State: 37 of 341 Iowa schools needing support are in Corridor

CEDAR RAPIDS - Thirty-seven of the 341 public schools in Iowa that need at least some academic help are in the Corridor, according to a first-of-its-kind report Tuesday that shows how schools performed under a new accountability system that replaced the strict metrics of the No Child Left Behind law.

The 'Iowa School Performance Profiles” identified 34 public schools statewide in need of 'comprehensive” supports and another 307 schools in need of 'targeted” supports.

A 'comprehensive” school receives either Title 1 funding and earned a score in the lowest 5 percent of Title 1 schools or, at the high school level, has a graduation rate below 67.1 percent. Only one school in the Corridor was listed as needing compressive supports.

'Targeted” schools have one or more underserved groups of students - such as African-American, English language learners or low-income students - that scored as low as the bottom 5 percent of schools in the state. Thirty-six schools in the Corridor were listed as needing targeted supports.

Reports on every Iowa public school are available online at iaschoolperformance.gov.

The state's system scored schools based on student participation on state assessments, academic achievement, student academic growth, graduation rate and English language proficiency. It analyzed data primarily from the 2017-18 school year.

The new measures were required by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in 2015. The law allowed states to develop their own accountability systems.

The redistribution of power away from the federal government and to states and local school districts was 'a great opportunity to really strike the right balance of decision-making in education,” Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise said in a news conference.

Iowa's system emphasizes growth in math and reading - worth about half of a school's rating - which is 'a significant change” from the old system, Iowa Department of Education bureau chief Jay Pennington said.

The previous iteration, known as No Child Left Behind, 'solely focused on percent of students at proficiency,” he said. With a goal of 100 percent of students meeting bench marks, about 80 percent of Iowa's 1,300 public schools were 'in need of assistance” under the old metrics.

In the Cedar Rapids Community School District, every school had at least one negative designation in the state's final 2016 report under No Child Left Behind.

The old system hid progress being made by students who hadn't yet met proficiency standards, said Val Dolezal, executive director for the Cedar Rapids district's elementary schools.

'We know we have students in our underserved populations that have a greater need, but if we can show they are making that growth, that's really showing we are making a difference for those kids,” Dolezal said. 'Over time, we hope to be able to say they're even proficient. But that may take many years before we get there for some students.”

Of the district's 21 elementary schools, only nine now are marked for improvements.

Eight have targeted status: Cleveland, Grant, Hoover, Johnson, Madison, Van Buren, Viola Gibson and Wright.

One Cedar Rapids elementary, Taylor, got comprehensive status.

All of the district's six middle schools have targeted status, as do Jefferson and Washington high schools.

The state's identified schools will share $6 million in federal money, according to the Iowa Education Department, with funds split among comprehensive schools, targeted schools and the state's nine area education agencies.

Because the Cedar Rapids district gives only elementary schools Title 1 status, its middle and high schools will not qualify for additional funding, officials said.

Qualifying schools will receive the funding for three years and will be expected to develop improvement plans. If schools no longer are performing at the bottom 5 percent after three years, they no longer will have targeted or comprehensive designations.

In Cedar Rapids, Deputy Superintendent Noreen Bush said the additional funding for the district's identified schools likely will buoy existing programs aimed at improvement.

'Those resources might be for professional learning, might be learning resources for our teachers to improve instruction for their students, based on our data and researched best practices,” Bush said.

Area schools identified:

Cedar Rapids Community School District

' Cleveland Elementary, targeted

' Franklin Middle, targeted

' Washington High, targeted

' Grant Elementary, targeted

' Harding Middle, targeted

' Hoover Elementary, targeted

' Johnson Elementary, targeted

' Madison Elementary, targeted

' McKinley Middle, targeted

' Roosevelt Middle, targeted

' Taft Middle, targeted

' Taylor Elementary, comprehensive

' Jefferson High, targeted

' Van Buren Elementary, targeted

' Viola Gibson, targeted

' Wilson Middle, targeted

' Wright Elementary, targeted

Clear Creek Amana Community School District

' Clear Creek Amana High, targeted

' Clear Creek Amana Middle, targeted

College Community School District

' Prairie Creek Elementary, targeted

' Prairie High, targeted

' Prairie Point Middle, targeted

Iowa City Community School District

' Alexander Elementary, targeted

' Central Elementary, targeted

' Grant Wood Elementary, targeted

' Hills Elementary, targeted

' Horace Mann Elementary, targeted

' City High, targeted

' Kirkwood Elementary, targeted

' North Central Junior High, targeted

' Southeast Junior High, targeted

Linn-Mar Community School District

' Echo Hill Elementary, targeted

' Excelsior Middle, targeted

' Linn-Mar High, targeted

Marion Independent School District

' Francis Marion Intermediate, targeted

' Vernon Middle, targeted

Mount Vernon Community School District

' Mount Vernon Middle, targeted

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