(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of stories on School Performance Profiles for districts in Marshall County.)

The Iowa Department of Education (DOE) released the annual School Performance Profile report yesterday. This year marked the first time state ratings and federal designations were used to determine the plan for each school building.

The state’s new accountability system includes indicators such as proficiency results in English language arts, mathematics and science, student academic growth, chronic absenteeism, graduation rates and postsecondary readiness.

Each public school building’s performance was categorized as Exceptional, High-Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement or Priority. The rating is based on an overall score and performance category for the school using many performance measures. The DOE website states the rating might provide a snapshot of school performance, but may not tell the entire story about performance of students in the school.

Almost all of the school buildings serving Marshall County students maintained their rating from the previous year. The only exception was BCLUW Elementary, which was the highest rated school serving Marshall County students this year as High-Performing — one of 159 schools throughout Iowa to earn that designation. Last year, BCLUW Elementary was given an Exceptional rating.

The Commendable rating was given to four Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) elementaries — JC Hoglan, Woodbury, Fisher and Franklin; the middle school and high school at BCLUW; East Marshall Elementary, Middle School and High School; and West Marshall Elementary, Middle and High schools. Throughout the state, 411 schools were considered Commendable.

Earning the Acceptable rating were Anson Elementary in Marshalltown and GMG Elementary. Two hundred seventy-eight schools across Iowa received the designation.

Three Marshall County schools, included in the 229 statewide, were placed in the Needs Improvement category — Rogers Elementary and Lenihan Intermediate in Marshalltown and GMG Elementary.

The lowest rating is Priority was given to a total of 186 schools including Miller Middle School, Marshalltown Virtual Academy and Marshalltown High School.

There were no local Exceptional school ratings.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.