Missouri has more emergent bilingual students enrolled in public schools than ever before. The total count is nearly 40,000 as of 2024 – an increase of 28 percent since 2017. Are the state’s public schools ready to meet their needs? 

On January 13, 2026, Governor Michael Kehoe signed Executive Order 26-01. This executive order directs the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to create a new accountability system for schools in Missouri. The order requires the new system to include an A–F school and district grading framework. DESE must outline new guidelines for the A-F system for elementary, middle, and high schools.

House Bill 22-30, proposed by State Representative Tricia Byrnes, would limit screen time to 45 minutes per day in kindergarten through 5th grade. The bill also mandates an increase in paper assignments and textbooks. 70% of assignments would need to be completed through paper and pencil. Additionally, students would be required to have dedicated handwriting practice and cursive instruction in grades two through five. The bill states that cursive supports letter recognition, decoding, orthographic mapping, reading fluency, phonological awareness, and more.

In 2025, fifth and sixth graders scored higher in ELA than they did in 2024. These gains are important to note as remaining grades (3, 4, 7, and 8) saw ELA scores decrease or flatline in the same period.

Currently, one in three Missouri districts operate on a four-day school week. Policies about four-day school weeks are intended to increase teacher retention. Support for four-day school weeks has slightly increased since February 2023, but has still not reached 50% support.

Several studies have connected teacher turnover to declines in student outcomes. First-year teachers are 70% more likely than the average teacher to leave Missouri public education. Fewer and fewer teachers persist through their early-career years, with only six in ten reaching their sixth year in Missouri public education. Policymakers and education leaders should strategize ways to improve early-career teacher working conditions, training, and professional opportunities.

St. Louis schools have been looking into moving high school start times back. St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS) discussed a Healthy Start Times initiative in a work session board meeting in January 2026.

The Missouri House just approved a bill (H.B. 2710) that would require the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to publish an annual report card that assigns a letter grade (A-F) to schools across the state. This would replace the already existing Annual Performance Report that DESE currently publishes.

The fifth edition of PRiME’s annual growth reports are live!  The “best” schools are usually thought to be those with the highest scores or proficiency rates on standardized tests. But that’s not necessarily the most effective way to evaluate school performance.  In these reports, schools are ranked according to the progress students made from one school year to the next.

A new report estimates that more than 3.4 million children in America are homeschooled – signaling yet again that the post-COVID homeschool surge is here to stay. 

A quick FAQ for understanding the basics of MAP testing

Each December, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) releases standardized testing results from the previous school year. Behind the scenes, the PRiME Center gets to work crunching the numbers to highlight the schools across the state demonstrating the highest growth in math and English language arts during the previous school year. Offering an alternative narrative to proficiency, growth accounts for where students start the year and determines how much progress they’ve made.

A summary and overview of news coverage of Joseph. R. Nichols, Jr., Ph.D. and Alyssa Ignaczak, M.Ed.’s report on Displacement of Black Teachers in Missouri Post-Brown, 1954-1970.

Every fall and winter, Missouri schools take part in what may seem like a routine data task: reporting student enrollment on Count Day. But this process is more than a clerical requirement. The numbers submitted on these days drive state funding, federal allocations, and accountability systems that shape the resources and opportunities available to students across the state.

Last week, the PRiME Center hosted a data summit series to discuss The Missouri Growth Score Model and how it is being used to highlight school and instructional achievement. 

The use of Artificial Intelligence is on the rise in classrooms across the country, and while some districts have begun implementing guidelines and integrating AI tools into their schools, Missouri does not yet have a formal policy in place.

The PRiME Center provides an updated analysis of high school start times across the state of Missouri.