Missouri report cards for schools will soon include letter grades

Kerry Casey: Existing report cards are difficult to interpret.

Matt Pearce: Letter grades offer a broad understanding of achievement.

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Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order to require the use of letter grades – A, B, C, D and F – on annual report cards issued for public schools.

“Missouri’s current accountability system places too much weight on administrative process, and it does not give a straightforward picture of how schools are actually performing,” Kehoe said during the State of the State address on Jan. 13. “The real test of Missouri’s education system should be whether students are learning, whether they can read, write and do math.”

Federal law requires states to annually report districts’ student achievement, academic growth, graduate rates and other success indicators.

Missouri Board of Education member Kerry Casey said during a December meeting in Springfield that existing report cards are too hard to interpret.

“Over the past year, we’ve heard from parents, educators, legislators and community members that our current accountability reports are difficult to understand and do not clearly communicate how well schools are serving students,” she said, during the Dec. 9 meeting.

“Many other states, including the fastest improving ones like Mississippi and Louisiana, have adopted A through F report cards that are simple, transparent and focus primarily on academic growth and achievement.”

In the order, Kehoe directed the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to submit a plan for the revamped report cards to his office and the state board by June 30. The report cards, with letter grades, are to be made public by Sept. 30 each year.

Ozark Superintendent Lori Wilson said as the state develops a framework for issuing letter grades, she hopes educators are asked for input and the expectations are specific.

“We want to be transparent and to be held accountable,” she said. “We need to know what the goals are and how we’re going to be assessed.”

Existing report cards assign points for different measures and identify the number and percentage of available points that are achieved. For example, Springfield Public Schools earned 166 points out of a possible 200 or 83% on the 2024-25 report.

Wilson said Ozark earned 91% and while that is high, it does not tell the entire story and neither will letter grades. She said every school has its own strengths and challenges.

“Whether it’s an A or B or 91%, the system that we have now, none are going to be perfect,” Wilson said. “No matter what it is there has to be a lot of explanation behind it.”

Kehoe’s order offered a description of how each letter grade equates to meeting student outcomes: A is excellent, B is more than satisfactory, C is satisfactory, D is less than satisfactory, and F is failing.

Republic Superintendent Matt Pearce said letter grades offer a broad understanding of achievement, but districts have thousands of data points that educators measure daily to adjust strategies and meet student needs.

“The type of accountability does not matter greatly as long as districts across the state know the target,” Pearce said. “Just as we do now, we will align our arrows to aim at the target so that our students can succeed.”

Springfield Superintendent Grenita Lathan and Nixa Superintendent Gearl Loden have both worked outside of Missouri, where state-issued report cards included letter grades.

Lathan said familiarity with letter grades make them easier to understand but fall short of providing a full picture.

“They need to know the why behind why a district achieved that particular grade and then the areas that a district is going to work on to address some of the deficits,” she said. “There are pros and cons to every change. What SPS will do is, once again, get to know all the facts. We’ll continue to focus on student achievement and improving outcomes for students.”

Loden said parents get concerned when a school receives a C or D grade on the report card. He worries schools with lower letter grades may struggle to keep teachers and students.

“People will ask questions. I think that’s going to be a different pressure that people are not used to, and it will put more pressure on people,” he said. “I don’t want that to hurt schools.”

As an incentive, Loden suggested the state look at offering more flexibility to schools that repeatedly earn high grades.

“This is something I advocate for constantly. I called it earned autonomy,” he said.