Area school districts receive state report card grade

The Iowa Department of Education has released its annual Iowa School Report Card, which rates individual schools in a district based on a number of criteria.
Rankings are “priority”, “needs improvement”, “acceptable”, “commendable”, “high-performing” and “exceptional.” These ratings are based on a school’s performance over a two-year period.
Categories scored were proficiency, three levels of closing achievement gap, college and career ready growth” annual expected growth, college and career readiness, attendance” and staff retention.
In the Hampton-Dumont School District, South Side Elementary achieved a “high-performing” grade, given to just 11 percent of schools in Iowa.
According to the report, 78.8 percent of students were proficient, slightly higher than the state average. More than 60 percent of students in the closing gap – students in the Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) program, with an IEP or English Language Learners – were proficient.
Read the full story in the December 27 edition.