Interest high as Gazette produces annual Eastern Iowa test scores report

The Gazette published its annual Test Scores special report on Sunday, Aug. 28, in the newspaper and at TheGazette.com.

This is a chance to see how well children did when taking the standard Iowa Tests of Basic Skills or Iowa Tests of Educational Development last school year. How you view the data will differ, depending upon your mindset. Some people look for clues for how well teachers teach, others for whether the proper curriculum is being used and still others for how well school districts support education.

You likely cannot detect any of that simply by looking at the scores. In some districts, including Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, they reflect the results of tests taken only by students who have been in the district for a full academic year. Any test score reached by students who joined the district after school started last year or, of course, who were not around at the end or when the tests were taken are not included.

How we measure student and teaching success certainly has been on the radar screen this year in Iowa. In July, Gov. Terry Branstad's office hosted a two-day Iowa Education Summit billed as an attempt to build consensus on giving all students a world-class education. A report on that is expected at the end of September.

How much input will be sought in this period between the summit and the report's release remains to be seen. Kirkwood Community College President Mick Starcevich told the Gazette Editorial Board last week the governor's office has not sought any input for the report from him or other community college presidents. A meeting is scheduled with the presidents in December, Starcevich said.

Those presidents would expanded on how underprepared they feel many students are when arriving at the colleges.

Earlier this month, Jason Glass, Iowa's Department of Education director, told the Gazette Editorial Board that the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and Iowa Tests of Educational Development don't align with Iowa's expectations anymore. He also said he'd favor giving all Iowa students ACT tests, not just those who are college-bound, so that we know better how well prepared they are for higher learning.

The issues, and people paying attention don't stop there. Gazette education reporter Meredith Hines-Dochterman has written a story, for example, that explores some of the issues when she examines what people mean when using the term “rigor” in our education reform discourse.

A few other notes about The Gazette's test scores report:

• Despite these scores being public record and existing, in part, for public examination we were surprised that some school districts did not deliver them when we asked. We will continue to work with them on ways we can include their scores.
• In contrast, officials at other districts bent over backwards to get us the data. They faced summer vacation schedules, back-to-school demands and, in at least one case, more pressing personal needs, but were helpful and delivered. We are grateful to them.