Bill > HB1490

This bill makes significant changes to how academic performance and learning standards are established and assessed in Missouri's elementary and secondary education system. It mandates the creation of a maximum of seventy-five academic performance standards by the State Board of Education, outlining the knowledge and skills students need for advancement, graduation, and future success. The bill also revises the process for developing these standards, requiring work groups composed of education professionals, including teachers and parents, with specific selection criteria and representation from across the state. Importantly, it prohibits the State Board of Education and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) from mandating specific curricula, textbooks, or instructional materials, placing that responsibility with local school boards. The bill also modifies the statewide assessment system, emphasizing performance-based evaluations and restricting how student performance data can be tracked and used, specifically preventing it from being used to lower a school's accreditation or for teacher evaluations during pilot years. Furthermore, it introduces provisions for student data accessibility, transparency, and accountability, outlining strict rules for data access, security, and privacy, and prohibiting the collection of certain sensitive student information. Finally, the bill allows local school districts and charter schools to adopt their own education standards in addition to state standards, as long as they don't conflict with state requirements.