
UPDATES ON EDUCATION RESEARCH AND POLICY
NEW POSTS WEEKLY!
We want to help lawmakers, educators, and families make decisions about education by providing updates on national, regional and Missouri-specific research. While we strive to be objective, we want to facilitate discussion and will occasionally offer our own views on this blog.
A PRiMER On Free and Reduced-Price Lunch
Free and Reduced-Price Lunch (FRL) can be a bit of a buzzword in the education space. In today’s blog post, we dispel common misconceptions about the program, and answer some FAQs.
Chronic Absenteeism in Missouri Schools
Each year, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides data on the attendance rates of Missouri students. Here, we provide a brief overview of chronic absenteeism and updated attendance rates in Missouri in advance of our forthcoming policy brief. We also debut PRiME’s interactive maps, this one detailing the most recent proportional attendance rates by district.
Missouri’s School Funding Formula
To calculate school funding, Missouri currently uses a model that estimates the cost of adequately educating a child and subtracts out what can be raised locally through taxes to arrive at the total aid provided to a school. The current model was developed nearly 20 years ago in 2005. There is contention with a few key pieces of the funding formula, some of which were addressed this year with the passage of Senate Bill 727, and some that persist.
Key Takeaways from the Nation’s Report Card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exam has been given to students since 1969. This nationwide assessment produces important metrics about our country’s students. Here, we discuss nationwide and Missouri-specific trends from the 2024 data release.
The 4-Day School Week in Missouri: What Do We Know?
As more school districts across Missouri adopt a four-day school week (4DSW), the debate over its effectiveness continues. Here, we summarize what we’ve learned about the 4DSW in Missouri.
Hot Takes: Three Popular Missouri Voter Opinions From 2024
In 2024, SLU and YouGov partnered to poll Missouri voters (once in February and once in August) and Missouri parents (in May) on education topics. Below, we cover three voter opinions that received strong consensus from Missouri voters and parents.
Understanding Socioeconomic Status in Education: Beyond Free or Reduced-Price Lunch Data
When researchers and policymakers examine student enrollment and demographic trends in Missouri, one common measure used to capture the socioeconomic status of a school’s student body is the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL). While this metric has been widely used, it often fails to accurately reflect family income and, as a result, can overestimate the true need within schools. This issue warrants further exploration, especially as it impacts key decisions about resource allocation and support for disadvantaged students.
Missouri MAP Results: 2024 Edition
Last week, we published an update of the Missouri MAP scores brief to reflect the most recent release of data for the 2023—24 school year. Scores on the Missouri MAP test were effectively flat from 2023 to 2024. Math scores have mostly returned to pre-pandemic levels. ELA scores have yet to recover, especially at the early grades, which remain at 2021 levels. This reflects a larger trend of declining early literacy rates, which have been on the decline since 2012.