Latest news with #MissouriDepartmentofElementaryandSecondaryEducation
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Missouri Lawmakers Ban Controversial Reading Instruction Model as Primary Method
This article was originally published in Missouri Independent. Missouri lawmakers have banned educators from leaning on a model of reading instruction called the 'three-cueing' method as part of a bipartisan education package signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe on Wednesday. The law mandates that three cueing, which teaches students to read using context clues, can be used to supplement lessons, but phonics should be the majority of instruction. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Moberly Republican and sponsor of the legislation, told The Independent that the law builds on prior legislative efforts and work from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 'We've come to the realization that phonics is crucial,' Lewis said. 'The three cueing system, when used as the primary source, evidence shows a decrease in the amount of learning that occurs, and for that reason, we want to use it less.' Three cueing is widely criticized for encouraging kids to make guesses when reading and doesn't show how to sound out words, which is important for understanding complicated texts. Missouri isn't the only state to ban three cueing. By the end of 2024, at least 11 states had explicitly banned the method. The problem with three cueing, which once was lauded as an alternative to phonics, came to public attention when American Public Media reporter Emily Hanford investigated reading instruction and later launched the podcast series 'Sold a Story.' The series armed those backing the 'science of reading' in a longstanding war between phonics instruction and context-clue-based models and state laws followed — including a literacy bill passed in Missouri in 2022. The 2022 legislation required state education officials to create a teacher preparatory course on literacy. DESE, in turn, launched its 'Read, Lead, Exceed' initiative, including instruction for educators. As of this spring, 429 school districts and over 8,600 educators have had training in Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS. 'It is pretty intense training,' Missouri Education Commissioner Karla Eslinger told The Independent. 'It creates an opportunity for the teachers to use that science of reading, that evidence-based best practices on how you teach reading.' The training and other science-backed materials provided by the department are not mandatory but participation has been encouraging, Eslinger said. She expects elementary literacy rates to rise as a result of the training and other efforts since 2022, like literacy coaches the department hired. With a charge to ban three cueing as the primary form of reading instruction, Eslinger said the department will continue to push best practices. 'We are not going to police this,' she said. 'We are going to show good practice and give support to good practice, so it just bolsters what we're doing.' As part of a checklist school districts provide annually to the department, they will be required to confirm that they are not using three cueing as a primary instructional model. 'The work that our literacy teams are doing in the state is all being very well received. (Educators) are wanting more and more,' Eslinger said. 'It is not because it is mandated, it is because it works.' Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri school funding task force turns its attention to property tax inequities
State Sen. Rusty Black, a Republican from Chillicothe, chairs the first meeting of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force earlier this month (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A group tasked by the governor with reworking Missouri's formula for funding public schools narrowed in on property tax revenue Monday, discussing how the 20-year-old formula creates inequities with an outdated assumption of local aid. In the second meeting of the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force, education officials led a conversation on property taxes. The problem stems from a figure frozen in time, said Kari Monsees, deputy commissioner of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The formula subtracts assumed local aid based on 2005 property values and applies the same tax rate statewide even though districts vary widely on levies. 'The longer we go on, the further we get from the actual values on our assumptions and the more problematic it is for what we're trying to do here,' Monsees said. Since the creation of the current formula in 2005, property values have fluctuated with variation across districts. 'There's been a lot of changes in property values since 2005,' said David Wood, a former state representative and policy analyst for the Missouri State Tax Commission. 