Pt. 1- South Tama Middle School in Toledo – South Tama Supt. Jones and staff explain evaluation

The second annual installment of the Iowa School Report Card was released last week and it brought some good news for the South Tama School District. The Elementary School in Tama has advanced from a “needs improvement” in 2015 to an “acceptable” rating in this years Report Card.

Both South Tama high and middle schools maintained their acceptable ratings. The Report Card and the analysis provided by Superintendent Mary Jones and staff provides some real insight into how South Tama schools are improving and how they are addressing deficiencies, as well.

“We are so excited the Elementary is rewarded for their hard work by moving up a level on the report card,” Superintendent Mary Jones said in an email response to The Chronicle.

The Iowa Department of Public Instruction, explains: “The Iowa School Report Card delivers on a component of the comprehensive education reform legislation adopted by Iowa lawmakers in 2013. The legislation, House File 215, directed the Iowa Department of Education to develop a process for evaluating the performance of each school on certain measures and to “arrive at an overall school performance grade and report card” that is posted to the Department’s website.”

The analysis of the Report Card by Superintendent Jones and staff in today’s issue centers on the Middle School in Toledo. In articles II and II to be reported in upcoming issues of The Chronicle and Tama News-Herald the elementary and high schools in Tama will be featured.

Evaluation of the South Tama Middle School Report Card for 2016:

School ratings represent a combination of scores selected by the Iowa Department of Education. Schools receive a score for each measure, and then the scores are combined into an overall score. Based on the overall score, one of the following ratings is assigned to each school: Exceptional, High-Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, and Priority.

South Tama County Middle School’s overall score was 58.4 percent and falls under the Acceptable category. The first measure of the School Report Card is Proficiency. Proficiency is the percentage of students scoring proficient or better on reading and mathematics assessments. South Tama MS scored 71.8 percent and the state average is 79 percent.

The second measure is Closing the Achievement Gap. This is a measure that reflects a statewide goal of narrowing the gap in achievement for students with disabilities, students who are eligible for free and reduced-priced meals, English language learners, and minority students. South Tama MS scored 54.8 percent with our free and reduced lunch, IEP, and ELL students and the state average is 50 percent. We also scored 56.6 percent with our minority students and the state average is again 50percent. These scores show that compared to other schools, STC Middle Schools is doing a better job of closing the achievement gap.

The third measure is College and Career Ready Growth. This indicator measures the percentage of students who are making the year-to-year growth necessary to be ready for college and career training by the end of high school. South Tama MS scored 46.8percent and the state average is 49.1 percent.

The fourth measure is Annual Expected Growth. This is a measure of the students making a year of academic growth in a year’s time on reading or mathematics assessments. The MS scored 51.9 percent and the state average is 53.2 percent.

The fifth measure is College and Career Readiness. This measures the percentage of students who score at or above a level of performance in reading and mathematics that predicts a higher probability of postsecondary success. South Tama MS scored 27.1 percent and the state average is 39. 8percent.

The sixth measure is Attendance. This is a measure of the daily attendance of students, which is the total number of days students were enrolled and present, divided by the total number of possible attendance days. South Tama MS scored 94.3 percent, which is an increase from 94.1 percent last school year.

The seventh measure is Staff Retention. This is the percentage of teachers, school administrators and other licensed staff members who remained employed in a school over consecutive school years. South Tama MS scored 85.7 percent and the state average is 86.4percent.

STC Middle School continues to focus on core instruction and intervention. We are now using a common District Instructional Framework and a SIOP lesson-planning model for our lessons because it is good for all kid. To address our deficiency in the area of College and Career Readiness in math and reading, STC MS has implemented a Trojan Time period where kids are engaged in academic interventions.

This year we started using the i-Ready reading program with our struggling readers and Mathematics is used for math intervention.

Additionally, the MS has a new Strive for Five attendance incentive that promotes and encourages good student attendance. The goal of the MS is to provide an environment in which students and staff members enjoy coming to school every day.

The MS will continue to work hard at fostering positive relationships while setting high academic expectations for our students. South Tama Middle School was awarded the PBIS Recognition Award from the state of Iowa for being an example Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports school.