Nevada schools report strong ISAP, steady FAST results and improved attendance

Nevada Community School District administrators presented a student achievement report to the Board of Education on July 7, summarizing FAST and ISAP results, attendance trends and graduation data from the 2024–25 school year.

The district reported elementary math proficiency in the high 80s and 90s in several grades, middle‑school ISAP averages above 84 percent driven by a strong eighth‑grade result, and statewide progress‑monitoring (FAST) literacy results clustering in the mid‑70s. District staff also told the board the three buildings posted their highest attendance rates in years: roughly 96.1 percent at the elementary, nearly 97 percent at the middle school and 97 percent at the high school.

The numbers matter, district administrators said, because they inform interventions and state reporting. “Our long term goal first off in literacy… is the goal of 80 percent of our students in grades kindergarten through sixth grade to be at or above benchmark on the FAST assessments,” Dr. Asmus said as the district reviewed results. He told the board the presentation distributed in the packet was updated after final results arrived and noted some grade‑level shifts compared with earlier projections.

District staff described FAST as a state‑mandated progress monitoring tool for early grades and said the state extended that requirement into fourth through sixth grades this past school year. “This is just a checkpoint that we use throughout the school year,” Dr. Asmus said, adding that the FAST results do not map exactly to classroom instruction or Iowa Core‑aligned in‑class assessments. He pointed to LETRS training — a statewide professional development program emphasizing the science of reading — as a planned support to strengthen phonics and phonemic awareness in younger grades.

Board members and administrators discussed particular grade transitions: kindergarten to first grade showed a notable increase for one cohort (63 percent at benchmark in the fall to 78 percent at year end), while some ninth‑grade cohorts continued to show lower proficiency than elementary grades. To address that, the district plans to change the high‑school math pathway so all ninth graders complete Algebra I in ninth grade and receive an additional daily math support period.

Administrators also reviewed ISAP science testing constraints, noting students may be assessed on standards (for example chemistry) they have not yet taken in coursework, particularly at the tenth‑grade level. Dr. Asmus said that context matters when interpreting scores and that the district will examine classroom assessments and ISAP together.

The district flagged a slight decline in the official graduation rate for the class of 2024 and said higher dropout counts over the past three years contributed; staff reminded the board that Iowa law allows students aged 16 and older to leave school. Dr. Asmus said the official, detailed student achievement report — with grade‑level graphs, subgroup breakdowns and trend tables — will be finalized and published on the district website in October or November.

Board members asked whether the state imposes consequences for missing the FAST 80 percent benchmark. “So is there any consequence for not reaching 80%? No,” Dr. Asmus replied, adding the more important requirement is completing progress monitoring for students below benchmark and maintaining high participation rates in those monitoring windows.

Administrators said ISAP results will be shared electronically with families in the coming weeks with instructions to access individual student results and that staff will continue to refine interventions based on the combined data.

Less critical details: staff noted they can produce comparative ISAP/FAST profiles to Heartland AEA and state averages once full school profiles are released in November.