The Iowa Department of Education recently released a new report called the Iowa School Performance Profile and Greene County School District did quite well.
According to the report, which scores each school building on a number of categories in regards to graduation, reading and math, the elementary school received a 57.70 out of 100 score, the middle school had 54.29 and the high school was rated with 53.22. Superintendent Tim Christensen says while each building wasn’t labeled as needing comprehensive support, which was the lowest five-percent of the schools statewide, the high school was one of the schools that was “targeted.”
Christensen notes that being a “targeted” school meant that a subgroup didn’t show enough growth when the report was completed. Each school is broken down into subgroups like English Language Learners, low socioeconomic status, race and gender, but Christensen explains it’s tough even when he believes they are showing positive numbers.
“Theoretically if we have a certain subgroup that scored in the 80th percentile one year and then the next year they scored in the 70th, again you want kids to grow every year, but the 70th percentile is still positive but that could throw you into the targeted area. It’s something again that we’re working with the subgroups to make sure that we’re getting positive growth and we’re putting together a plan.”
Christensen adds that 307 schools out of 1,300 that were targeted according to the report. The report is in line with the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the federal program of No Child Left Behind.