The Department of Education released its third annual Iowa School Report Card Thursday. Department director Ryan Wise says it’s designed to give a look at individual schools within a district. “You do see some schools that improved and some schools that declined in terms of their overall ranking,” Wise says. “You also see a slight overall shift downward this year — because there was statewide dip in test scores.”

The schools don’t get a letter grade, they instead are given rating. “Ranging from exceptional, high performing, commendable, acceptable, needs improvement, and priority And those ratings are created by a school’s performance in a number of areas related to student proficiency, student academic growth, attendance, graduation rates, staff retention. Those different measures compiled together make a school’s overall rating,” according to Wise.

He says some minor changes were made this year to include more schools in scores and ratings. Wise says they also added two categories in how schools are judged on closing achievement gaps. “In the previous year we looked at achievement gaps for students who had individualized education plans, who received free and reduced priced lunch or who were English language learners. We’ve added in two measures that also look at achievement gaps along racial and ethnic lines, so for students from diverse backgrounds,” Wise says.

The report card also includes a new summary review of efforts to get parents involved. “We’ve included a statewide survey of teachers on their practices in engaging parents and parental involvement,” Wise explains. “That addition isn’t scored this year — but it does provide another level of information for parent to look at in reviewing their school’s report card.”

Wise calls the report card a starting point for parents to evaluate their schools. “Parents shouldn’t stop at the ratings. They should use this as an opportunity to really engage with their childrens’ school. To say ‘tell me more about’ the areas that they are most interested in,” he says. Wise also sees the report card as something school administrators and staff can use. ” I hope that it will be a positive valuable tool at building level for principals to engage with their staff and say here’s where we’ve improved, hear a re things we think have contributed to that growth, here’s where we still face challenges — how can we continue to make progress in those areas?,” Wise says.

You can find the report card and your school’s rating at: www.educateiowa.gov/schoolreportcard. Wise says improvements will continue to the Iowa School Report Card, particularly after Iowa finalizes a new state plan for school accountability and support under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CST

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst Thursday, questioned retired General James Mattis, the man nominated to lead the U-S Defense Department. The Republican from Red Oak started by asking several yes or no questions of Mattis during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. She asked Mattis if he would commit to making cutting wasteful spending a priority, if he would commit to working to prevent sexual assault and retaliation in the military, if he would commit leveraging the “unique capabilities of our guard and reserve forces” to enhance national security missions, and he answered yes to each.

Ernst meets w/Mattis before the hearing (Radio IA photo)

She also asked if he would commit to giving her advanced notice of any changes to the gender integration policies that are in place. “I will always keep this committee informed, mam,” Mattis replied.

Ernst went on to ask Mattis about dealing with ISIS. “How should our new administration address the rising threat of ISIS in southeast Asia, and will you commit to working with me on this sir?,” Ernst asked. “Absolutely Senator,” Mattis replied, “the way we do this, I think we have to deliver a very hard blow against ISIS in the middle east so there is no sense of invulnerability or invincibility there.”

Mattis the plan to deal with ISIS has to go beyond attacking and destroying them in the Middle East. “So you don’t squeeze them in one place and then they develop in another and we are right back to square one,” Mattis says. “We’ve got to have an integrated strategy on this — and it’s got to be one that goes after the recruiting and their fundraising as well as delivering a military blow to them in the Middle East.”

Ernst, who is the first female combat veteran to serve in the U-S Senate, also asked Mattis about upgrading the ammunition used by the military to be able to better deliver a punch to the enemy.

(Radio Iowa)