Education: 2024 appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

In one moment, they counted him out, and in the next, they were amazed at his determination. I’m hoping for an epic comeback story like this in Missouri public schools. Our scores faded badly following the COVID-19 pandemic. And sadly, with the recent release of the preliminary 2023–2024 Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) results, it is fair to say we are not running past everyone yet.

One state board of education member stated she was “a little deflated that we didn’t see more growth and progress.” I agree that the results were a little disappointing, so let’s delve into the specific statistics.

It is worth noting these are preliminary results for the 2023–2024 school year, so they could be subject to minor changes.

Overall, English/language arts (ELA) scores remained stagnant and math scores continued to gradually improve.

Figure 1: Missouri Assessment Program: ELA

Figure 2: Missouri Assessment Program: Math

After the pandemic, math scores fell more than ELA scores, but math scores have bounced back, and even surpassed pre-pandemic levels in some areas. Growth in math scores has been driven primarily by success in middle school mathematics, as 6th and 7th grade scores have surpassed pre-pandemic levels and 8th grade scores now match 2019 levels (not shown in Figure 2).

For elementary math, scores still remain below 2019 levels. Third grade scores have declined the most. 5th grade scores did not improve from 2023 and remain below pre-pandemic levels. There could be a need for greater focus in elementary instruction.

ELA scores continue to remain flat and far below pre-pandemic levels. They have actually dipped even further after the initial COVID drop. No grade-level cohort has exceeded its pre-pandemic levels, and only two cohorts (4th and 7th graders) improved from last year. Sixth graders have particularly struggled in ELA post-pandemic, as their pre-pandemic scores have declined more than any other grade level.

Missouri needs drastic action to help our students improve their ELA skills. A solid reading foundation is paramount for educational success, and we need to do everything in our power to catch our students up. Further commitment to the Missouri’s LETRS program (an evidence-based reading initiative) could yield results. Focus on evidence-based reading instruction has proven successful in other states such as South Carolina, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Those three states have also made phonics instruction mandatory. Reams and reams of research support evidence-based reading instruction.

Let’s dig deep and further commit to helping our students grow. I want to see a legendary comeback story.

The post Is There a Comeback Story in Missouri Schools? appeared first on Show-Me Institute.

David Stokes, Elias Tsapelas, and Avery Frank join Zach Lawhorn to discuss: a Missouri Taxpayer Bill of Rights, St. Louis County considering adopting a ‘county manager’ form of government, what the latest test scores tell us about Missouri schools, and more.

Read the Missouri Taxpayer Bill or Rights here

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Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

The post Missouri Taxpayer Bill of Rights, Back to School, and STL County Changes appeared first on Show-Me Institute.