Missouri’s plan to give every public school and district an A-through-F grade is drawing differing views from members of the State Board of Education as the state works toward rolling out the new system.
During Tuesday’s board meeting, St. Louis County board member Vincent Schoemehl Jr. questioned whether the grading system would help struggling schools improve or simply put more pressure on them.
“DESE’s got a lot of sticks. We don’t have a lot of carrots,” Schoemehl said. “And to me, this whole thing strikes me as just another stick, and it’s going to put people on notice. People respond better to inspiration than threats.” The statement drew applause from the dozens of school district superintendents who were observing the meeting.
Oran R-III Superintendent Adam Friga attended the meeting. He told Missourinet there have been some improvements to the plan, but the system is flawed.
“I think the speed has been too fast and I would to see for more support to be aligned with expectations. Not just expectations minus the support,” Friga said. “Because when they took the action to not recommend full funding, but to continue to increase expectations, those two things don’t align.”
Fellow State Board of Education member Kerry Casey pushed back on the idea that the letter grades would only serve as a punishment, saying the information could help schools identify areas where they need to improve.“And some will use it and take it and run with it and say, ‘Hey, I now see my problem,’” Casey said. “I think I’ve got, with the help of many others, including the board, a way to make a difference and improve. So, I don’t think it’s only a punitive or a stick. I think it serves itself as something that can be a motivator as well.”
Gov. Mike Kehoe set the process in motion Jan. 13 when he signed Executive Order 26-01, directing the State Board of Education to have DESE develop an annual A-through-F grading framework for Missouri public schools and districts. Kehoe said the system is intended to give families clearer and easier-to-understand information about school performance.
DESE submitted its proposed framework to the governor’s office June 30. The department said the new grading system would be added to Missouri’s existing school accountability tools rather than replace them. Under the framework, elementary and middle school grades would consider academic achievement, student growth and progress toward proficiency in English language arts, literacy, mathematics and science. High school grades would also consider academic achievement and growth, along with the four-year graduation rate and Success Ready Graduate measures.
The executive order says an A would represent excellent student outcomes; a B would represent more than satisfactory outcomes and a C would represent satisfactory outcomes. A D would represent less than satisfactory outcomes, while an F would mean a school failed to produce adequate student outcomes.
The framework was presented to the State Board of Education in August as DESE continued working on the implementation of the grade cards.
During Tuesday’s meeting, DESE’s Lisa Sireno (now interim education commissioner) acknowledged that receiving a public letter grade may not be easy for schools and districts.
“It is often not fun or popular,” Sireno said. “Nobody likes to have their grades printed out and posted on the hallway in the school. That’s what this feels like to our schools and our districts. And so, we want to be cognizant of that as we move forward.”
Sireno said DESE plans to share draft technical guidance with districts in the coming days. She said the rollout timeline has not been determined, but a public release could come in December.
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