C-G-D schools receive low Attendance Center Rankings

On December 17, the Iowa Department of Education released Attendance Center Rankings, which grade schools in Iowa on how well they’re doing compared to the state average. Though Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Middle School received an overall grade of “Commendable,” the elementary school “Needs Improvement” and the high school is ranked as a “Priority” school, one of 3 percent of high schools so categorized. The rankings revealed that there are definitely areas, especially in the high school, that need to be addressed. However, some of the categories graded show C-G-D’s students at an unfair disadvantage.

The scores are based on yearly Iowa Assessment standardized tests. The eight categories high schools are graded on are Proficiency, Closing the Achievement Gap, College and Career Ready Growth, Annual Expected Growth, College and Career Readiness, Graduation Rate, Attendance, and Staff Retention. Middle schools are graded on all categories except Graduation Rate and elementary schools on all except Graduation Rate and College and Career Readiness. For both the elementary school and high school, one of the largest factors was a low grade in Closing the Achievement Gap—a grade that rates how well students who are English Language Learners, in special education, and in poverty (receiving free and reduced lunch) do in comparison with students who aren’t in those categories.

This factor was much discussed by the school board and elementary school principal Tricia Rosendahl at the board’s regular meeting on Monday. Both Rosendahl and Superintendent Dr. Bob Olson pointed out a flaw in the Closing the Gap category.

“How do you close the achievement gap on special education students, because you exit them out of special ed?” Rosendahl said. “If you do close the achievement gap, they’re no longer in that group of people anymore.” At C-G-D, the same is true of ELL students, who compose a significant portion of C-G-D students.

For the full story, see the January 14 edition of the Monitor.