The front entrance to Union’s Dysart-Geneseo Elementary pictured on the first day of school this year. Of the eight public school buildings located in Tama County (split among four districts), D-G Elementary was rated the highest in the most recent Iowa School Performance Profiles report. The K-5 building earned a ‘Commendable’ rating with an overall score of 460.89 (out of 700) or 65.84% (state average is 60.95%). PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

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DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Education (IDOE) recently released the 2023-24 Iowa School Performance Profiles report. This year marked the first time state ratings and federal designations were used to determine the plan for each school building.

“Our performance profiles provide critical, transparent information for families, educators, and communities on how our schools are serving all students,” Director McKenzie Snow said as part of the IDOE news release accompanying the annual report.

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

Each public school building’s performance was categorized as either Exceptional (66.31 and above), High-Performing (60.61-66.30), Commendable (54.91-60.60), Acceptable (49.21-54.90), Needs Improvement (44.17-49.20), or Priority (44.16 and below). While the rating provides a snapshot of school performance, it may not tell the entire story about performance of students in the school.

Many of the school buildings located in Tama County maintained their rating from the previous year. The only exceptions were North Tama Elementary which improved from Acceptable to Commendable; South Tama Middle School which dropped from Commendable to Needs Improvement; and South Tama High School which dropped from Acceptable to Priority.

The highest ranked school in Tama County was Union’s Dysart-Geneseo Elementary located in Dysart which earned a rating of Commendable with an overall score of 460.89 (out of 700) or 65.84% (state average is 60.95%). The K-5 school is one of two elementary schools in the district – the other elementary, La Porte City Elementary located in Black Hawk County, was rated High Performing, the same rating as 2023.

See below for a breakdown of Tama County school buildings’ performance ratings.

Green Mountain-Garwin Secondary School, Garwin

GMG Secondary School located in Garwin received an Acceptable rating this year – same as last year – with a score of 515.11 (out of 900) or 57.23% which is up from last year’s 53.88%.

The 7-12 building has an enrollment of 210 students.

Key performance measures include:

-4-year graduation rate: 88.24% (state average 87.46%)

-Percent proficient in ELA: 74.21% (down from 80.12%)

-Percent proficient in Mathematics: 56.5% (down from 57.49%)

-Percent proficient in Science: 62.5% (no data for 2023)

-Chronic absenteeism: 34.72% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) -Post-secondary readiness index college credit (percent of students earning college credit while in HS): 73.33% North Tama Community School District, Traer

The North Tama County Community School District located in Traer includes both an elementary and a high school building as part of its K-12 complex.

North Tama Elementary received a Commendable rating this year – an improvement from last year’s Acceptable – with a score of 437.31 (out of 700) or 62.47% – compared to 2023’s 51.22%.

The K-6 building has an enrollment of 249 students.

Key performance measures include:

-Percent proficient in ELA: 59.59% (up from 51.16%)

-Percent proficient in Mathematics: 61.64% (up from 61.24%)

-Percent proficient in Science: 51.85% (no data for 2023)

-Chronic absenteeism: 15.15% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) North Tama High School received an Acceptable rating this year - same as last year - with a score of 525.08 (out of 900) or 58.34% - compared to 2023's 51.56%. The 7-12 building has an enrollment of 198 students. Key performance measures include: -4-year graduation rate: 90% (state average 87.46%) -Percent proficient in ELA: 75.46% (up from 69.62%) -Percent proficient in Mathematics: 56.44% (down from 63.29%) -Percent proficient in Science: 55.56% (no data for 2023) -Chronic absenteeism: 23.19% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) -Post-secondary readiness index college credit: 63.33% (% students earning college credit while in HS) During the North Tama school board meeting on Monday, Nov. 18, Superintendent John Cain briefly discussed the district's 2023-24 report card as part of the principal's report (Principal Taylor Howard was absent due to an injured foot); he told the board Howard was “very proud” of this year’s results.

