Mary Jones South Tama Schools Superintendent

South Tama met growth in math area

South Tama schools moved up a notch in the 2014-15 No Child Left Behind Report with students meeting annual yearly progress (AYP) goals in math.

“Our elementary students, teachers, and staff are to be commended for making AYP Growth,” Superintendent Mary Jones commented in an email to a Chronicle request for comment. “We believe this may be attributed to our adoption of a new math textbook adoption and hope this growth will continue as these students reach middle school and high school.

“We did not do as well in reading and will continue to review of reading resources, instruction, assessment, and the professional development of teachers in this area. We have implemented a new reading series this fall in the elementary and have adopted new reading intervention materials in the high school and middle school.

With these changes, we look forward to improved student growth.”

Jones is in her first year as South Tama Superintendent having begun in the position on July 1 of this year.

On the heels of the release of the Iowa report which again included South Tama Schools as a District In Need Od Assistance, the State Board of Education voted to make a change in state assesment methods..

According to a news release issued on Thursday, Sept. 17, Board members reviewed proposed state administrative rules that would put in place the Smarter Balanced Assessments as recommended by a legislatively created task force of Iowans. Students currently take the Iowa Assessments in grades 3-8 and 11 in math and reading to meet state and federal accountability laws.

The release says board members voted unanimously to start the rule-making process required for adoption. The state’s administrative rules process, which includes public hearings and reviews by a legislative committee, takes at least 108 days.

The release continued, Board members gave several reasons they support the Smarter Balanced Assessments, including the need to accurately measure how students have progressed in reaching expectations set by Iowa’s academic standards, which outline what students in kindergarten through 12th grade should know and be able to do in math, English-language arts, science, social studies and 21st century skills.

“We need to know that Iowa schools are preparing students to be ready for the demands of college and career training,” said Charlie Edwards of Des Moines, the board’s president. “Iowa took a huge step years ago with putting the right state standards in place, and now we must follow that with an assessment that effectively tells us whether students are meeting those standards.”

According to the release Iowa law requires a new assessment method by the 2016-17 school year.