Missouri is facing a reading crisis in elementary classrooms.

While math scores have shown recent improvement, the state’s literacy rates are sliding in the wrong direction. According to a recent report by the Show-Me Institute think tank, An Expedition to Improve Student Reading, the path to reversing this trend relies specifically on the teacher.

In the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading assessment, 42% of Missouri’s fourth-grade public-school students performed below the NAEP Basic level – the worst result in 20 years, according to Avery Frank, policy analyst with the Show-Me Institute.

“Teachers play a big part in it, and they’re doing, obviously, the best they can,” Frank told The Heartlander. “I like the idea of having a new teacher evaluation model to help teachers learn from their weaknesses and leverage their strengths.”

With nearly half of the state’s fourth graders unable to meet basic reading standards, Frank sought out successful models in other states, specifically Tennessee, to find a solution that prioritizes teacher development over punishment. It means acknowledging they need better tools, feedback and systems to succeed.

“If it’s done with love and care and genuine concern for improving,” Frank noted, “I think we really do see change.”

The Show-Me Institute report suggests Missouri needs to adopt the Tennessee Educator Acceleration Model (TEAM). Launched in 2012, TEAM was designed to shift the paradigm of teacher evaluation from a bureaucratic checkbox to a system of meaningful growth.

The model utilizes in-class observations, academic growth data and student performance data to generate a score on a 1-5 scale. Observers are required to identify one specific strength and one specific area for improvement in every lesson, ensuring the feedback is constructive and focused.

Research from Vanderbilt University suggests this approach works; teachers in schools with strong TEAM implementation improved faster than those without it.

The Tennessee data shows valid feedback wins teachers over. At the launch of TEAM, only 38% of Tennessee teachers believed it would improve their performance. By 2019, after experiencing the coaching firsthand, that number jumped to 76%.

“Tennessee is a growth state. Florida is a growth state. Missouri wants to be. We can copy a lot of things they do well … not settle into the status quo, which I sadly think we’ve done a lot.”

Implementing such a system might not even require new legislation. Frank suggests the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) likely already has the jurisdiction to establish a statewide evaluation model.

“Phonics has always been really interesting to me. I’ve always loved reading. I read the Bible, and it’s such a joy to me to read the Word of God. I’ve just seen how much reading has been impactful in my life, and I want to make sure students all get the best chance to become confident, capable readers and really have the joy of reading. If students learn to read well, they can read to learn well.“

Frank’s motivation echoes the sentiment of Missouri’s own Mark Twain, who once said, “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”