MACHS improves on performance rating
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The Iowa Department of Education recently released its annual Performance Profile for Iowa schools.
[This week’s article covers the Performance Profile for Mount Ayr middle/high school. Next week’s article will focus on Mount Ayr Elementary.]
In the latest report, Mount Ayr middle/high school received an overall performance score of 56.83, slightly above the state average of 54.70.
The latest score, however, moved the school’s performance rating to “Commendable,” up from the “Acceptable” rating from 2018 and 2019. (No performance report was compiled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic’s impact on schools.)
The latest score of 56.83 shows a trend of improvement on the indicators used to arrive at a overall score. Mount Ayr middle/high school scored 52.71 in 2018 and 54.84 in 2019.
In the latest report, Mount Ayr middle/high school scored at or above the state averages in 10 of the 12 performance indicators.
In reference to the 2019 report, 7-12 principal Bill Huntington had explained the district overall score continues to be handicapped by the report’s heavy emphasis on growth in math and English.
The latest report shows 78.07 percent of Mount Ayr students are proficient in English, compared with a state average of 68.95 percent.
The same is true in math, where 78.51 percent of Mount Ayr students show proficiency, compared to the state average of 65.21 percent.
Because Mount Ayr students are already far above the state average in proficiency in math and English, Huntington explained, it’s difficult to show significant growth in either area.
However, in the latest report, Mount Ayr students still reported a 56 percentile growth in math above the state average of 50.
Growth in Language Arts for Mount Ayr students remained at the state average of 50.
A student growth percentile (SGP) describes a student’s growth compared to other students with similar prior test scores (their academic peers).
The two areas in which Mount Ayr fell below state averages were in Conditions for Learning and 5-Year Graduation Rate.
The score related to Conditions for Learning is calculated from anonymous surveys given to students in grades 6-12 in which they judge their school on such indicators as emotional and physical safety, student to student relationships, adult-student relationships, and expectations and boundaries.
In this area Mount Ayr scored 38.88, below the state average of 41.67.
Mount Ayr’s 5-Year Graduation Rate score of 91.49 was lower than the state average of 93.79.
The lower score in this indicator is offset by Mount Ayr’s 4-Year Graduation score of 95.49, which is well above the state average of 91.81.
