Jack O’Connor Iowa Capital Office
Iowa scored relatively well in education rankings among states, but with declining test scores and declining on-time high school graduation rates, the state has fallen from its highs in previous years. , according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Sixty-seven percent of Iowa fourth graders in 2022 were not proficient in reading, which is two percentage points worse than 2019 pre-COVID rates, according to the Kids Count report. Among eighth graders, 72% were proficient in mathematics, five percentage points lower than 2019 rates.
Having good basic reading skills in fourth grade prepares students for future analytical reading, and having basic math skills in eighth grade prepares students for more complicated math, said Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa, which helped with the report.
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“We’re really looking at an incredible educational challenge where we have kids who throughout their school careers reach important milestones and probably don’t have the skills we wish they had,” Discher said.
Iowa, which ranked first in on-time high school graduation rate since the 2010-11 school year, fell to No. 3, according to the report.
Chronic absenteeism rates are also increasing: More than 1 in 4 Iowa students are chronically absent, according to the report.
The report gave Iowa an overall ranking of 13th among the 50 states in education. This ranking places Iowa behind neighboring states such as Nebraska, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Discher said to reverse these trends the state needs to go beyond simply investing more in Iowa schools. Address child food insecurity, improve children’s home internet connections and increase Medicaid accessibility for young children should lead to better test scores, Discher said.
“When you think about the fact that suddenly we’re not the first to graduate from high school, that our test scores aren’t that far from the national averages, it seems like maybe we’re starting to see real change in the data. on priorities in our state,” Discher said.
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