GILMAN — The Iowa Department of Education’s (DOE) School Performance Profile report shows how hard East Marshall Community School District staff are working to educate students, according to Superintendent Tony Ryan .

“Our three buildings have been classified as ‘rentable,’” he said. “I want to commend the hard-working and student-focused staff.”

The DOE profile rates each school building’s performance as Outstanding, High Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, or Priority. Grading is based on an overall score and performance category for the school using numerous performance measures. East Marshall Middle School’s rating actually increased to “Needs Improvement” in 2023.

One category in which middle school students showed big improvements was growth in math, rising from 39 to 55, surpassing the state average of 50. However, there was also a slight decrease in English proficiency (ELA), decreasing. from 82 to 80.

Ryan said the district will continue down the path of a detailed approach to planning and break down data to try to improve that skill.

“We are working closely with the AEA and the college staff are following the process we have implemented,” he said. “We are seeing improvements. We look at previous years and improvements and will continue to identify what works.

According to Ryan, this partnership with the AEA is very important in increasing and maintaining the overall rating of the buildings.

“They travel the valley with our staff,” he said. “East Marshall and the AEA staff are working collaboratively to achieve the growth we have seen.”

According to Ryan, the district increased the length of the contract with AEA by 60 percent.

“It’s a tremendous resource in our district, and I believe teachers are tapping into that resource,” he said.

Elementary school saw significant increases in growth in math, from 49 to 61, and in ELA, from 70 to 74. Math proficiency increased from 63 to 68 and in ELA, from 72 to 73.

Ryan said the increase is a representation of elementary staff taking data from previous years and making adjustments as necessary.

“The school district as a whole is focused on updating the curriculum,” he said. “We’re not just doing it in math and ELA, but also in social studies. We have made a significant investment to improve our program. Our hope is to see adjustments and improvements.

In addition to student academic performance, school performance profiles also address enrollment. East Marshall lost 48 students compared to 2023, going from 690 to 642. Ryan said the loss of students is a familiar trend in many districts across the state.

“We’re graduating more seniors than incoming students,” he said. “It’s a trend in rural Iowa.”

The rate of chronic absenteeism is also highlighted. As the state Legislature places more emphasis on chronic absenteeism, school districts must follow the law that requires them to report students with numerous absences to the county attorney.

The rate of chronic absenteeism at East Marshall High School increased from 27 students in 2023 to 28 in 2024. Ryan said the district is adopting the new legislation and will send notices, hold meetings with families and notify the district attorney of the county when it appears that presence is a problem. issue. He wants to partner with families to get children to school.

“The law says the best place for children is at school,” Ryan said. “What is very important is the relationships with families to ensure that students come and attend school. We want parents to be involved in the process and we will develop attendance plans if necessary.

Moving forward, he said the district will pay attention and capitalize on all the good it has done, and spend more time on areas that need more attention.

“We will reflect and identify how much time and energy should be dedicated to these areas,” Ryan said. “We will continue to look at the big picture and think about how the new program will work. We will accept it together and continue to move towards academic excellence.

He emphasized that the performance profile is only an overview and that the East Marshall district will focus on the students’ journey.

“The academic performance profile is a snapshot in time,” Ryan said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

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