In this report, we bring together multiple publicly-available datasets and examine trends in public and non-public school enrollment over the past 16 years.

This brief examines trends in high school start times across the state of Missouri.

This brief examines trends in the types of reported disciplinary incidents in K–12 Missouri schools and analyzes demographic trends in the assignment of out-of-school suspensions.

In this brief, our partners at Saint Louis Research Practice Collaborative analyze student mobility in Saint Louis schools.

In this brief, we highlight poll results on public opinion regarding charter school expansion.

In this brief, we analyze the newly released state test scores alongside national test score trends over the last five years.

In this brief, we explore the relationship between four-day school week policies and teacher shortages in Missouri.

In this brief, our partners at Saint Louis Research Practice Collaborative analyze student mobility in Saint Louis schools.

In this brief, we analyze variation in charter and magnet schools based on their curriculum, pedagogy, and student body focus. This is a first-of-its-kind analysis for Missouri.

In this policy brief, we describe Missouri’s current open enrollment policy and outline a current proposal, House Bill 253, being considered to further increase students’ ability to transfer to schools located in other districts. We also discuss key elements of interdistrict open enrollment policies that must be considered in policy design to ensure all students and schools benefit.

In this policy brief, we build on our previous brief, Missouri's School Accountability System, and take a deeper dive into two specific components of school accountability systems—school rating systems and accountability indicator weights. We discuss the weight of academic growth within performance indicators at the elementary and middle school level and consider the proposed changes to these areas under SB 341 and HB 558. We add evidence by examining school accountability systems in states with high growth and conclude by providing policy recommendations based on our findings.

In this policy brief, we describe Missouri’s current accountability system for traditional public and public charter schools—Missouri School Improvement Plan (MSIP) 6—and how it differs from the prior version known as MSIP 5. We add context by detailing federal school accountability system requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which also impacts the work of schools in Missouri.

This brief examines Missouri’s 2022 NAEP results, which are the first look into NAEP performance after the pandemic. We focus on Missouri’s performance changes over time, gaps between student groups, and comparison to national trends.

This brief considers the demand and supply sides of private school choice in Missouri and how the opinions of voters, parents, and private school leaders diverge on the MOScholars Program.

UPDATED: This brief examines changes to enrollment in schools under the Archdiocese of St. Louis, describing research on enrollment changes over the last ten years from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and using data from the Private School Universe Survey (PSS) from the U.S. Department of Education over the last 20 years. We describe trends in St. Louis and other major archdioceses and conclude with highlights of the current strategic planning processes for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and other large archdioceses

In this brief, we describe Missouri’s certification reciprocity policy, alternative pathways to certification, and potential “blocks” in the pipeline due to salary.

In this brief, we unpack the Missouri Growth Model used to calculate school and district growth scores. We explain how the model works and clarify what it does and does not tell us about school quality.

In this brief, we use data from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) from 2009-2020 to determine the impact of four-day school weeks on teacher recruitment.

In this brief, we analyze how total public school enrollment and average building enrollment in St. Louis compare across Missouri and nationally. We find that St. Louis has smaller per building enrollments than virtually any other city in Missouri or nationally.

Using school-level data from Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education from 2005 through 2019, we explored between-school disparities in out-of-school suspensions based on school characteristics - racial composition, locality, and socioeconomic status - to track trends and see if schools have made improvements.