The Department presented the first draft of the Annual Performance Report for Educator Preparation Programs (APR-EPP) to the State Board of Education on Tuesday.

The report is part of the Missouri Standards for the Preparation of Educators (MoSPE), which features higher standards for Missouri’s educator preparation programs.

“Effective educators are vital to improving instruction around the state,” said Missouri Commissioner of Education Chris Nicastro. “Higher standards for educators play a big role in making sure Missouri students receive the best possible education.”

The report will allow educator preparation programs to see how well they are meeting the state's expectations for preparing teachers and school administrators and to determine areas where improvement is needed. Programs will be reviewed annually and classified as approved, provisionally approved or disapproved. The APR-EPP replaces the seven-year review cycle that was part of the Missouri Standards for Teacher Education Programs (MoSTEP).

The first draft of the APR-EPP focuses on multiple performance indicators tied to academics and surveys of new teachers and their principals that determine whether program standards are met. Future iterations of the APR-EPP will include additional indicators based on new performance assessments for student teachers that are scheduled for implementation in the fall of 2014.

The Department has been working with staff from Missouri's educator preparation programs, teachers and administrators at schools in Missouri, national education experts and a technical advisory committee to develop and implement the system for preparing Missouri’s teachers and leaders.

Preparing, developing and supporting effective educators is one of the primary goals of the state's Top 10 by 20 initiative, which calls for Missouri to rank among the top 10 performing states in education in the nation by the year 2020.