Media Contact:
| ETS: | Kristen Mitchell |
|---|---|
| Email: | kmitchell002@ets.org |
PRINCETON, N.J. — (May 19, 2026) — ETS, a global education and talent solutions organization, announced today that the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has joined Skills for the Future to help states measure and recognize durable skills that are essential for postsecondary and workforce success. Missouri becomes the latest state to join the Skills for the Future initiative, joining Rhode Island, Nevada, North Carolina, Indiana and Wisconsin.
“Missouri is focused on ensuring students graduate with marketable skills, not just credentials,” said Dr. Karla Eslinger, Commissioner of Education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. “Joining the Skills for the Future initiative helps schools recognize the durable skills that open doors to college and jobs for our graduates.”
Launched in 2023, Skills for the Future was created to address a growing disconnect between what students learn in school and what colleges and employers need. The initiative supports states and school systems in building credible, evidence-based ways for learners to demonstrate durable skills, such as communication, collaboration and problem solving. The pilot will complement the Missouri Learning Standards and core academic instruction. Missouri’s learning expectations remain unchanged, and durable skills measurement will be added alongside academics, reinforcing the state’s commitment to high standards and student proficiency.
Missouri’s Role in the Pilot
Through its participation in Skills for the Future, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will:
- Partner with ETS to support a statewide pilot advancing the recognition of durable skills aligned with Missouri’s existing academic content standards and accountability framework, maintaining high expectations for student proficiency
- Engage educators and local leaders to inform platform design and durable skills assessment approaches
- Contribute policy and practice insights to strengthen postsecondary pathways for learners
- Support statewide outreach and educator engagement
- Collaborate with ETS to explore how durable skill measurement can expand opportunity for students
“Skills for the Future is addressing a need we hear clearly from state leaders: learners need better ways to build and show their skills, like communication, critical thinking, and collaboration – the skills they need for whatever path they follow after high school,” said Laura Slover, Managing Director of Skills for the Future at ETS. “Missouri’s leadership in this growing state movement reflects their commitment to giving learners credible, ways to demonstrate the skills that matter for college, careers and lifelong opportunity.”
Leaders from the Greater Ozarks Cooperating School Districts and the Success Ready Students Network will also support implementation of the pilot in collaboration with ETS, focusing on the effort’s durable skills capture platform, a system designed to enable students to upload evidence of their skills while helping educators assess and document learning that extends beyond traditional academic measures. Missouri’s pilot will leverage authentic evidence from existing classroom work and technology-enabled preliminary reviews, to reduce extra burdens on educators while preserving a rigorous process for presenting and examining evidence of durable skills.
Since ETS launched state pilots last year, more than 8,000 students across 35 schools have participated, a number that continues to grow. Throughout the pilot phase, students and educators have provided ongoing feedback, directly informing improvements across nearly every aspect of the work.
To learn more about the Skills for the Future initiative and stay up to date with progress, visit: https://www.ets.org/skills-for-future.html
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About ETS
ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners to be future ready. Our mission – advancing the science of measurement to power human progress – ensures our focus to enable everyone, everywhere, to demonstrate their skills and chart their path to future readiness for life. We are committed to readying 100M+ people for the next generation of jobs by 2035. We deliver on this commitment through trusted assessments and skills solutions – including TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, Praxis and Futurenav – and groundbreaking initiatives powered by our Research Institute. With a robust global footprint, including subsidiaries (PSI), offices and operations in more than 200 countries and territories, we help over 50 million individuals each year measure their proficiency and unlock new opportunities. Discover how we expand our worldwide impact: www.ets.org