SW Iowa Times

Southwest Iowa schools have many highlighted spots on the Iowa School Performance Profiles report that was released in February.

The report from the Department of Education of Iowa was based on the 2019 school year. Interestingly, the state’s yearly rating system for schools in 2015 replaced the State Report Card for future reports.

This move was so the state could execute the Every Student Succeeds Act. This act replaced the No Child Left Behind Act implemented by the George W. Bush administration in 2002.

Scores and categories for the schools are based on overall achievement, proficiency, growth and participation in assessments. Also considered are the schools having an English language learning course, conditions that the schools provide for learning and a positive graduation rate.

Riverside Elementary ranked very high on the report. Tim Mitchell, who is the superintendent of Riverside Community School District, said the report is very positive for Riverside as a whole. The report also tells the schools where they need to improve to rank higher.

“This report is very positive for Riverside as we continue to move in the right direction on multiple indicators included in this report,” Mitchell told The Daily Nonpareil. “This is the first time a state accountability report card has rated any of our schools as ‘high performing.’ This is a reflection of the hard work of our staff."

He said if the district continues to dedicate and commit to professional learning, implementing research-based strategies in the classroom, using data to guide our instruction and work collaboratively, they will continue this upward trend on these indicators of school and district success.