Highlights 

• Educator Preparation Literacy Initiatives – the Educator Preparation Section of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and Educator Preparation Providers (EPP) across the state have worked to ensure that Educator Preparation in Missouri is aligned with DESE’s Read, Lead, Exceed Project.
• DEWEY Award Winners Announced - The DEWEY Awards provide 15 EPPs with $70,000 and 5 2-year Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) with $45,000 each. The selected winners’ proposals look to increase the number of teacher candidates in teacher preparation programs and/or strengthen support for current candidates in order to increase retention in teacher preparation programs
• Certification Requirement Reviews- Workgroups will be reviewing certification requirements in the following areas during the 2024-25 school year: Special Education (all areas), Secondary Science (all areas), Literacy Specialist (formerly Special Reading), and English Language Learner education. The manner in which members were recruited to these workgroups and the steps involved in the process are described in this document: https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/process-revising-certification-requirements. The actual membership of each workgroup can be found here: 2024-25 Workgroups. Workgroup members are considered liaisons to their fields, so feel free to contact them if you have input to offer.

General Information 

• Missouri Educator Preparation State Information - General information about Educator Preparation in Missouri
• Educator Preparation 2024-25 Calendar - Important Dates, particularly related to APR and Title II
• Educator Preparation ListServ - The Educator Preparation ListServ is used to provide updates, changes, and important information to educator preparation programs
• Memos - Announcements of changes to DESE policies and procedures related to Educator Preparation
• Newsletters - Archived copies of bi-monthly (1st & 3rd Thursdays) newsletters
• Webinars - Archived copies of and (4th Thursday) webinars
• EPP Contact Change Form - Use this form whenever the primary contact person in each of these areas changes: Assessment, Certification, Field and Clinical, MoSIS, EPP Leader
• Guidelines for Reviewing and Revising Educator Certification Requirements
• Proposed Rules - DESE has submitted these proposed rules to the Secretary of State for Publication in the Missouri Register

Grants and Awards

• 2024 Missouri DEWEY Awards - These awards provide an opportunity for 2-year institutions and certification-recommending institutions to receive financial support for innovative initiatives to recruit and retain teacher candidates. You can view a list of the 2024 winners here.

EPP Quality Assurance

• Annual Performance Report and Fall Data Collection - Comprehensive Guides, submission templates, and data Resources
• Title II - Title II Homepage, Timeline, Instruction Manual, and Sample Data Collection Worksheet
• National Accreditation - Information related to Missouri's relationship with national accreditors, the Council for the Accreditation for Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP)

Expectations of Missouri Educator Preparation Programs and Certification Candidates

• Missouri Standards for the Preparation of Educators (MoSPE)
• Code of State Regulations - 5 CSR 20-400.440 - Procedures and Standards for Approval and Accreditation of Professional Education Programs in Missouri (includes Certification Requirements)
• Statutes - Legislation related to educator preparation
  • Statute 116.097 - Evaluation of Teacher Education Program - Rulemaking Authority
  • Statute 168.400 - Programs Established for Public School Personnel

Educator Candidate Assessment

• State Assessment Transition. Information related to the transition from Pearson to ETS as the vendor for state educator preparation assessments. The new tests will be available on July 1, 2024, and the last date to take a Pearson test will be June 30, 2024.
• First-Year Educator Surveys. Surveys completed by first-year educators (teachers, administrators, counselors, etc.) and their supervisors
• Missouri Content Assessments - register for content assessments and find relevant information
• Missouri Performance Assessments--rubric and resources related to performance assessments for Teachers, School Counselors, School Librarians, and Building-Level Administrators

Literacy Initiatives 

• The Path Forward Spring Literacy Conference
• Educator Preparation Literacy Initiatives

State Advisory Groups Related to Educator Preparation

• Missouri Advisory Board for Educator Preparation (MABEP)
  • The Missouri Advisory Board for Educator Preparation (MABEP) advises the State Board of Education and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education and foster meaningful and substantial collaboration and transparency among all stakeholders in the interest of improving the quality of teacher preparation in Missouri.
• Missouri Advisory Council of Certification for Educators (MACCE)
  • The Missouri Advisory Council of Certification for Educators is composed of 25 members to be appointed by the State Board of Education upon recommendation of the commissioner of education.  Of the 25 members, at least 15 must be active public school classroom teachers.
• Missouri Technical Advisory Committee (MoTAC)
  • The Missouri Technical Advisory Committee (MoTAC) advises DESE in regard to the technical aspects of assessment processes and instruments related to Educator Preparation in Missouri, including but not limited to validity, reliability, and fairness.

Educator Preparation Certification Program Changes

• Cover Page and Blank Matrices

Teacher Workforce

• Placement Data. Directions for EPPs and 2-year institutions to download information regarding the placement of completers in Missouri Public Schools
• Recruitment and Retention
• Registered Teacher Apprenticeships
• Substitute Teacher Training. Information related to IHEs providing training for potential substitute teachers