Iowa Department of Education Releases New School Performance Results

Last week the Iowa Department of Education released new results and features in an online school accountability reporting system called the Iowa School Performance Profiles.  

The website shows: 

• Updated scores and ratings for all public schools based on how they performed on a set of accountability measures in the 2018-19 school year.  
• Schools that have been identified for additional support and improvement based on their performance. 
• Additional data that are required by law but do not count toward accountability scores. 

Of particular note is that the latest scores reflect the results of a new state test that was administered for the first time last spring. 

The website also includes some new features, including a measure of postsecondary readiness for high schools, and new data, such as science assessment results and educator effectiveness. This fact sheet summarizes the changes. 

“This is an important tool for parents, educators and other stakeholders to understand how their schools are performing,” said Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise. “While the Iowa School Performance Profiles does not tell the full story about schools, the website can enhance conversations in local communities about the work to prepare students for success.” 

School performance results show fewer Iowa schools were identified for Targeted Support and Improvement for having one or more student subgroup score fall as low as the lowest 5 percent of schools in the state. This is because many schools that were identified based on 2017-18 performance saw improvement for the identified student subgroup in the 2018-19 school year.  

“This is a testament to the great work of our schools as well as the support provided by the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa’s area education agencies,” Wise said.  

The overall distribution of schools by rating category also changed little. The High Performing category saw the highest increase (2.5 percentage points), while the share of schools in the bottom three rating categories (Acceptable, Needs Improvement and Priority) climbed by about 2 percentage points. 

The Iowa School Performance Profiles, launched in 2018, meets state and federal requirements to publish report cards reflecting the performance of all public schools. For more information, visit the Iowa School Performance Profiles website.