“Since [the Iowa School Performance Profiles] started in 2018, the elementary has not received anything higher than Acceptable,” Cain said. “[Howard] is very proud of the work and the accomplishments that we’ve made … It is a new report card, so for the high school to get Acceptable without even knowing what they were being scored on – is solid. The pieces that have been added that were not there previously were the chronic absenteeism piece as well as the college and career readiness piece – work readiness piece.”

South Tama County Community School District, Tama-Toledo

The South Tama County Community School District located in Tama-Toledo includes three buildings — an elementary, middle, and high school.

South Tama Elementary received the highest rating of the three buildings, earning a Commendable rating this year – same as last year – with a score of 448.67 (out of 700) or 64.10% – compared to 2023’s 58.79%.

The K-4 building has an enrollment of 466 students.

Key performance measures include:

-Percent proficient in ELA: 67.40% (up from 51.16%)

-Percent proficient in Mathematics: 75.69% (up from 61.24%)

-Percent proficient in Science: data not available

-Chronic absenteeism: 13.52% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) South Tama Middle School received a Needs Improvement rating this year - down from last year's Commendable - with a score of 369.83 (out of 700) or 52.83% - compared to 2023's 55.73%. The 5-8 building has an enrollment of 431 students. Key performance measures include: -Percent proficient in ELA: 65.04% (up from 63.5%) -Percent proficient in Mathematics: 57.58% (down from 60.25%) -Percent proficient in Science: 50% (no data for 2023) -Chronic absenteeism: 20.04% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) South Tama High School received a Priority rating this year - a drop from last year's Acceptable - with a score of 448.31 (out of 900) or 49.81% - compared to 2023's 52.03%. The 9-12 building has an enrollment of 448 students. Key performance measures include: -4-year graduation rate: 90% (state average 87.46%) -Percent proficient in ELA: 58.66% (up from 69.62%) -Percent proficient in Mathematics: 49.82% (down from 63.29%) -Percent proficient in Science: 43.3% (no data for 2023) -Chronic absenteeism: 25.6% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) -Post-secondary readiness index college credit: 47.83% (% students earning college credit while in HS) In an email to the newspaper, Superintendent John Cain (who is shared between the North Tama and South Tama districts) said: “All three buildings worked last year at identifying goals and plans for improvement utilizing the guidance from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). These plans were shared and reviewed at a recent board meeting on November 11th and are reflected in the professional development plans for the [2024-25] school year. … As a District, we were aware of the need to improve and have solid plans in place to achieve the goal of overall improvement. The new reporting system now calculates chronic absenteeism data as well as postsecondary readiness measures. Our work of improvement will continue.”

D-G Elementary School/Union Middle School, Dysart

The Union Community School District has two buildings located in Tama County (Dysart) – one of the district’s two elementary schools (the other is in La Porte City) and the district’s combined middle school.

Dysart-Geneseo Elementary received a Commendable rating this year – same as last year – with a score of 460.89 (out of 700) or 65.84% – compared to 2023’s 59.69%.

Key performance measures of the K-5 building include:

-Percent proficient in ELA: 69.61% (down from 73.4%)

-Percent proficient in Mathematics: 84.31% (down from 88.3%)

-Percent proficient in Science: 75.86% (no data for 2023)

-Chronic absenteeism: 13.68% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) Union Middle School received an Acceptable rating this year - same as last year - with a score of 420.23 (out of 700) or 60.03% - compared to 2023's 53.13%. Key performance measures of the 6-8 building include: -Percent proficient in ELA: 86.11% (up from 77.32%) -Percent proficient in Mathematics: 79.44% (up from 78.87%) -Percent proficient in Science: 76.36% (no data for 2023) -Chronic absenteeism: 19.37% (% students who were present for <90% of the days they were enrolled) The Iowa School Performance Profiles - first launched in 2018 - meet state and federal requirements to publish report cards reflecting the performance of all public schools. For more information including full report cards for all of the schools listed above, visit iaschoolperformance.gov.