GREEN MOUNTAIN — The annual Iowa Department of Education (DOE) School Performance Profile report indicated there is room for improvement at the GMG Community School District, but also positive things to recognize.

Superintendent Chris Petersen said the profile is only one measure showing how districts and the school buildings perform on certain measures.

“We would want our communities to know that we will utilize this information to implement changes and initiatives that focus on student growth,” he said.

The two GMG school buildings — the elementary and the secondary — have maintained similar overall scores through the years, Petersen said.

Although, GMG Elementary did fall from “Acceptable” to “Needs Improvement.” He is not sure there is a singular change which would be attributable to the rating fall.

“We are currently researching both new curriculum and practices at the elementary to help close any gaps that exist,” Petersen said.

The overall score of a school building takes numerous factors into account, such as growth and proficiency in math and English language arts (ELA), graduation rates, chronic absenteeism and more. GMG Elementary did have improvement in proficiencies in math, from 53 in 2023 to 60 in 2024; ELA, from 58 to 63 and; science, from 40 to 58. But decreased scores in growth in math, 48 to 36 and; ELA, 66 to 48.

Petersen explained the proficiency score is the percentage of students in a school who are proficient in ELA, math and science based on assessment results. While the growth categories examine student growth by looking at assessment scores over time to determine whether a student performed better or worse than their academic peers.

“So, our elementary school increased in the number of students we had performing at the state’s level of proficiency,” he said. “As far as growth, the profile would indicate that students didn’t grow at as high of a level as the state average.”

The secondary school had improved scores in math growth, from 46 to 53, as well as science proficiency, from 57 to 62.

According to Petersen, improvements could not be attributed to a singular change. He added as student demographics change from year to year, they want to ensure they are implementing best practices in instruction to ensure they remain at high levels of proficiency and growth.

In addition to the academic performances of students, the School Performance Profiles also look at chronic absenteeism, as the state has placed increased focus on that issue. The rate of chronic absenteeism for the GMG Secondary School increased from 17 to 35.

Petersen said the district has implemented new policies around chronic absenteeism to align with the new state legislation. That includes a more uniform definition of what absences are considered exempt and which count toward the chronic absenteeism number.

“It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly why an increase in chronic absenteeism occurs, and the focus is really shifting to what we can do as a district to create a climate and culture that promotes attendance,” he said. “Within that, we want to partner with parents and ensure we have consistent communication as to the importance of attendance at school.”

Moving forward, Petersen said the GMG district will continue to find ways to improve what they offer students academically, socially and emotionally.

“As a district, we are looking in depth at both curriculum and teaching practices that will have a positive impact on academic performance,” he said. “This will continue to be the focus of our professional learning. Through our professional learning communities, we are exploring ways to continue to create a positive culture and learning environment where students feel safe and can excel academically. We will continue to work to strengthen our partnership with parents and our community, as it takes a collaborative effort to be successful.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.