Agenda, Minutes, and Recordings from June 6, 2023 of the Missouri State Board of Education Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
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Update on the School Innovation Waiver Program
Dr. Jenny Ulrich, Londell Superintendent, and Dr. Jeremy Tucker, Liberty Superintendent, presented the update on the School Innovation Waiver Program with the leaders of the Success Ready Student Network (SRSN). In August, districts in the System Design Zone of the SRSN will bring Innovation Waivers to the state board for them to consider granting exemptions from specific requirements in Missouri education law and regulations for the purposes of improving student readiness, increasing compensation of teachers, and improving recruitment, professional development, and training. Waivers can be effective for up to 3 years and no more than one innovation for a school can be implemented at a time. Certain requirements, such as federal assessment and IDEA regulations, cannot be waived.
Based on the statute that created the Innovation Waiver, plans require: identification of provision of law for which the waiver is being requested, measurable target and goals, and provide an explanation of how this is this going to be innovative in community involvement, school employees, and teams.
When districts bring these proposed waivers to the state board, the board shall consider and determine whether the plan: Addresses the intent of the law or regulation to be waived; Illustrates that proposed waivers are necessary to meet the purposes; Includes participation from all stakeholders; and Improves recruitment and retention. The board can consult the innovation team at any time during the waiver and request modifications.
The Innovation Waiver derives from Senate Bill 681 (RSMo: 160.560).
The state board is facilitating a subcommittee that is focused on updating the department’s strategic plan. The strategic plan acts as a blueprint for both the State Board and DESE in their work. The Hunt Institute is helping this subcommittee work on plan components and a schedule for the board to review the strategic plan at regular intervals. The subcommittee hopes to review the strategic plan on an annual basis and review a refresh of the plan every three years. The annual review will include a scorecard for each of the key activities within each priority and focus area; this scorecard will include both qualitative and quantitative success metrics.
The subcommittee has sought stakeholder input via survey and focus groups who met virtually. The survey results from stakeholders indicated the top areas that need to be prioritized are:
- Ensuring schools and classrooms remain the safest places for students and teachers
- Retention of high-quality, credentialed educators
- Providing mental health supports and services to students and teachers
- Providing training and interventions that improve student behavior and teacher satisfaction (such as ensuring students are cooperative, honest, ethical, and collaborative and show kindness, concern, and respect towards others)
- Improving literacy proficiency rates for students in pre-kindergarten through third grade
These areas have been prioritized in the strategic plan. Below is the previous and the proposed strategic plan for DESE and the State Board.
Current Strategic Plan
Proposed Strategic Plan
The next step for this work is to review the scorecard and evaluation metrics in Summer 2023 and to bring the demonstration to the full state board in August. The full 3- to 5-year strategic roadmap aligned with refreshed priorities will occur in the fourth quarter of the 2023 calendar year.
Report on the Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission
The Holocaust Education and Awareness Commission began from a statute signed into law in 2008 by Governor Blunt. The Curriculum of this commission must be participated in by all school districts by the 2025-2026 school year. For the upcoming 2023-2024 school year, the commission will “continue to work with DESE to finalize the Holocaust curriculum framework; continue to plan professional development workshops for Missouri educators with specific focus on piloting districts and schools; offer continued mentoring and educational resources for all Missouri teachers, schools, and community members; and work with legislators and the governor’s office to appoint three additional Commission members.”
Additional News:
Blue Ribbon Commission focused on Teacher Recruitment and Retention is in Phase II looking specifically at Culture and Climate in schools. The first meeting was held virtually, the second meeting was held in-person on Friday May 19, and the third meeting was held virtually on Thursday, June 15. All details for these meetings are posted on the BRC Webpage. MNEA plans to be present at each of these meetings.
Commission Meeting Dates:
Post-meeting reports/summaries will be available approximately two weeks after each session. Virtual meetings will be livestreamed at https://dese.mo.gov/BRC-livestream. Doors will remain open at in-person meetings for observers.
- COMPLETED: Tuesday, April 4, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. — Agenda | Recorded Livestream | Key Takeaways
- COMPLETED: Friday, May 19, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. — Agenda | Key Takeaways
- COMPLETED: Thursday, June 15, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. — Agenda | Recorded Livestream
- Friday, July 14, 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. — Governor's Office Building, Room 450
The Commission will then deliver their Phase 2 report to the State Board of Education at their meeting on August 15, 2023.
Commission Phase 2 Members are listed here with their bios.
