Lebra supports end-to-end management of the Missouri Career Ladder program: educators opt in and check their eligibility, build an activity plan, log hours across the year, and submit those hours for verification — while administrators configure the program, review plans, and export data for DESE reporting.
This article covers the one-time setup an administrator handles. Once it's done, your staff can opt in and start building plans.
Note: Career Ladder is available to districts in Missouri with the feature enabled. If you don't see the Career Ladder items described below, contact Lebra support.
Understanding Stages
Missouri Career Ladder has three stages. Each has its own hour requirement, payment amount, and minimum years of experience:
Stage | Hours required | Payment amount | Minimum years |
Stage I | 50 | $1,500 | 2 |
Stage II | 75 | $3,000 | 3 |
Stage III | 100 | $5,000 | 5 |
"Minimum years" refers to completed school years holding a Missouri Professional Certificate before the start of the current school year. Lebra uses this to suggest a stage when an educator completes the eligibility questionnaire.
Where to Find Career Ladder Settings
From the left sidebar, go to Settings, then open Career Ladder. You'll see two pages:
Settings — activity categories, eligible roles, and enabled stages
Assignments — committee reviewer assignments
Step 1: Set Up Activity Categories
Activity categories define the kinds of work that count toward Career Ladder hours in your district. Educators choose from these categories when they build their plan and when they log hours.
Steps
Go to Settings > Career Ladder > Settings.
Find the Career Ladder Activities section.
Select Add Category.
Fill in:
Name (required) — for example, Mentoring teachers
Description (optional) — a brief description of the activity
Min Hours — the minimum hours allowed in this category (must be 0 or more)
Max Hours (optional) — a cap, if your district sets one
Select Save. You'll see "Category created."
Your categories appear in a list where you can Edit or Delete them at any time. If you haven't added any yet, you'll see "No activity categories configured yet" along with an Add your first category option.
Suggested categories
Districts commonly use the following categories. You can add these as-is, rename them, or define your own:
Mentoring teachers
Mentoring students
Tutoring or additional learning opportunities
Coaching, supervising, or organizing extracurricular activities
Postsecondary preparation support (ACT/SAT, college or career readiness)
Additional coursework, training, or certification
Teacher externships
Other
Step 2: Choose Eligible Roles
Use Eligible Roles to select which roles in your district can participate in Career Ladder. Staff whose role isn't selected won't see the Career Ladder card in their Staff Portal at all.
On Settings > Career Ladder > Settings, find Eligible Roles.
Select the roles that should be able to participate.
Use Enable or Disable to change a role.
Tip: If you leave eligible roles unconfigured, the Career Ladder card is shown to staff regardless of role. Setting roles explicitly keeps the program visible only to the people it applies to.
Note: Eligibility considers every framework role a person holds. A staff member with two roles qualifies if either role is eligible, and their Staff Portal shows one Career Ladder card per eligible role — enrollment, plan, and logged hours are tracked separately for each. See Staff Who Hold Two Framework Roles.
Step 3: Choose Enabled Stages
Use Enabled Stages to select which Career Ladder stages are available to educators in your district. Only enabled stages appear as options when someone completes the eligibility questionnaire.
On Settings > Career Ladder > Settings, find Enabled Stages.
Enable the stages your district participates in (Stage I, Stage II, Stage III).
Step 4: Assign Committee Reviewers
A committee reviewer is the person who reviews an educator's plan and verifies their logged hours. Each participating educator is assigned one committee reviewer per school year.
Steps
Go to Settings > Career Ladder > Assignments.
Select the people you want to assign a reviewer to.
Select Assign Committee Reviewer.
Use Search people... to find the reviewer, then select them from the list.
Select Assign.
Note: Each educator has a single committee reviewer per school year. Assigning a new reviewer replaces the previous assignment.
Why this matters: Committee reviewers receive the email notifications when a plan is submitted or hours are sent for verification, and the Committee Review page only appears in their sidebar when they have plans waiting. Without an assigned reviewer, submitted plans won't reach anyone.
Importing Career Ladder Data
If your district tracks Career Ladder information outside Lebra, a separate Career Ladder Import is available.
Go to Settings > Import & Integrations.
Find the Career Ladder Import option on that page.
What Happens Next
Once setup is complete:
Educators see a Missouri Career Ladder card in their Staff Portal and can Opt In.
They complete the eligibility questionnaire, which suggests their stage.
They build an activity plan and submit it for approval.
The committee reviewer approves, requests revision, or denies it.
The educator logs hours across the year, then submits them for verification.
See the related articles for each side of that workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can change Career Ladder settings?
Administrators. The Career Ladder settings pages are found under Settings.
Can I change hour requirements or payment amounts?
No. Stage hour requirements and payment amounts follow the Missouri program and are fixed. What you configure is which stages are enabled, which roles are eligible, and what activity categories count.
How does eligibility work for staff with two framework roles?
They qualify if either of their roles is in Eligible Roles, and enrollment is tracked per role — their portal shows a card for each eligible role, labeled with the role name.
What happens if I delete a category educators have already used?
Deleting a category removes it as an option for new plans and logs. Review your categories before the year starts to avoid disrupting plans mid-year.
Do reviewers get notified when I assign them?
Not at assignment time. Reviewers are emailed when an educator submits a plan for review or submits activities for verification.