'If you try to jump to current numbers… it's going to be extremely expensive.' But increasing the cost to the state's general revenue is not an option. Gov. Mike Kehoe's executive order, which convened the work group, calls for funding outcomes 'at a level consistent with what is provided for in the State Fiscal Year 2025 budget.' This amount is $300 million under the current budget passed by state lawmakers and awaiting the governor's signature. Missouri governor calls for task force to keep state education funding flat Missouri is seventh in the nation for reliance on property tax revenue for funding public schools, with 47% of funds coming from local taxes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Missouri has the lowest portion of state aid in its public-school funding, at 30% of school revenues. The state's reliance on local funding combined with its outdated figures for property taxes has created a system of winners and losers, with communities with growing property values and higher levies accumulating more funds on a per-pupil basis than their counterparts. If the assessments 20 years ago were accurate and change was uniform across districts, there would be 'less of a concern,' Monsees said. 'But that's not the reality,' he said. 'The reality is those reassessment rates and value changes have been significantly different across the state.' The median home value in districts varies wildly, ranging from $44,500 to $613,300, according to a 2019 review Monsees presented. The formula assumes a local levy of $3.43 per $100 of assessed value, dubbed the 'performance levy.' But districts' levies vary from $2.75 to almost $6.50 per $100. He shared examples of districts in the 90th and 10th percentiles, showing some districts have double the operating funds on a per-pupil basis. Worsening the gaps between districts is a 'hold-harmless provision' in the foundation formula, which keeps funding levels stable for districts that would've seen a dip in revenue when the formula was established. There are 200 hold-harmless districts, with districts under 350 students keeping total state aid flat and those over 350 getting the same amount per student. Missouri has had hold-harmless provisions through multiple iterations of the school funding formula, and Monsees said there's a reason for that. The formula has to be approved by the state legislature, and lawmakers whose districts are losing funds are likely to vote against any changes. A study of the formula commissioned by education nonprofit Aligned estimates that hold-harmless provisions cost the state $150 million annually. The study recommends that any new formula institute a 'temporary hold-harmless provision with a five-year phase out.' The study is one of three being reviewed by task force members. All three recommended changes in multiple areas to the formula, such as increasing multipliers used to increase funding for special education and measuring student count by enrollment rather than attendance. The work group is anticipated to meet over the next year and deliver plans to the governor by December 2026.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Missouri governor calls for task force to keep state education funding flat
State Sen. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, chairs the Missouri School Funding Modernization Task Force meeting Monday afternoon (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent). A group of state officials and business leaders tasked by Gov. Mike Kehoe with creating a new formula to fund Missouri's public schools gathered for the first time on Monday under an expectation that funding should be below what lawmakers approved earlier this year. Halle Herbert, the governor's incoming policy director, told the group that Kehoe seeks funding 'consistent with what is provided in the state fiscal year 2025 budget.' Last month, lawmakers signed off on public education funding that was $300 million higher than what the governor recommended. 'A lot of times when you ask a school superintendent, 'where are the problems?….' They ask for more money,' Kehoe told the group Monday. 'That is not a great answer to me… That can't always be the answer to every problem.' Between fiscal year 2025 and 2026, a multiplier in the formula called the 'state adequacy target' increased. This number is the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's estimate of proper per-pupil funding and is calculated by looking at top-performing schools in the state's annual performance reports. The change was driven by a new iteration of the state's accountability system, called the Missouri School Improvement Program, which was introduced in 2022 and became more 'rigorous' for districts to score high and produced a smaller number of districts that could be deemed top performers. The program is required by law to be phased in, making fiscal year 2026 the first year with the updated state adequacy target. This change requires an additional $300 million to fully fund the foundation formula. Kehoe's proposed budget this January did not include the $300 million increase, and his comments in Monday's meeting show an intention to tamp down the rising costs of public education. Kari Monsees, deputy commissioner of financial and administrative services, said part of Kehoe's intention with calling for a change to the formula comes from the 'unpredictability' of the state adequacy target. State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly and former educator, pointed out that there was a 12% increase in the multiplier this year — but before now, it had only increased 4% in 16 years. