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Linn‑Mar administrators outline District Career and Academic Plan updates, say score fell after rubric change
Summary
District leaders presented the Linn‑Mar District Career and Academic Plan (DCAP), said recent changes in the Grant Wood AEA scoring rubric reduced the district’s score and described steps — adding special education representation, student reflections, learning outcomes and data — to improve the plan before submission in September.
Linn‑Mar Community School District staff reviewed the district’s District Career and Academic Plan, or DCAP, and told the board on March 31 they are preparing revisions before submitting the plan to Grant Wood Area Education Agency in September.
Why it matters: DCAP is the state‑required framework meant to help students align academic coursework and career planning. The district’s plan is evaluated by Grant Wood AEA; staff said the district’s score declined this year mainly because the AEA updated its rubric and raised expectations.
Details from the presentation: Associate Superintendent Nathan (name provided in the meeting) and Elizabeth, a high school counselor, explained the packet in front of board members. Staff said the first ~54 pages are the written plan, followed by the scoring rubric and feedback from Grant Wood AEA. Nathan told the board the district’s score is approximately 16.7 out of 35 under the new rubric. The district plans additional stakeholder work this spring and summer and will submit an updated plan to Grant Wood AEA by September 2025.
Committee and stakeholder input: Presenters said they expanded stakeholder representation this year to include special education representatives, parents, students, work‑based learning coordinators and community partners such as Kirkwood College and Grant Wood AEA staff. Elizabeth said the committee developed action items to add quantitative and qualitative data to each DCAP section, beef up student reflections and build clear learning outcomes and pre‑/post assessments in classroom lessons. She described using Xello as a tool for classroom lessons and said students now complete reflections and journal entries in Xello.
Relationship to career technical education: The presenters noted that industry‑recognized credentials and Perkins federal funding intersect with DCAP goals; finance and audit committee discussions about credentialing and who pays credential fees were described as related topics.
Next steps: Staff will hold follow‑up stakeholder meetings to incorporate Grant Wood feedback, add data and finalize the plan before the September submission deadline.
