Missouri educators will no longer need a 3.0 grade-point average in their subject area to teach in public schools beginning in July, unanimously voted Tuesday.

The threshold to be qualified to teach in the state is now a 2.5 grade-point average in the teacher鈥檚 content area. The only exception will be special-education teachers, who will still be required to meet the 3.0 mark.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Educations say the change is intended to increase the number of certificated teachers coming into public schools. Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger said in a statement that the change would remove 鈥渦nnecessary barriers to the teaching profession.鈥�

鈥淭here is no evidence tying a particular GPA in the content area to more effective teaching,鈥� Daryl Fridley, the department鈥檚 education preparation coordinator, told the board on Tuesday. 鈥淢ost of the non-teaching professional options in sciences, math and history do not require such a high GPA.鈥�

A 3.0 GPA requirement most impacts teachers in STEM subjects, he said. When the department looked at teacher candidates who met other requirements but didn鈥檛 meet the GPA standard, nearly a quarter of those disqualified were in STEM.

Teacher candidates still must pass a performance assessment, with a test of subject knowledge, to be certified. Of those who didn鈥檛 meet the GPA requirements, 90% passed the performance assessment, Fridley said.

The department hopes the new requirements will bring more teachers into the profession. Currently, almost 44% of first-year teachers are certified in Missouri. Over a quarter are serving as a substitute teacher, 6% have no certification and the rest have alternative certifications.

鈥淒iscussions about this issue often include the question, 鈥業sn鈥檛 this a case of lowering standards?鈥欌�� Fridley said. 鈥淲e maintain that with a third of the state鈥檚 first year teachers having no more than a substitute teacher certificate and some with even less, any action that leads to a higher proportion of first-year teachers completing the preparation program is actually a net gain for the overall quality of teachers.鈥�

In the midst of low teacher retention rates and poor recruitment, the change is welcome, the department reiterated.

鈥淏oth quantity and quality of teachers are really important to the learning of students,鈥� Paul Katnik, assistant commissioner of educator quality, said during Tuesday鈥檚 meeting.

The department reiterated that it doesn鈥檛 believe the lower GPA threshold will affect teacher quality.

A showed that there was no improvement in achievement outcomes between a 2.5 GPA and 2.75 GPA requirement. Increasing the threshold to 3.0 excluded 44% of education students and brought a small increase on teachers鈥� evaluations. The study concludes a 鈥渉igher GPA criteria would also have minimal impact on the quality of our nation鈥檚 teachers.鈥�

Carol Hallquist, vice president of the State Board of Education, said she was initially wary of lowering the GPA standard but is now 鈥渢otally supportive.鈥�

鈥淲hen I reached out to principals and people who are in teacher preparation programs, they said there was no correlation and were very supportive,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey also said that you have to pass licensing tests, and that is really what we want to look at.鈥�

Doug Hayter, executive director of the Missouri Association of School Administrators, told The Independent he has been speaking to the department about the GPA requirements and is optimistic.

鈥淭here is a balance where we need to have requirements that mean something, but the research that they have seems to indicate that this change would not have a substantial impact on teacher effectiveness,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s long as that鈥檚 the case, we want to give educators as many options as possible in a world where there鈥檚 still a lot of open positions in regard to public education.鈥�

Further helping open doors for new teachers is the reinstatement of a general science certification for high school educators. The department has required science teachers to specialize in an area, like chemistry or biology, but now will bring back a certification for generalists with a broader knowledge base.

鈥淭he reinstatement of this general science certificate will create opportunities for more students to choose to be science teachers, not by lowering standards, but instead by creating a path in which the standards are more aligned with the needs of schools,鈥� Fridley said.

Hayter expects the change to impact districts statewide, saying that 鈥渆very little bit helps鈥� to recruit teachers.

鈥淭his is one small part of a bigger picture of making sure that we have very effective educators in our classrooms moving forward,鈥� he said.

The 鈥渂igger picture,鈥� Hayter said, includes boosting teacher pay and making schools welcoming for educators.

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But researchers with The University of Chicago say such data points represent a mere snapshot of student achievement for those still learning a new language, telling just a fraction of a greater story. 

They鈥檝e been turning their attention instead to a different group of children: Former English learners who, by the time they reached ninth grade, had graduated from language support programs.

Their of 78,507 Chicago Public School students who started high school in the fall of 2014, 2015 and 2016 shows this group is thriving: They had better cumulative grade point averages and SAT scores and were more likely to graduate high school than the district average.

Their two-year college enrollment rate was also higher. 

鈥淭here is this perception that English learners are particularly struggling, that they don鈥檛 do well 鈥� that they are perpetually behind,鈥� said Marisa de la Torre, a managing director and senior research associate at the . 

