When Greene County Schools curriculum director Karen Sandberg presented the results of the 2014 Iowa Assessments to the Jefferson-Scranton and East Greene school boards at their April 16 meetings, she provided them two different ways to look at the data. She showed them test scores, and she showed them how many students are learning.
The Iowa Assessment tests students in the areas of reading, math and science. All students in grades 1-11 take the test. Scores were combined as the Greene County district. At the first grade level, 77 percent of students tested as being proficient in reading, 63 percent proficient in math, and 70 percent proficient in science. The first grade math score is the lowest of any of the district’s scores.
Test scores for this year’s 11th graders showed 80 percent to be proficient in reading, 88 percent in math, and 84 percent in science.
Scores were at 85 percent proficiency or higher in fifth grade science, eighth grade reading and science, 10th grade reading and math, and 11th grade math. The highest score was 10th grade reading at 89 percent proficiency.
Scores were at 70 percent proficiency or lower in first grade math and science, second grade science, and sixth grade reading and math.
Board member Mark Peters asked Sandberg about the lower sixth grade scores, as one of her documents showed sixth grade scores to be lower in four of the six years for which she provided data. “It’s a state trend. It’s an issue with the test. Even the old form was that way. It’s the same way across the state. That’s the dip year,” Sandberg answered.
Sandberg continued the presentation with data she compiled looking at how many students are “growing.“ “A piece that has been missing for a while but that is very important, is looking at growth,” she said, talking about students whose standard scores have improved from last year to this year.
“It’s one thing to say that kids are proficient or not proficient, but what we really want to make sure that we’re doing is that every day, every year, kids are growing. We meet them where they are and we move them forward,” she said.
She provided data of the percent of students per grade level who showed growth in each of the three areas, and the average standard points of growth demonstrated. Average growth in one school year is 12 standard points, but younger students typically grow 15 points or so, and high school students typically advance 9-10 points, she said.
The highest percentage of students showing growth was 96 percent in seventh grade math. Growth was at or above 90 percent in second grade math and science, all three subjects in fourth grade, seventh grade reading and math, and eighth grade reading.
The lowest percentage of students showing growth was in 11th grade reading, at only 35 percent. Seventy percent or fewer students showed growth in seventh grade science, ninth grade math, 10th grade science, and 11th grade reading and science.
To see the data Sandberg presented to the boards of education, click here: https://greenecountynewsonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Greene-Co-2014-IA-Assessment.pdf
