DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education today released new spring 2022 assessment results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress for Iowa public school students in grades 3-11. The results show signs of recovery and progress with the majority of grades improving from the previous year.

State-level results from the 2021-22 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) demonstrate proficiency gains in many grades with English language arts performance mainly returning to pre-pandemic levels in grades 3-8. Eleventh grade results declined the most from last year, dropping four percentage points.

The ISASP results in mathematics increased in grades 3-7. Both grades 8 and 10 experienced a one-percentage point decrease, while grade 9 had a two-percentage point decrease in the percent of students scoring proficient when compared to last year. Eleventh grade results declined five percentage points. Science, which is assessed in grades 5, 8 and 10, exceeded pre-pandemic levels in all three grades.

“This data reflects Iowa educators’ commitment to addressing the individual needs of their students and how the use of evidence-based supports can help students grow and flourish,” said Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo. “We are moving in the right direction in many areas, but there is still work to be done. This crucial data will help schools with their improvement planning, target relief funds to address high-need areas and recapture the growth Iowa students experienced prior to the pandemic.”

The ISASP is administered each spring and is the summative accountability assessment in Iowa that meets the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ISASP reflects what’s being taught in Iowa classrooms and how students are progressing toward grade-level expectations outlined in Iowa’s academic standards. This makes the ISASP one measure that helps teachers understand where students are succeeding and where they may need more help.

State assessments play an important role in advancing educational equity, identifying student needs and targeting the resources to address them. This data exists because the vast majority of students over the past two years participated in the ISASP. Iowa’s participation rate for the ISASP was 98 percent in 2020-21 and 97 percent in 2021-22, ensuring that the results yielded a true picture of student performance.

The spring ISASP results by district can be found on the Iowa Department of Education website at: https://educateiowa.gov/documents/proficiency-district/2022/09/2021-2022-isasp-proficiency-rates-district-and-grade

By Jared Strong (Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Last week was very dry in Iowa, with the northwest quadrant of the state having little or no rain, according to the state’s weekly weather summary.

Yet, soybean conditions improved and corn was unchanged from a week ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Tuesday. Corn and soybeans were both rated 66% good or excellent in that report, a 3-percentage-point increase for beans.

The state averaged about a quarter inch of rain, which is less than a third of what is normally expected. The heaviest rainfall last week was in an area that is already sufficiently wet: More than 2 inches fell in far eastern Iowa.

The state also averaged about 1.4 degrees above normal temperatures. The trend of higher temperatures and lower rainfall amounts is expected to continue this fall.

The state as a whole is the driest it has been all year, according to a recent U.S. Drought Monitor report. An updated report that takes the arid past week into consideration is due Thursday.

Southeast Iowa currently has the driest soil, the USDA report said. Less than 20% of topsoil and subsoil in that region have adequate moisture for crops. In northeast Iowa, more than 85% of soil has adequate or surplus moisture.