Update on what has happened at each meeting to date:
The first meeting was held virtually on Tuesday, April 4th. This meeting laid the complex nature of working on Culture and Climate. The group also heard from DESE on the various programs and strategies, referred to as “levers”, that are already in place at the department which could be used to impact Culture and Climate. No decisions were reached during this meeting as it was more about giving the commission an understanding of why Culture and Climate is difficult to solve and possible tools already in place for potential solutions. The levers discussed were:
- Research on Recruitment and Retention efforts in Missouri school districts
- Grow Your Own programs and funding
- Resources and local guidance from DESE
- Changing policy, statute, regulations, or DESE protocols
- Grant funding
- MSIP 6
- Standards and Indicators
- Continuous School Improvement Plan
- Response to Standards
- Culture and Climate Survey
In the second meeting, which was in-person, the commission heard from panels of current practitioners -- teachers, administrators, and parents. MNEA created a survey to gather additional practitioner input for the Blue Ribbon Commission members. Additionally, based on our practitioner survey data, MNEA delivered three recommendations: a state-wide working conditions survey (similar to North Carolina Working Conditions Survey), the promotion of Shared Leadership models in schools, and more investment in Missouri Leadership Development System (MLDS) to ensure high-quality administrators in the state of Missouri. The report from MNEA can be found here. Key take aways from the panels and breakout groups can be found here.
On Thursday, June 15, there was a virtual meeting where the commission heard from two individuals -- Dr. Carole Basile from Arizona State University and Shonaka Ellison from Opportunity Culture and Public Impact -- regarding “Innovative School Models.” The models they discussed were team models that differed from teams in Professional Learning Communities (PLC). This model redesigned PLC teams to “work at the same time as the learning space and in real-time.” These models restructured grade levels to include teams of teachers, which include a lead teacher guiding a team of teachers for larger groups of students (i.e., entire grade levels). The Association is against this model as it is in it’s earliest stages of implementation so there is little longitudinal data to support this work and it opens the door to merit pay and unfounded evaluation practices. The remainder of the meeting focused on MLDS and the impact that it has on current administrators in Missouri, which MNEA supports.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Blue Ribbon Commission, please contact Samantha Hayes. MNEA will be present at the final in-person meeting on July 14, 2023.
Teacher Licensure
The state board heard four cases regarding teacher licensure. Recently, Missouri has been getting attention nation-wide for districts attempting to revoke a teacher's license if they decide to break their contract. While this is within districts’ statutory rights to take this action, MNEA believes it is heavy handed and unnecessary.
Career and Technical Education
The board heard a Report on the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Advisory Council. The advisory council spoke on their plans to review CTE Teacher Certification requirements, address lack of access to CTE centers in various locations in the state and expand CTE programs. All recommendations from the CTE advisory council are included in the linked report.
Update – Riverview Gardens/Normandy Schools Collaborative
The board heard an update from both Riverview Gardens School District and Normandy Schools Collaborative. Both districts, with board approval, are in the process of transitioning to returning the district to local governance and they are expected to provide periodic updates to the Board.
Rulemaking
Proposed rules were presented to the board, discussed, and approved.
- The following rules pertain to Vocational Rehabilitation, Office of Adult Learning and Rehabilitation Services. Most of the changes have to do with a title change, language updates to meet federal requirements, and adds federal citations. All were approved.
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 20-500.210, Services
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 20-500.220, Fees
- Consideration of an Order of Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 20-500.230, Maintenance and Transportation
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 20-500.240, Physical and Mental Restoration
- The following four rules apply to group care homes and childhood centers. They were all approved. Most of the changes have to do with the term “caregiver” as being able to include a Junior Aide (16-17 years of age) and to revise the definition of “Provider” to specify that the adult person is licensed (anyone 18 years or older). With the addition of the Junior Aide, the qualified staff in the staff-to-child ratio was also updated.
- Only adult caregivers (18 and over) count in the ratio and Junior Aides only count in ratio if they are in direct supervision of an adult; Junior Aides are not allowed in the infant toddler ratio at all. Further, there was a proposed group size limitation for ages 3+ to comply with federal law.
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 25-500.010, Definitions
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 25-500.102, Personnel (Amended as of June 1, 2023)
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 25-500.112, Staff/Child Ratios
- Consideration of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend 5 CSR 25-500.182, Child Care Program
- The recension of MSIP 5 language in rules, since MSIP 6 is now in effect, was approved.
- Statute RSMo: 160.560, which derived from Senate Bill 681, included the Show-Me Success Diploma Program. This program is another pathway for students to graduate early anywhere during their 10-12 grade year; the statute requires students to complete a course of study at the local level, demonstrate knowledge and skills on assessments, and meet all graduation requirements to graduate early. Students can graduate and remain in school to have enriching courses, or they can graduate and enroll in a higher education institution. If these students attend a higher education institution, they will receive state aid that would have gone toward the district for their time as a 10-12 grade student. Districts have the option to participate in this program. The proposed rule was approved.
The next meeting of the Missouri State Board of Education will be held on August 15, 2023, at DESE in Jefferson City, Missouri. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Samantha Hayes at 800-392-0236 or Samantha.Hayes@mnea.org. Details of state board agenda items can be found here.