Vol. 39, No. 45

December 1, 2005

DESE Releases Statistical "Report Cards"
for the State and All Local School Districts

New "report cards" about every public school and school district in the state and about the Missouri’s public education system are now available on the Internet, state education officials announced today.

The statistical profiles about every school district, school building and charter school are required by state law. The reports provide information about students, teachers, academic performance, finances and other topics. The reports have recently been updated with statistics from the 2004-05 school year.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education also issued an updated summary profile for the state, entitled the Missouri Public School Accountability Report.

It closely parallels the statistics reported for each school district, but it includes information required by the federal law, No Child Left Behind. The state profile notes:

  • Total public school enrollment (K-12) dropped last year by about 4,100 students, or one-half of one percent, to 891,847. Total enrollment has fluctuated slightly for the past five years.
     

  • Enrollment in preschool programs (pre-kindergarten) increased again last year to nearly 24,500. Preschool programs are not required, but more than half of the state’s 524 school districts now offer some type of services for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds. Because of the steady growth in these programs, state education officials started reporting preschool enrollment last year. These data are now included with each school district’s profile.
     

  • More public school students qualified last year for free or reduced-price meals. Now, 41.8% of Missouri students – up 1.3 points from the previous year – are eligible for subsidized meals at school.
     

  • The number of public high school graduates dropped slightly last year to 57,495. The percentage of graduates enrolling in four-year colleges or universities (38%) declined for the second year in a row. The percentage of graduates attending two-year institutions (26.1%) also dropped slightly.

Prior to this year, local school districts were required to collect more data and publish their own "report cards." The Missouri Legislature passed a law earlier this year to eliminate that requirement and make state education officials responsible for producing reports about all public schools in a consistent format.

"The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education was already collecting and publishing most of the data that school districts were required to publish. Local officials were frustrated with overlapping requirements in state and federal law about what information to report. It really made sense to simplify these requirements and allow our department to be responsible for most of the public reporting," said Commissioner of Education D. Kent King.

"The online profiles will provide the information that parents and taxpayers need to know about their schools, while saving local school districts a great deal of time and money," he said.