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Superintendents have been asking for a formula that responds to inflation for years, arguing lawmakers 'manipulated' the formula to keep funding flat. A study commissioned by the department and released in 2023 concluded that the current formula hurts districts with more low-income students. Multipliers for serving sensitive student groups were 'not based on any empirical analysis,' the study determined. The study recommends looking at other states and the cost associated with desired performance outcomes to determine whether the per-pupil funding is enough. But Kehoe is seeking financial incentives for high performance. Monsees said there aren't many states with performance in school funding formulas and alluded to a lack of information on that model. The group that met Monday was created by an executive order Kehoe shortly after taking office. He appointed members representing public schools, agriculture, business and charter schools. One member is to represent 'a non-profit organization that works on expanding school choice in Missouri,' according to the order. Kehoe chose Chris Vas, a senior director with the Herzog Foundation. The foundation 'advances K-12 Christian education primarily,' Vas said Monday. There was some discussion that the formula, which was previously intended to fund public districts, should also be responsible for funding charter schools and vouchers for private education. Committee member Michael Podgursky, an economics professor at the University of Missouri–Columbia, said there 'was an active discussion of interdisciplinary school choice.' 'How do you design a funding mechanism with school choice, which really means thinking about tying it more to kids,' he said. Podgursky has served as a fellow with various conservative research groups, such as the Fordham Institute and the George W. Bush institute and is a director at the conservative think tank the Show-Me Institute. The group must come up with recommendations to deliver to the governor by Dec. 1, 2026.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Two St. Louis schools named Gold Star Schools
MISSOURI – The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced Wednesday that eight schools across the state were named a Gold Star School this year, and two of those in the St. Louis area made the list. Conway Elementary in the Ladue School District and Steam Academy Middle School in the Ferguson-Florissant School District were deemed as a Gold Star School. According to DESE, Gold Star Schools stems from the U.S. Department of Education's 1991 program, which highlights schools for 'outstanding academic achievement or for performing at high levels while serving a significant proportion of disadvantaged students.' 'Congratulations to the students, teachers, and staff members at each of these schools for earning this recognition,' Commissioner of Education Dr. Karla Eslinger said in a release. 'These schools demonstrate that academic excellence is possible while striving to help their students find their path to success. We're so proud of their hard work.' Below are the remaining six schools that were also recognized: Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience (Saint Louis Public Schools) East Elementary (Ozark School District) Eugene Field Elementary (Poplar Bluff School District) Green Forest Elementary (Green Forest R-II School District) James Walker (Blue Springs School District) Marion County Elementary (Marion County R-II Schools) To view the full criteria of becoming a Gold Star School, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Daycare safety concerns spark push for QR code access to inspection reports
ST. PETERS, Mo. – Viewer response has been overwhelming following our March 12 report on a St. Peters childcare center. FOX 2 revealed multiple inspection reports by state regulators in 2024 at Peanuts Gang Learning Center, including a case where inspectors alleged a 4-year-old child walked outside alone, and made it all the way to a Phillips 66 nearly a third of a half mile away before anyone knew he was missing. Several parents followed up after our report, saying they had no idea about inspectors' findings at that center, including the mother of the child who reportedly walked to a gas station. She did not want to talk on camera but asked us to send her the inspection report involving her child. 'We need parents to know what's happening so they can choose the best site for their kid,' Missouri State Representative Mark Matthiesen said. Matthiesen says inspection reports should be easier to find. 'Your report online, included a link to that website. We need more education and more avenues for parents to reach that link,' he said. Police identify officer struck by car on I-70 Daycare inspection reports are compiled by an obscure office called the Missouri Office of Childhood under the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 'Most parents don't even know it exists,' Matthiesen said. 'I thought the most effective way of handling that would be for the Office of Childhood to require QR codes to be posted at the entrance where parents could scan it when they go and view, look up that daycare or any daycare and see what has happened within those walls.' Grandmother Pam Franke, who picks up her grandkids from childcare, said, 'You just don't know what can happen out there when you're not there.' Franke likes the QR code idea. 'That would be great. I mean, nowadays everybody's got cell phones. You just put that out there and no problem,' she said. Matthieson believes the tool could also lead to daycares trying harder to do better. 'We need to hold them more accountable,' he said. He's introduced HB 637 which he says will be discussed next Tuesday during the Childhood Committee meeting in Jefferson City. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
