National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER).<\/a><\/p>\nThe problem? That label is based not on what\u2019s happening in classrooms, but on what\u2019s codified in state regulations.<\/p>\n
In other words, Missouri scored low not because we lack quality but because our high standards are voluntary, locally driven, incentive-based, and not mandatory.<\/p>\n
Missouri\u2019s approach to early learning reflects our values: local control, strategic investment and a belief that collaboration works better than top-down mandates. And that approach is working.<\/p>\n
Missouri is one of just a few states with pre-K funding embedded in its K\u201312 foundation formula. That means our funding is stable, predictable and less vulnerable to political swings or annual budget battles. We don\u2019t rely solely on grants or pilot programs; we\u2019ve made early learning part of the core school funding system.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve also invested in the Missouri Quality Pre-Kindergarten Grant Program, which supports both school districts and private providers. This program incentivizes quality by providing additional funding tied to strong standards based on state statute. It has allowed rural districts and community partners to launch or expand pre-K programs, even in places where resources were once scarce.<\/p>\n
Former Gov. Mike Parson created the Office of Childhood to consolidate programs for early learning, child care and family support under one roof. This action allows the state to move towards delivering better coordinated services. While implementation has had its challenges, the potential for reducing silos and improving outcomes remains strong.<\/p>\n
We also use a kindergarten entry assessment to understand how prepared students are when they arrive at school, arguably the best real-world indicator of the effectiveness of early learning experiences. This kind of data tells us what\u2019s working and needs improvement, rather than relying solely on policy checklists.<\/p>\n
And with our innovative contracting law, Missouri is one of the only states that allows public schools and private providers to formally partner in delivering pre-K. That flexibility is critical in rural and under-resourced areas, where one-size-fits-all models often fall short.<\/p>\n
WalletHub may base its rankings on real data, but it tells only part of the story. NIEER\u2019s benchmarks reward what is required, not what is offered or achieved.<\/p>\n
In Missouri, we\u2019ve chosen to build a system that rewards participation and performance rather than compliance. Our programs meet high standards and are expanding every year, but because those standards are not mandatory statewide, we don\u2019t get credit in the rankings.<\/p>\n
Missouri\u2019s ranking at the bottom of the WalletHub list reflects a methodology prioritizing mandates over actual program quality. Still, we don\u2019t need mandates to deliver high-quality early learning across the state.<\/p>\n
In the Show-Me State, we don\u2019t just say we\u2019re making progress. We show you.<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Missouri is one of just a few states with pre-K funding embedded in its K\u201312 foundation formula (Photo courtesy of CDC\/ Amanda Mills). A recent WalletHub ranking labeled Missouri\u2019s early education system the \u201cworst in the nation,\u201d based on data from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The problem? That label is based…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Missouri is one of just a few states with pre-K funding embedded in its K\u201312 foundation formula (Photo courtesy of CDC\/ Amanda Mills). A recent WalletHub ranking labeled Missouri\u2019s early education system the \u201cworst in the nation,\u201d based on data from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The problem? That label is based...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-20T10:55:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/18604-1024x681.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Hildebrand\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad Hildebrand\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brad Hildebrand\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0\"},\"headline\":\"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-20T10:55:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\",\"name\":\"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking - WestplexNews.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-20T10:55:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":681},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/\",\"name\":\"WestplexNews.com\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WestplexNews.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png\",\"width\":690,\"height\":242,\"caption\":\"WestplexNews.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0\",\"name\":\"Brad Hildebrand\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brad Hildebrand\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/Westplexnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/author\/bradh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking - WestplexNews.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking - WestplexNews.com","og_description":"Missouri is one of just a few states with pre-K funding embedded in its K\u201312 foundation formula (Photo courtesy of CDC\/ Amanda Mills). A recent WalletHub ranking labeled Missouri\u2019s early education system the \u201cworst in the nation,\u201d based on data from the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The problem? That label is based...","og_url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/","og_site_name":"WestplexNews.com","article_published_time":"2025-08-20T10:55:48+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/18604-1024x681.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Brad Hildebrand","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brad Hildebrand","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Brad Hildebrand","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0"},"headline":"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking","datePublished":"2025-08-20T10:55:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/"},"wordCount":507,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/","name":"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking - WestplexNews.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-20T10:55:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/18604-1024x681-XJ1KDm.jpg","width":1024,"height":681},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/20\/missouri-early-education-deserves-better-than-a-clickbait-ranking-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Missouri early education deserves better than a clickbait ranking"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/","name":"WestplexNews.com","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#organization","name":"WestplexNews.com","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-Westplex-News-MASTER-PNG-CLEAR-CROP-690-X-242.png","width":690,"height":242,"caption":"WestplexNews.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/86ac6e2a917ca881b22f6d55d1b955f0","name":"Brad Hildebrand","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dc2f8931c569b15114c958f40a15bda5a2ae504b7f31d3ecf1c2227aa19e0071?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brad Hildebrand"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/Westplexnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/author\/bradh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/missouriindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/18604-1024x681.jpg\")
<\/p>\n