T-R FILE PHOTO - The new state school reports from the Iowa Department of Education shows multiple factors for each school building in Marshalltown, including total population, proficiency ratings, proficiency growth and much more.

The new Iowa School Performance Profiles were revealed earlier this week. Marshalltown Schools officials said the new report focuses more on students’ growth than the previous report.

The performance profiles are part of Iowa’s plan for the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). That law is being implemented to replace No Child Left Behind and Schools in Need of Improvement (SINA) funding.

“Similar to SINA, it also allows us to make sure that all kids are growing by looking at the various subgroups and seeing how they compare to one another,” said Marshalltown Superintendent Theron Schutte. “The primary difference between the ESSA report card and the SINA report card is that it’s not intended to be a punitive thing.”

The new report can designate a school building as being in need of either “targeted” or “comprehensive” support and improvement. Schools labeled targeted have certain student populations, such as students with disabilities or English language learners, who have fallen behind in proficiency and need more attention.

The comprehensive label shows an overall need for educational improvement for all students. At Marshalltown Schools, the new report shows four buildings listed as in need of targeted support and two in need of comprehensive support.

District Director of Instruction Lisa Stevenson said another new part of the Iowa ESSA plan is the Conditions for Learning survey given to students in grades 5-12. She said the comprehensive results of that survey haven’t been released yet, but hopes the results help teachers and administrators improve education.

She also said the new report shows growth in different student subgroups, as well as buildings as a whole.

“With No Child Left Behind, so much of the focus was on kids who were not proficient,” Stevenson said. “With ESSA … the growth factor so heavily weighted, that means growth for every single student.”

She said the new law is meant to benefit students who are behind in proficiency, as well as average and above-average students.

It also includes a new English language proficiency test for English language learning students.

“Instead of looking at that from a how many kids are proficient … they’re looking at how much kids have improved or declined in reading, writing, listening and speaking,” Stevenson said. “In a district like Marshalltown, with so many English learners, that becomes a big piece of the puzzle for us to work on, in addition to the Iowa Assessment reading and math tests.”

In a release by the Iowa Department of Education, Director Ryan Wise said the new report puts educational power in the hands of state and local government.

“We’ve gone from a federal accountability system that was prescriptive and punitive under No Child Left Behind to a homegrown system that focuses on helping schools find solutions that work for them,” he said.

Schutte said the focus on student growth is good for Marshalltown students.

“We know that many of our students and families are faced with challenges that put them in a position of maybe not being at proficiency or being a little bit behind,” he said. “This (report) puts a lot of stock into growth.”

The reports for all of Iowa’s public school districts are available at https://www.iaschoolperformance.gov/Home/Index. It shows multiple factors for each school, including graduation rates, population, student proficiency and growth, and an overall score out of 100.

By the numbers — Marshalltown Schools and other districts

One of the many factors school administrators look at each year is the district’s graduation rate. The new reports from the Iowa Department of Education show each school district’s four-year graduation rate average.

Here’s how Marshalltown Schools stack up compared to other public schools in the Central Iowa Metropolitan League sports conference, per their four-year averages:

1.) Urbandale – 98.4 percent

2.) Southeast Polk – 98.28 percent

3.) Waukee – 97.97 percent

4.) Johnston – 96.55 percent

5.) Ankeny – 96.32 percent

6.) Indianola – 95.9 percent

7.) West Des Moines – 93.84 percent

8.) Ames – 91.86 percent

9.) Mason City – 88.84 percent

10.) Ottumwa – 88.45 percent

11.) Marshalltown – 88.07 percent

12.) Des Moines – 82.45 percent

13.) Fort Dodge – 77.74 percent

In the district

The new state reports also give each district building an overall score out of 100. These scores are used to determine if a building needs “comprehensive support and improvement” or “targeted support and improvement.”

Schools in need of comprehensive support and improvement are labeled so because they scored within the lowest 5 percent of Iowa schools receiving federal Title I funding. They can also be high schools with a graduation rate below 67.1 percent, though this does not apply to Marshalltown High School.

Targeted support and improvement status means some students in a building need more attention. The status comes from some student subgroups scoring within the lowest 5 percent in the state.

Here’s how the Marshalltown school buildings faired by building score (a “C” shows a building in need of comprehensive support and improvement while a “T” shows a building in need of targeted support and improvement):

1.) Marshalltown High School (T) – 57.13

• Targeted support and improvement needed for students with disabilities.

2.) Hoglan Elementary School – 55.03

3.) Woodbury Elementary School – 52.3

4.) Lenihan Intermediate School (T) – 51.51

• Targeted support and improvement needed for students with disabilities.

5.) Franklin Elementary School – 50.77

6.) Miller Middle School (T) – 49.7

• Targeted support and improvement needed for black/African American students, English language learners and students with disabilities.

7.) Fisher Elementary School (T) – 44.25

• Targeted support and improvement needed for English language learners, students of low socio-economic status and Hispanic students.

8.) Rogers Elementary School (C) – 43.07

9.) Anson Elementary School (C) – 39.26

For more information on the Iowa Department of Education school reports, visit https://www.iaschoolperformance.gov/Home/Index