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 explore the relationship between four-day school week policies and teacher shortages in Missouri.

In this brief, we analyze how varying school district leave benefits might affect the Missouri teacher pipeline - especially among early career female teachers.

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 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.

This brief examines the state’s minimum teacher salary and the new proposed plan to increase the state’s minimum salary. Specifically, we examine the Governor’s proposal to increase from $25,000 to $38,000.

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 describe the parts of the state that will have students who are potentially eligible to use the new Missouri Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program. We pay particular attention to those parts of the state that are ineligible due to the program’s geographic and population limitations.

In this brief, we use data from the October 2021 SLU/YouGov Poll to present evidence outlining differences in voter opinion by demographic factors such as voter race and political affiliation.

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.

This policy brief chronicles the birth, adoption, and expiration of MoPTA and the educational policy dynamics that prevented the stable adoption of the assessment. We summarize our complete analysis which finds that MoPTA serves as an illustrative study for how teacher education policy delivery is formed and implemented within a network of interdependent actors.

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.

In this brief, we discuss the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic recession, as well as how federal fiscal aid from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped mitigate similar budget cuts following the Great Recession. We note that districts with varying local wealth experienced heterogeneous school funding recoveries and discuss other policy implications in education.

In this policy brief, we describe the results of the recent SLU/YouGov Poll and respondents’ opinions on charter schools, open enrollment policies, and private school choice.

In this policy brief, we describe the results of the recent SLU/YouGov Poll and respondents’ thoughts on how leaders have handled the pandemic. We also describe responses to questions on whether Missourians think school should return to in-person instruction.