Participation in career and technical education (CTE) programs is growing statewide. During the 2011-2012 school year, 63 percent (or 181,418) of Missouri high school students participated in at least one CTE program. This is a 3 percent increase over the previous year.

CTE programs combine academics and occupational skills training, allowing students to learn more about possible career paths in agriculture, business, health sciences, family consumer sciences, skilled technical sciences, and marketing and cooperative education.

Missouri is offering a new professional development program for school leaders aimed at raising student achievement. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is partnering with the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) to offer their Executive Development Program via the Missouri Leadership for Excellence, Achievement and Development (MoLEAD) project.

The Missouri State Board of Education gave final approval Tuesday to updated standards that provide guidance to local school districts in a number of areas, from curriculum and class size to college and career planning.

The State Board gave preliminary approval to the standards in September 2012, followed by a 30-day public comment period. The Department received comments during that time and made changes to the standards based on public input.

A national report card examining state education policy and performance has given Missouri an overall grade of C, up slightly from last year's grade of C-.

The "Quality Counts 2013" report, released Thursday, shows Missouri's score sitting slightly below the national average score of C+. For the second consecutive year, the state ranks 41st nationwide.

Individuals seeking to obtain their Missouri High School Equivalency Certificate by taking the General Educational Development (GED©) test have until the end of 2013 to pass the current test series, known as the 2002 Series GED© Test. The current test will be replaced with a new assessment beginning January 2, 2014.

The new test will continue determining high school equivalency, but will also measure the knowledge and skills necessary for college- and career-readiness.