Abstract: When looking at the actual impact that schools are having on student learning, it is vital to look at student growth. This is especially important for schools that enroll high percentages of low-income students. Opposite of growth are single point-in-time measures such as proficiency, which do not adjust for where students start the year. Missouri has the best growth model in the country. This report combines three years of growth data, and then looks at the quartile of Missouri schools enrolling the highest percentage of low-income students. The data show that some of the highest growth schools in Missouri also enroll some of the highest percentages of low-income students. Recognizing, rewarding and replicating the successes of these schools is the best path to improving outcomes for the state’s most vulnerable students.

This 1st Edition of PRiME’s Missouri Three Year Statewide Growth Report which covers data from the 2021-22 and 2023-24 school years.

When we talk about how students are doing in subjects like reading and math, it’s more helpful to look at how much they grow over time rather than just where they stand at one moment. This report continues the PRiME Center’s efforts to highlight Missouri’s excellent schools by examining student growth in the state's most rural schools over the last three years.

PRiME Center’s recent report highlights the Missouri schools serving students from low income households that are producing large gains in reading and math.

This 4th Edition of PRiME’s annual Missouri Statewide Growth Report covers data from the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years.

The St. Louis Teaching Fellows (STL TF) program at Saint Louis University (SLU) continues to place teachers in St. Louis area public and charter schools by providing a route to teach while simultaneously earning teaching certification and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degree. The impact has grown to two active cohorts (24 students) and three classes of graduates (36 students).

This report sheds light on the relationship between four-day school weeks and attendance in Missouri and Arkansas schools.

There are over one million school-age children in Missouri, and we estimate 61,000 (6% of all school-age children) are homeschooled. Missouri is one of 29 states that does not require homeschooling to be reported. Using methods that can be replicated elsewhere with publicly available data, we test three approaches to estimating homeschool participation: using American Community Survey (ACS) data; subtracting public and estimated private school counts from ACS school-age totals; and polling parents. We comment on the usefulness and limitations of each approach and provide a model for researchers seeking to estimate homeschooling trends in states that lack administrative data.

This report examines current physical education policy requirements in Missouri.

This report examines the unique challenges to and opportunities for school belonging for students in special education, along with best practices to support school belonging for special education students.

This report details Missouri teachers’ supplemental (non-base) pay and the Career Ladder program for teachers.

Currently, over a third of public school districts in Missouri utilize a four-day school week (4DSW). The overwhelming majority that currently use a shortened school week are small, rural school districts.  The primary reason cited by districts for transitioning to the 4DSW is to recruit and retain certified educators in an increasingly competitive workforce marketplace. While, up to this point, the four-day school week has been a rural school district phenomenon, this is beginning to change as larger districts also struggle to find and retain staff.  This study examined the 4DSW influence on job applications to the Independent School District (ISD), which adopted a four-day school week for the 2023-2024 school year. With over 14,000 students and over 1,200 certified staff, ISD is by far the largest 4DSW district in Missouri. As policymakers analyze the 4DSW, it is important to investigate how the size and diversity of a school impact a school district's ability to attract and retain teachers.  

In this report, we analyze the results of a survey sent to 900 Missouri and Arkansas parents, asking them their opinions about four-day school weeks, homeschooling, college likelihood, teacher salaries and entering the workforce, and school vouchers.

In this report, we dive into the results, focusing specifically on the education questions posed to voters on the Fall 2024 SLU/YouGov poll.

This report covers a program evaluation of the Summer Scholars program.

This brief documents changes in Missouri public school teacher retention during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines changes in teacher retention in districts that adopt a four-day school week calendar.

This report covers the ever-changing public education system in St. Louis.

This 3rd Edition of PRiME’s annual Growth Reports covers data from the 2021—2022 school year.

This 3rd Edition of PRiME’s annual Beating the Odds Growth Report covers data from the 2021—2022 school year.

In this education report we first provide some key background information regarding student mobility and its impact. We then use public data to describe what student mobility looks like across Missouri in comparison to neighboring states. Next, we call attention to the discrepancies in existing Missouri student mobility data and describe possible reasons for these discrepancies. We conclude with implications for education researchers and policy makers.

Since 2020, Saint Louis University (SLU) has worked with YouGov to poll Missouri citizens on current issues in politics and education. The PRiME Center funded a poll presented to 900 likely Missouri voters from February 14–February 26, 2024 to inform stakeholders on public opinion surrounding political and education-related policy issues. In this report, we dive into the most recent education results.

The following paper reports on variation in student demographics and outcomes in St. Louis’ public school system.

The following paper provides a primer in state education funding formulas, and a lesson in unintended consequences.