Every grade of Mount Vernon students that took the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) achievement tests in math, language arts and science in spring 2021 and 2022 performed above the state average of percent of students who scored “proficient/advanced” on each test.
In fact, all but one of Mount Vernon’s “proficient/advanced” test scores were above 70 percent. The scores ranged from 65 percent proficient/advanced in math on one test to 94 percent in language arts on one test. The one score in math below 70 percent was still above the state average on that test.
In addition, the percentage of Mount Vernon students who scored “not yet proficient” on the tests was below the state average percentage of students who scored “not yet proficient.” Mount Vernon’s not yet proficient scores ranged from eight percent to 35 percent, while the not yet proficient scores from schools around the state ranged from 25 percent to 50 percent.
Mount Vernon’s grades three through 11 take yearly language arts and math tests. Grades five, eight and ten also take yearly science tests. The tests weren’t given in spring 2020 when students weren’t in school due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tests are “a snapshot of one data point on one day,” superintendent Greg Batenhorst said at the Sept. 12 Mount Vernon school board meeting. “Hopefully it’s a reflection of what they’ve learned.”
The district doesn’t teach to the test, he said. “We just give it. We just trust that our curriculum is aligned with state standards and our teachers teach it well.”
Student test scoresStudent scores in the combined “proficient” and “advanced” categories were in the 60 percents on only one test in one grade out of the 42 achievement tests taken.
Scores were in the 70 percents on 16 tests out of the 42 taken.
Scores were in the 80 percents on 16 tests out of the 42 taken.
Scores were in the 90 percents on nine tests out of the 42 taken.
“Scoring 80 to 90 percent is wonderful news, and 70 percent and higher isn’t too bad,” said Batenhorst at the school board meeting.
“It’ll tell you our students are doing quite well as measured by this assessment. If we see an outlier group, that’s a good way for us to step back and see what’s going on.”
The same students in different years The school district also analyzed the test results according to how the same students performed on the tests in three different years: 2019, 2021 and 2022. No tests were given in 2020 when the schools were closed in the spring at the beginning of COVID 19.
The test results showed that out of 15 language arts, math and science groups taking the tests in these three years, 11 of the groups improved from 2019 to 2021 (or to 2022 for science, which is tested every three years), while four groups did worse on the tests in 2021 than they did in 2019.
The test results also showed that out of the 12 language arts and math groups taking the tests in 2021 and 2022, one math group stayed at the same percent proficient in those two years, four of the groups improved from 2021 to 2022, and seven of the groups did worse on the tests in 2022 than they did in 2021.
“The same students performed pretty well,” said Batenhorst. “These results speak very well to the performance of our students and the performance of our teachers. Our kids are doing very well, and we seemed to weather the COVID storm.”
Next steps To take further action, the district is checking the tests to see whether there were certain skills measured on the tests that the students weren’t understanding. The teachers will then target any deficits they find.
The district will compare these tests with other tests the students take to see if any trends occur in them, and to see if these test results were generally the same or if there were any anomalies in these results.
The teachers will discuss the test results with the principals and students’ parents. They won’t discuss them with the students.
“Michelle Boyden (Mount Vernon School District Teacher Leadership Instructional Specialist) and the principals are looking at this very carefully, and the teachers are taking a greater interest in it than in the past,” said Batenhorst.