Proposal for issuing A-F school report cards submitted

A plan for how to give A-F grades to Missouri schools, districts and charter schools has been submitted to Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced June 30 that a new grading framework was forwarded by the deadline Kehoe outlined in an executive order issued in mid-January.

Kehoe required DESE to create a plan for yearly A-F grade cards that reflect student outcomes.

Stacey Preis, named interim commissioner of education in June after the departure of Karla Eslinger, said in a June 23 meeting of the Missouri Board of Education that work on the proposal continued without interruption despite the leadership turnover.

The new report cards would not replace state-issued accreditation decisions or the Annual Performance Report, a scorecard DESE releases annually that reviews attendance and graduation rates, student scores on state-mandated exams and other measures.

“The goal for the A–F school grading framework is to provide families and communities with a simple, comparable and rigorous picture of school performance,” Preis said in a June 30 news release.

DESE plans to present the proposed framework to the state board in August. A vote is expected in mid-September.

Officials say the first A-F report cards could be released publicly as early as April 2027.

The proposal posted online showed the data used for determining an A-F grade will vary based on the grade level. There will be one set of criteria for elementary and middle schools and a separate one for high schools.

All schools would be evaluated based on English, math and science proficiency levels and academic growth. Elementary and middle schools would also look at literacy and high schools would be evaluated based on graduation rates and a set of success markers for graduates.

The proposed grading scale would issue an A for schools and districts that meet at least 89% of the expectations. An F would be issued for scoring 49% or less.

According to the report, Missouri has roughly 2,400 traditional public schools and public charter schools, 522 school districts and at least 438 private schools registered with DESE. However, the report noted there is not a process in place to capture data from private schools, making it unlikely they will also receive a letter grade.

DESE estimated $518,000 in one-time costs to get the framework in place and $715,000 in annual costs to produce the report cards. The report stated funding has not been identified to implement the grading framework.

“We appreciate DESE's work to develop this proposal and look forward to reviewing it as we continue to put students first and strengthen education across our state,” Kehoe said in the release.

“Parents deserve clear, easy-to-understand information about how schools are performing so they can make the best decisions for their children. The A-F framework is about bringing greater transparency and accountability to Missouri's education system by giving greater weight to student outcomes rather than the administrative process.”