Incoming Vice President JD Vance furthered the notion that these students are a burden, when he pointed to the tens of thousands of school-age children in whose parents are undocumented.

鈥淣ow think about that,鈥� he said in October. 鈥淭hink about what it does to a poor school teacher, who鈥檚 just trying to get by with what they have, just trying to educate their kids, and then you drop in a few dozen kids into that school, many of whom don鈥檛 even speak English. Do you think that鈥檚 good for the education of American citizens? No, it鈥檚 not.鈥�

Xenophobia and race-baiting were central to Donald Trump’s re-election efforts. The incoming president has said he will to drive millions of undocumented people from the country, a plan and  

de la Torre said the belief that all children associated with English learner programs are forever adrift is misleading and unfair to students and their teachers: It鈥檚 a far smaller subset of active English learners 鈥� those who struggle to make it out of English learner support programs 鈥� who tend to have lower grades, she said.

Jorge Macias, now a senior consultant to the Latino Policy Forum, led Chicago Public School鈥檚 multilingual program for years. He said the narrative must be changed to reflect reality. 

鈥淪tate-level data and national data doesn’t capture this group properly,鈥� Macias said, noting that 78% of English learner students in the Chicago school system transitioned out of the program by 8th grade, according to an earlier study. 鈥淎nd once the students exit, they actually show just as much success 鈥� if not more 鈥� in the factors that matter most for postsecondary success. 鈥�

UChicago researchers divided active English learners into categories, including long-term English learners. These students were in the program for at least six years: Many had learning disabilities and Individualized Education Programs outlining their mandated special education services.

The final category consisted of late-arriving students, those who came to the district after the third grade and remained active in the English learner program in their freshman year of high school. 

Former English learners represented 23% of the school system鈥檚 ninth graders in the years the study covered. Long-term English learners without IEPs made up 4%. Their performance was substantially lower than the district average. 

These students were more likely to enroll in a two-year-college and less likely to enroll in a four-year college 鈥� and when they did enroll in a four-year college, they had lower persistence rates., they had lower persistence rates.聽

Long-term English learners with IEPs made up 3% of ninth graders in the study. Their high school performance and college enrollment and persistence rates were similar to non-English learners with IEPs.聽

Late-arriving English learners, who also made up 3% of the study鈥檚 ninth graders, graduated high school at similar rates to their peers: 81% compared to the district average of 84%. But their college entrance exam scores were lower. 

Despite this, their two-year college persistence rate was markedly higher than most other students who enrolled in college.

Researchers found that while late-arriving English learners struggled with standardized tests, their grades were strong. And they were more successful than their native English-speaking peers 鈥� and former English learners 鈥� in college, suggesting their poor test performance was not predictive of later success. 

This new report builds upon earlier research in this area. Another de la Torre of Chicago Public Schools found that English learners who demonstrated English proficiency by eighth grade had higher attendance levels through elementary and middle school, better math test scores and core course grades compared to students never classified as ELs.

It found, too, that English learners who did not achieve English proficiency by eighth grade struggled with declining attendance by the middle grades and also had considerably lower grade point averages.

Rebecca Vonderlack-Navarro, the Latino Policy Forum鈥檚 vice president of education policy and research, said quality bilingual programs and other supports can help active English learners succeed. 

The achievements of former English learners, she said, are “a powerful reminder that bilingualism is not a barrier, but a bridge, to greater opportunities.鈥�

Outcomes are starkly different for those who have that opportunity. High-achieving Black, Latino and lower-income students who do gain access to advanced math classes in high school have better academic outcomes across multiple measures: stronger high school graduation rates, higher GPAs and greater college admission and persistence rates. They were also more likely to attend a highly selective college and earn more STEM credits there, a pathway to landing lucrative jobs in those fields.

Just Equations and The Education Trust released their report Thursday. Together, they analyzed eight years of data following 23,000 ninth graders from 900 private and public schools throughout the country, information collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. The study group was tracked through high school and college starting in 2009. 

Both Ed Trust and Just Equations advocate for educational equality with a focus on children who have been traditionally underserved. Earlier research cited in the report shows Black, Latino and impoverished students, regardless of their capabilities, are less likely to be assigned AP math courses, enroll in STEM majors or attend top-tier colleges than their wealthier, white or Asian peers.

鈥淭his study challenges the notion that access to advanced math courses is purely the byproduct of talent and academic achievement,鈥� said Melodie Baker, national policy director at Just Equations. 鈥淥ur analysis confirmed that all too often, factors such as race, wealth and privilege 鈥� rather than students’ aptitude and proficiency 鈥� can be hidden prerequisites for access to courses that lead to STEM and college opportunity.鈥�

While 46% of high-achieving Asian students, 19% of white students, and 29% of students from high socio-economic backgrounds took college-level AP/International Baccalaureate calculus by the end of high school, just 10% of Black, 15% of Latino and 11% of lower-income high-achievers did the same. 

