Office of Quality Schools

Graduation Requirements: How many credits does a student need to graduate?

The State Board of Education establishes minimum graduation requirements that are designed to ensure that graduates have taken courses in several different subject areas and mastered essential knowledge, skills, and competencies.  Local boards of education must adopt graduation policies that include at least the state minimum graduation requirements.  Local board policy may include additional requir

Planning Time

Planning Time—Each full-time classroom teacher, including kindergarten teachers, shall have a minimum of two hundred fifty (250) minutes of scheduled planning time each school week. It is desirable to have fifty (50) minutes of planning time each day. Planning time is calculated between the official start and close of the school day and does not include travel time, lunch time, or time before or after school. (Planning time is not required for administrators, counselors, or librarians.)

ESEA Flexibility Waiver

ESEA Objectives

  • Use one accountability system
  • Implement College- and Career-Ready Standards
  • Reduce burdensome reporting
  • Set ambitious goals
  • Allow flexibility and federal spending

Missouri's 2015 ESEA Waiver Renewal

On June 23, 2015, the U.S. Department of Education renewed approval of Missouri's ESEA Flexibility Waiver for three years, through the end of the 2017-18 school year.

EL Funding And Compliance

Title III

A Title III plan is documentation of activities that a local education agency (LEA) plans to conduct with funds received under Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Only LEAs receiving Title III funds are required to submit a Title III plan. This plan should not be confused with activities conducted by the LEA to meet federal requirements under Lau v. Nichols. Title III plan should not be confused with an LEA’s English language service delivery program.