Teacher Nanette Waddilove helps Rey’ez Bell draft a letter to a pen pall as the fourth grade class works on laptop computers at Wright Elementary in Cedar Rapids/ Gazette archive photo.

Iowa students get solid foundation in education

By Judy Baldwin

One-room school houses once dotted Iowa’s rural landscape. Now, computers fill classrooms and quality educational options are plentiful in Iowa’s cities and small towns.

K-12 educators in Iowa are attentive to basic skills. The state requires that each school district annually administer district-wide assessments in reading, math and science that align with their curriculum standards and compliment the state’s required tests. Statewide, Iowa uses the Iowa Test of Basic Skills to assess its students.

Iowa students consistently outperform their counterparts in other states. Math, science, reading and Avanced Placement (AP) scores for Iowa students are among the highest in the nation. Iowa’s average ACT composite score for 2007 was 22.3, which ties Iowa for second in the nation for states with 50 percent or more seniors taking ACT exams.

In 2007, Iowa schools ranked first on measurements of the No Child Left Behind law. In 2008, five schools made the U.S. Department of Education’s no-child-left-behind Blue Ribbon list for dramatic gains in student achievement. The Iowa schools are: Denver High School, Denver; Pocahontas Area Elementary School, Pocahontas; Runnells Elementary School, Runnells; Southeast Elementary School, Waverly; and Holy Trinity Catholic School, Des Moines.

There’s a keen interest throughout Iowa in seeing our students excel. To serve a need in northwest Iowa, for example, a partnership between Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), the City of Oelwein, Oelwein Economic Development, area school districts, and the Regents Universities helped build the Regional Academy for Math and Science in Oelwein. And a new partnership between the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa’s 15 community colleges, Iowa Public Television (IPTV), and Mediacom will use on-demand television technology to make it easier for Iowans without a high school diploma to prepare for the General Educational Development (GED®) Tests.

Iowa’s private and parochial schools also provide an excellent education and are required to meet the same standards as public schools. Scattergood School in West Branch is the state’s only parochial boarding school and is ranked among the top 20 boarding schools of its size.

Home schooling is also an option. Home schooled students are required to take the same standardized tests as students attending public and parochial schools. Iowa’s enrollment law allows parochial and home-schooled students to enroll in classes or extracurricular activities at public schools, enabling them to experience curriculum that isn’t available at their full-time school.

To learn more, visit the Iowa Department of Education, your local school district’s web site or refer to the following resources:

By the numbers:

• National Center for Education Statistics
• Highlights of Iowa Education
• 2008 State Report Card
• The 2007 Condition of Education
• Iowa Department of Education, Education Statistics

 Parent sites:

• Iowa PTA
• For public and private school ratings and reviews: GreatSchools.net and PSK12

Home Schooling:

• Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators
• Metro Home Educators
• Others homeschooling links? Let us know by emailing content@iowa.com.

2006-07 School Stats

GENERAL

• Iowa public and nonpublic schools served 516,862 students.
• Open enrollments (24,251) increased.
• Average full-time teacher regular salary was $42,922.
• The pupil teacher ratio was 9.2:1 for districts with less than 250 students compared to 14.8:1 for districts with 2,500 or more students.
• 357 districts (97.8 percent) offered all-day every-day kindergarten.
• 67.9 percent of districts offered preschool programs.
• Graduation rate has risen for 2nd consecutive year and is now 90.8 percent.
• The state’s elementary and secondary school budget was estimated at $4.2 billion.

SCORES

• 79 percent of 4th graders were proficient in ITBS reading comprehension; 80.6 percent were proficient in math.
• 72.3 percent of 8th graders were proficient in ITBS reading comprehension; 75.5 percent were proficient in math.
• 77 percent of 11th graders were proficient in ITED reading comprehension; 78.4 percent were proficient in math.
• The average ACT composite score was 22.3, which ties Iowa for second in the nation for states with 50 percent or more seniors taking ACT exams.