State Board of Education March Meeting Recap

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The State Board of Education (State Board) approved the accredited status of educator preparation providers during its Tuesday meeting. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) also provided updates on through-year assessments.

Annual Performance Report

The State Board unanimously approved the accredited status of 41 initial teacher preparation providers and 17 advanced educator preparation providers.

State law requires the State Board to determine the accreditation status of Educator Preparation Providers (EPP) in Missouri annually. In order to inform the State Board's decision, DESE provided recommendations based on the Annual Performance Reports for each EPP.

Click here for the full presentation regarding educator preparation program annual accreditation.

Through-Year Testing

The Office of School Quality shared progress with the State Board on the development of through-year assessments.

Last year, Missouri was granted a waiver by the U.S Department of Education to pilot a through-year assessment focused on improving existing assessments in English Language Arts and mathematics.

The Success-Ready Student Assessment is designed to provide opportunity throughout the school year for students to show mastery of the Missouri Learning Standards. Currently, the Missouri Standards are assessed with an end-of-year summative assessment of which those results are not immediately available.

This spring, 14 classrooms comprised of 200 students participated in a small-scale pilot. Overall, the feedback the department received was positive with teachers saying they appreciate the quick turnaround time for results. This feedback will be used to refine the design of the year-long pilot for the 2026-27 school year.

Click here for the full presentation on through-year testing.

Other Items

• The State Board discussed the process of creating the commissioner's evaluation tool. This tool, aligned with DESE's strategic plan, will be used to establish annual goals and monitor progress.
• The State Board received an update on the department's proposed initiatives to remove unnecessary obstacles to receive a Missouri certification to teach. This presentation allowed State Board members to provide feedback on the inconsistencies within the department's current requirements.

The next State Board of Education meeting is scheduled for April 14, 2026.

See agendas, meetings, and minutes from previous meetings here.