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Missouri files for No Child Left Behind exemption

Eleven states have been issued waivers from some provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but Missouri was not one of them.  But as Maria Altman reports, the State Board of Education is trying to change that.

Missouri has until next Tuesday to get its application into the U.S. Department of Education.

Margie Vandeven with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said one goal is to focus more on helping schools than sanctioning them.

She said the lowest-performing buildings would be given priority with more funding and attention on how to better learning.

“The bottom line is student learning and the sense around the interventions would be focused on the instructional strategies required to help students learn in a variety of manners," she said.

Missouri should learn late this spring whether its application has been granted.

Altman came to St. Louis Public Radio from Dallas where she hosted All Things Considered and reported north Texas news at KERA. Altman also spent several years in Illinois: first in Chicago where she interned at WBEZ; then as the Morning Edition host at WSIU in Carbondale; and finally in Springfield, where she earned her graduate degree and covered the legislature for Illinois Public Radio.