Marshalltown Community School District Executive Director of Education Services Shauna Smith was excited to see four of the elementary schools maintain an overall “Commendable” status in the annual Iowa Department of Education School Performance Profiles.

The schools are Fisher with a 435.88 score; Franklin, 433.80; Hoglan, 459.45 and; Woodbury, 452.20. Hoglan raised its “Commendable” status more than 20 points from the 2024 score.

According to Smith, in the district’s strategic plan, there is a pillar for student achievement, which is based off of the Performance Profiles.

“Within that, we are hoping and strategizing for every single building to get to a ‘Commendable’ or higher status,” she said.

The other schools overall status scores were:

• Anson Elementary, 409.21, Acceptable;

• Miller Middle School, 349.27, Priority;

• Lenihan Intermediate Elementary, 361.75, Priority;

• Marshalltown High School, 483.91, Needs Improvement;

• Marshalltown Virtual Academy, 391.09, Needs Improvement and;

• Rogers Elementary, 362.58, Needs Improvement.

“It was exciting to see four of our elementary schools are already there, and of course we are already planning and strategizing to reach a higher status,” Smith said. “For the buildings that aren’t there yet, we’re meeting and strategizing, thinking through about what metric could really be used to move forward. Every building is a little bit different.”

For example, she said a metric which could be used for Anson will be different than what is used for Rogers.

The improvements to science proficiency percentage score increased more than nine points, from 42.8 to 52.09, which Smith said is incredible.

“We’re really looking at wanting to sustain that progress over time,” she said. “Science is a unique area which is only tested at fifth, eighth and tenth grade. So, there’s no growth measurement on the School Performance Profiles, but we’re excited about that and want to see that progress continue.”

Smith pointed out the profile for high schools contains more data than those of elementaries, as graduation rates and college or work-based learning readiness is also scored. Work-based learning is something the district has focused on, she said, which might include asking professionals to speak to specific classes or obtaining an opportunity for a student to shadow someone on the job.

“Continuing to think about how we can partner with community businesses or workers in the field to expose our students to their passion will continue to be a focus for us,” Smith said.

She would like to see the scores for MCSD work-based learning increase from 15.93; as well as the score for college credits, which was 45.92.

Smith would also like to see more growth in the district’s math score, which was 45, especially at the secondary level.

“We are contracting with the Area Education Association to do math implementation coaching with each math teacher, which is great,” she said. “We’re going to provide feedback and thinking through high-quality instructional materials.”

Smith was also happy to see the rate of chronic absenteeism by more than five points to 26.03. While she said there has been definite improvement, the high school students are proving to be the most difficult to improve.

“It’s a time period when you gain a lot of independence,” Smith said. “I believe, truly, that impacts our attendance. A lot of our energy and focus is on those ninth through 12th grade kids to make more improvement in chronic absenteeism.”

To not be considered chronically absent, a student must have attended school at least 90 percent of the time. To address chronic absenteeism, every building in the school district has an attendance team so there can be interventions when necessary. The teams consist of principals, school resource officers, counselors, a district-wide attendance coordinator and the director of student services.

“We’re really thinking through systems and supports and at what point do we then include our county attorney,” Smith said, referring to the state law which took effect in 2024 and requires districts to notify parents and county attorneys when a student misses 10 percent or more of the school days.

However, she said when a student turns 17 years of age, they are no longer of compulsory age, so the law does not require them to be in school.

“We need them to be there of their own will, essentially,” Smith said. “We’re working through it the best we can. It’s really important to help our students get to graduation. That’s our end goal.”

Referring to the School Performance Profiles, she added it is nice to see the state department use consistency this year.

“It’s nice to see consistency, because then we’re really able to measure growth within our district,” she said.

——–

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.