DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education today released new spring 2022 assessment results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress for Iowa public school students in grades 3-11. The results show signs of recovery and progress with the majority of grades improving from the previous year.
State-level results from the 2021-22 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) demonstrate proficiency gains in many grades with English language arts performance mainly returning to pre-pandemic levels in grades 3-8. Eleventh grade results declined the most from last year, dropping four percentage points.
The ISASP results in mathematics increased in grades 3-7. Both grades 8 and 10 experienced a one-percentage point decrease, while grade 9 had a two-percentage point decrease in the percent of students scoring proficient when compared to last year. Eleventh grade results declined five percentage points. Science, which is assessed in grades 5, 8 and 10, exceeded pre-pandemic levels in all three grades.
“This data reflects Iowa educators’ commitment to addressing the individual needs of their students and how the use of evidence-based supports can help students grow and flourish,” said Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo. “We are moving in the right direction in many areas, but there is still work to be done. This crucial data will help schools with their improvement planning, target relief funds to address high-need areas and recapture the growth Iowa students experienced prior to the pandemic.”
The ISASP is administered each spring and is the summative accountability assessment in Iowa that meets the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ISASP reflects what’s being taught in Iowa classrooms and how students are progressing toward grade-level expectations outlined in Iowa’s academic standards. This makes the ISASP one measure that helps teachers understand where students are succeeding and where they may need more help.
State assessments play an important role in advancing educational equity, identifying student needs and targeting the resources to address them. This data exists because the vast majority of students over the past two years participated in the ISASP. Iowa’s participation rate for the ISASP was 98 percent in 2020-21 and 97 percent in 2021-22, ensuring that the results yielded a true picture of student performance.
Solon Community School District Superintendent Davis Eidahl was especially pleased with the results, noting they show approximately 88% of Solon’s 3rd through 11th grade students are proficient in reading, and 80% (same grade range) are proficient in math, which he added are very comparable to the 2021 results.
“We actually had some grade levels reach all-time high proficiency levels in the spring of 2021 following the pandemic, and this year we maintained or slightly improved in several grade levels,” Eidahl said.
“A key to our success in 2021 was the fact that the Solon District remained open in 2020-21 to all students, every day, providing our students in-person instruction throughout the entire year. We worked very hard at providing our students as normal of a year as possible and were successful. There were very few districts in Iowa that accomplished that.”
A chart provided by Eidahl shows Solon’s literacy proficiency for 2022 exceeds the state average from grades 3-11 with 92% of seventh graders proficient vs. the state average of 73%, 91% of eighth graders vs. 76%, and 91% of high school juniors vs. 70%, as examples.
“Our reading and writing proficiency is higher than math at this time because we are five years into a district-wide literacy focus on instruction,” he explained. “We have devoted numerous hours over the past five years to teacher professional development focused on learning and applying evidence-based literacy practices in the classroom, and dedicating time to writing every day.”
Third graders were 78% proficient in literacy vs. 65% across the state, fourth graders came in at 83% vs. 74%, and sixth graders were at 86% to a state average of 69%. Seventh graders achieved 92% proficiency vs. 73%, freshmen were at 89% to 71%, and sophomores achieved 91% proficiency to 73%.
Eidahl said the elementary school has a strong Reading Recovery program targeting first grade students who struggle with reading. “The Reading Recovery program is research-based and has a success rate of over 80% with readers who struggle the most. Reading Recovery is one of many action steps we have toward accomplishing our goal that ALL students will be reading at or above grade level prior to entering second grade.”
The heavy emphasis on literacy doesn’t mean the district is neglecting math, as Eidahl pointed out.
“Within the past year we began a district-wide math initiative that we anticipate seeing a strong impact on math proficiency within the next few years. This initiative started with our 6-12 math teachers, and just recently with our K-5 teachers. We typically see significant results from an initiative in year three, so we anticipate gains each year, but significant achievement in the spring of 2024.”
The spring ISASP results by district can be found on the Iowa Department of Education website at: https://educateiowa.gov/documents/proficiency-district/2022/09/2021-2022-isasp-proficiency-rates-district-and-grade.
Iowa Department of Education releases new spring student assessment results
September 15, 2022