Race and income disparities in high school graduation rates appear to level off for this high-achieving, underrepresented group when they take advanced math courses: 99% of Asian and white students, 98% of Black students, and 96% of Latino and lower-income students graduated in four years. Four-year high school graduation rates declined among all high-achievers who did not take advanced math classes and gaps opened up along racial and socioeconomic lines, although the drop in graduation rates was starkest for Asian students and least-felt by affluent students.

鈥淲e know that it is so important for students to feel engaged and that their learning experiences are relevant,鈥� said Ivy Smith Morgan, EdTrust鈥檚 director for P12 research and data analytics. 鈥淲hat this conjures for me is the anecdotes about students who are so smart but stop paying attention in class because they are not challenged. They are not getting the opportunities that align with their ability.鈥�

Smith Morgan noted U.S. students’ performance in mathematics as compared to their peers internationally has been highly scrutinized for years, with last week’s release of the latest PISA scores showing unprecedented 13-point declines for American students and an average 15-point loss globally. The U.S., still reeling from COVID learning loss, along with other countries, now ranks 26th in its math scores. Smith Morgan said a failure to mine students’ talents will have dire economic implications. 

鈥淲hat we are talking about is losing a future workforce with the skills, training and technical knowledge we need to fill all of the STEM jobs that will exist 鈥� not the ones we have right now, but the ones we have not even thought of yet,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are shooting ourselves in the foot.鈥� 

The study notes the disparity in opportunity starts well before students enter high school: Just 24% of Black students, 34% of Latino students, and 25% of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds took Algebra I or higher in eighth grade, compared with 39% of white children, 64% of their Asian peers and 57% of students from higher income backgrounds. 

鈥淎nyone who is paying attention knows that our mathematics education systems are deeply inequitable,鈥� said David Kung, director of strategic partnerships at The Charles A. Dana Center in Austin. 鈥淏lack, brown and poor students get shafted when it comes to access, teaching and advising.鈥�

The Dana Center, which seeks to ensure all students have access to excellent math and science education, has been working with several states across the nation as part of its to revamp mathematics curriculum, making equity and student interest a top priority.  

鈥淭his report is another reminder that whenever there are decisions to be made 鈥�  to take algebra in 8th grade, to enroll in an advanced math class, to apply to college, to choose a STEM path 鈥� equity gaps open,鈥� Kung said. 鈥淲e must reform our systems so those critical transitions are smoother, especially for students from groups we have historically under-supported.”

The new study found, too, that high-achieving underserved students who took more challenging high school mathematics coursework often had math teachers who established clear goals and school counselors who set high standards. Such positive influences may have aided in their success. 

Researchers say 74% of Black and 81% of Latino high-achieving students who were enrolled in advanced high school mathematics courses went on to follow a standard process of getting into and staying enrolled at college after high school. 

Not so for those who did not: Only 58% of Black students and 53% of Latino high-achieving students who did not take these classes had that same outcome. Results were similar for students from lower-income backgrounds: 77% of those who took advanced math courses experienced standard college enrollment and persistence versus 53% who did not take more challenging courses.  

The study showed Black and Latino high-achieving students who took advanced math courses in high school had better first-year college GPAs: roughly 0.5 points higher. Lower income students had a 0.6-point gain. 

EdTrust and Just Equations recommends Congress support and incentivize state and district leaders to greatly expand access to challenging coursework in all topics, including math. 

They said, too, that the government should increase funding for whole-child support services that would allow districts to hire an appropriate number of well-trained restorative justice coordinators, school counselors, psychologists and nurses. 

States and districts should also boost professional development efforts and coaching with the goal of reducing bias and incorporating anti-racist mindsets. 

They can also automatically enroll students in higher-level math courses, like the Dallas school system, which moved from an opt-in model to an opt-out policy in the 2019-20 school year. The followed that example: Gov. Abbott, earlier this year, signed that requires the automatic enrollment of children in advanced math based on their test scores, not on a recommendation. 

The Commit Partnership, a Dallas-based nonprofit focused on education, applauded the move. Chelsea Jeffery, its chief regional impact officer, said she looks forward to other districts doing the same, not only changing their policies but providing students with the support necessary to graduate high school ready for college and the workforce. 

鈥淲e celebrate Dallas ISD for their innovative approach to this critical subject area and to policymakers for passing legislation that will benefit our students and community,鈥� she said. 

The study classified a student as high-achieving if they passed 鈥� with an A, B, or C 鈥� Algebra I or higher in middle school. Others who made the cut scored in the highest one-fifth on a math assessment given to students in ninth grade. 

Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides financial support to Just Equations, The Education Trust, The Charles A. Dana Center and 社区黑料.