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.

In this report, we define the problem of chronic absenteeism in Missouri and present data on school attendance in the state over the last five years.

In this report, we analyze changes in school-age population, public school enrollment, and school closures in Saint Louis City over the last three decades.

The PRiME Center worked with YouGov to distribute a survey about various education topics to a sample of 600 Missouri parents of school-aged children. We summarize their perspectives in this report.

The 2022 Missouri Student Growth Report by Modality of Instruction highlights the top-growth schools according to mode of instruction on the first day of school in fall 2020. We highlight the schools achieving top student growth within the three most common modes of instruction during the 2020-21 school year—in-person, hybrid, and distanced instruction and rank the top schools in student growth in three categories—elementary schools, eleMiddle schools and middle schools—for both English Language Arts (ELA) and math. This report is the third in the 2022 series of Growth Reports that examine growth scores on the MAP within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2022 Beating the Odds Report: Student Growth in Missouri’s Highest Poverty Schools highlights the top schools that are “beating the odds” across the state by moving the needle on student learning while serving high concentrations of low-income students. We rank the top schools “beating the odds” in student growth in three categories—elementary schools, eleMiddle schools and middle schools—for both English Language Arts (ELA) and math. This report is the second in the 2022 series of Growth Reports that examine growth scores on the MAP within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state of Missouri will soon consider transitioning back from state-appointed governance to locally elected boards in two districts in the St. Louis metropolitan area, having already done so in another. The PRiME Center reviewed the literature to find evidence-based strategies for successful transitions to local governance, as well as conducted an empirical study investigating stakeholders’ perspectives on appropriate strategies to exit state-appointed governance in Missouri school districts. The data were collected via interviews and focus groups from diverse stakeholder groups, including appointed and elected board members, administrators, educators, and parents (n=33). Thematic, emergent analysis revealed several main takeaways.