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District reports across-the-board improvement on Iowa School Performance Profile; new DMACC IT career academy described
Summary
The associate superintendent told the board that all district buildings met expectations on the latest Iowa School Performance Profile and that every building improved from the prior year. The board also heard details about a new two-semester Information Technology Career Academy from DMACC that would award an application developer certificate.
The Ames Community School District reported system-wide improvement on the Iowa School Performance Profile on Monday, with the district’s associate superintendent saying every building met expectations and showed year-over-year gains.
The data underpinning the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) accountability work is largely drawn from the ISASP statewide tests, the associate superintendent said. The district used those results as the foundation for its school-improvement work and for required ESSA planning and resource-allocation reviews.
Assistant/Associate Superintendent (name given at the meeting as Dr. Hawkins) told the board that “we're doing really well” and that the district had growth in the vast majority of measures on the performance profile, including English language development, math and reading growth, and reductions in chronic absenteeism for some cohorts. The presenter noted three buildings remain in a targeted status because of timing in the state process but said those will move out of targeted status next year with continued progress.
The presentation explained the district’s use of a continuous school-improvement model. That model includes resource-allocation reviews at the district level, building-level data reviews, and a SAMI (self-assessment of multi-tiered systems of support) process used by building leadership teams to assess and reset goals. The district said it completed many of those steps during the summer and early fall to meet state timelines.
Career pathways: The associate superintendent also summarized a new Information Technology Career Academy DMACC (Des Moines Area Community College) is offering in partnership with the district. The yearlong academy consists of two semesters: the first covers programming logic and database fundamentals; the second is a project-based elective in which students build applications and expand programming and database skills. The academy will be offered at the Hunsicker DMACC site and align with existing high-school coursework and work-based learning efforts.
Why it matters: Meeting expectations on the state performance profile reduces the number of required state interventions and positions the district to continue its improvement work. The DMACC academy expands options for students seeking career-related credentials before graduating high school.
What the board said: Board members congratulated staff on the results and said the report connected clearly to the district strategic plan. The board asked staff to continue focusing on attendance and graduation rates and to steward partnerships that expand work-based learning opportunities.
Next steps: Staff will continue school-level action planning, the associate superintendent said, and the district will follow up on targeted-building requirements with the state, including any required progress updates.
