Communications
Southwest Missouri Teacher Receives $25,000 Milken Educator Award
Today, Dallas DeWeese, a social studies teacher at Hollister Middle School in the Hollister R-V School District, was presented with the national Milken Educator Award.
Missouri Considers Revising Content GPA Requirement for Teaching Certifications
Today the Missouri State Board of Education voted to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking to change the requirements for some teacher certification areas. The current rule requires a grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher in the specific content (i.e. subject) area for which the teacher is seeking certification. This proposed amendment to the rule would change the required content GPA from 3.0 to 2.5. Teachers earn content certification to teach most school subjects at the secondary level, as well as some specialty courses, like the arts.
Missouri Releases 2024 Annual Performance Reports
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has released the statewide Annual Performance Reports (APRs) for the 2023-24 school year. APRs demonstrate the progress local education agencies (LEAs) and individual buildings are making toward meeting the standards and indicators in the sixth version of the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP 6).
Missouri Parents as Teachers Parent Education Programs Improve Outcomes for Young Children
A research paper was recently published in the Early Childhood Research Quarterly that shows participation in the Missouri Parents as Teachers (PAT) Parent Education Program is positively associated with third-grade math and English language arts proficiency. This research contributes to the literature on the importance of home visiting programs and is one of the few studies examining the effects of a voluntary, universal parent education program.
Missouri Schools Receive State-Funded “Grow Your Own” Grants to Recruit Local Educators
For the second year, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) was able to award Grow Your Own (GYO) grants to 125 local education agencies (LEAs). Review the list of LEA grant recipients here. DESE’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget includes $2.5 million to support one-time grants of $10,000 to LEAs to create or strengthen their local Grow Your Own program, designed to increase recruitment of quality teachers in LEAs across the state.
Public Hearings Scheduled for Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation (MVR) will conduct two virtual public hearings in October to gain feedback on vocational rehabilitation services. MVR staff will discuss the following topics:
- implementing an Order of Selection for services;
- reviewing Priority Categories for services; and
- finding ways to improve services for individuals with disabilities.
Public Hearings Schedule
October 1, 2024, 1:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Jennifer Jones Named 2025 Missouri Teacher of the Year
Jennifer Jones, an English teacher at Lee’s Summit West High School in the Lee’s Summit R-VII School District, was selected by a committee of her peers and education partners across the state as the 2025 Missouri Teacher of the Year. She becomes the 56th Missouri Teacher of the Year since the program’s inception in 1957.