MAC elementary ranks among state’s highest performing
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In the latest Student Performance profiles from the Iowa Department of Education, for the third consecutive year Mount Ayr Elementary was rated as a “high performing” school, the second highest rating attainable on the state report.
With a composite score of 64.23, principal Chris Elwood reported Mount Ayr Elementary ranked 68th overall among all 1,295 school buildings in the state, regardless of grade level, and in the top 5 percent of Iowa elementary buildings.
With exception of Murray elementary with a composite score of 70, Mount Ayr ranked higher than all other area school buildings.
Performance indicators
Mount Ayr Elementary scored above the state average in all nine performance indicators considered in the report.
The report found 88.17 MAC students tested as proficient in math, compared to a state average of 70.16.
In English/language arts, 81.72 percent of Mount Ayr elementary students are proficient as compared with 69.81 percent statewide.
Mount Ayr students showed growth above state averages in both reading and math.
A “student growth percentile” (SGP) describes a student’s growth compared to other students with similar prior test scores (their academic peers). It also demonstrates a student’s growth and academic progress, even if she/he is not yet meeting the proficiency benchmark.
In the latest report, 64.5 percent of MAC students showed growth in reading and 63.5 percent in math, compared to the state average of 50 percent in both areas.
Average school achievement in English/language arts and math fell closer to state averages. MAC elementary scored 52.61 in English and 52.25 in math, compared to 50 percent statewide.
Average school achievement represents the average performance in mathematics and reading of students and provides information about overall academic achievement. This score complements the proficiency score which measures student performance at one cut point.
The “conditions for learning” composite score of 44.03 also exceeded the state average of 37.15.
Students were asked to complete the Conditions for Learning Survey to assess safety, student engagement and the overall learning environment in each building. (Not all students, however, responded to all questions.)
A high score indicates a positive perception of the school environment.
Highest among student perceptions on the survey were found among adult-student relationships (68.52 compared to 51.94 statewide) and student-student relationships (60.38 vs. 38.77 statewide).
[An article next week will focus on the performance of Mount Ayr Middle/High School on the Performance Profile report.]
