Highland rated “commendable” and “high performing” in state report

Posted 2/16/22

School districts try to find as much data about their students as possible.  Every year schools have students take a multitude of tests.  They take tests for classes but also to monitor …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Highland rated “commendable” and “high performing” in state report

Posted

School districts try to find as much data about their students as possible.  Every year schools have students take a multitude of tests.  They take tests for classes but also to monitor their progress through standardized tests.  They also take surveys to find out their interests for a possible career choice.  Students also take surveys on the culture of their school environment called the Conditions of Learning.  This information is put together into one final report called the Performance Profile.  It can be found at www.iaschoolperformance.gov. 

This report came out and Highland’s high school and elementary buildings were labeled “Commendable” while the middle school was labeled “High Performing.”  There are three labels below commendable and only one label above high performing.  These are outstanding scores, and we believe the community should be proud of our students and staff. 

The middle school’s score of “High Performing” is highlighted by great scores in growth for both Math and English.  They were also above the state average on proficiency in both Math and English.  Total average for Math and English also were solid scores to round out how they achieved their label.

The elementary school made a huge improvement by jumping four categories to “Commendable.”  Their largest area of improvement is growth scores in both Math and English.  Their proficiency scores in Math were right even with the state average while English was just below the state average. All of these scores are major improvements from when this profile came out two years ago. 

The high school saw improvement in all of their categories to get to “Commendable.”  The growth and proficiency in Math and English all were close if not above the state average.  These scores are improvements from two years ago as well.

While tests aren’t the end all for schools, I am a firm believer that great schools have great academics and high participation in fine arts, athletics, and all school activities.  When Iowa puts out this performance profile, it is great to see our school does stack up academically by the standards of this report.  We are working on improving the academics every year and promoting participation in other areas of student life.  We do not want this profile to be the high point but to be the start of continued success.  This year’s results should make the community very proud of their school district.