Despite some districts’ dismal academic outcomes, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has delayed changing any accreditation scores until 2027 – although this may be too late for schoolchildren still enrolled statewide.
“A generation of students will graduate from Missouri schools before the state takes action on low performing districts — even as more than half of students remain behind in math and reading,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote in a Nov. 6 article.
“The delay spares 29 fully accredited districts, including Grandview in Jefferson County, Ritenour in St. Louis County and St. Louis Public Schools, from a downgrade to provisional accreditation, which triggers extra state oversight.”
The department listed a range of factors for delaying any penalties over a 12-year period, including “new standardized tests and scoring systems, COVID-19 disruptions and the need for ‘stability of measures,’” according to journalists.
However, students end up taking the brunt of the deferral, argues Peter Franzen, associate executive director of Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri.
