ISASP results are in

Results of the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) determined Newton Community School District students across all campuses scored above the state average in most grades, particularly in the elementary schools and Berg Middle School.

Administrators released the results of the ISASP one week ago. According to the Iowa Department of Education, the ISASP replaces the Iowa Assessments as the accountability tests for all students in the state. The test was developed by Iowa Testing Programs at the University of Iowa and tests students based on three subjects: English-language arts, mathematics and science.

ISASP’s English and math tests were administered in every grade starting with third graders and ending with juniors in high school, while science was only dispensed to fifth graders, eighth graders and high school sophomores. Unlike previous statewide education assessments, the ISASP was not timed. Students completed the tests in spring 2019.

Bret Miller, director of teaching and learning, said ISASP is more closely aligned to the Iowa Core and is testing what kids should be learning, which he said is a good thing but there is also going to a change in focus as the school district transitions to this new method of assessment.

“There’s going to be more of a focus on application of learning and deeper levels of thinking — not just ‘Can you memorize things?’” Miller said.

Before ISASP, Newton schools were administering the Iowa Assessments for the past seven or eight years. Miller said the district knew the state test needed to be updated, but it has been a process to do so. Schools were told several times the state would switch to something new but to no real success, until recently.

“To me, overall, I am happy,” Miller said. “In education you’re never happy enough. If we were the second district in the state, I’d say I want us to be first. And if we were the first, I’d still say I want us to be better … To me, it’s validation of how hard the teachers and students are working.”

Since Miller’s introduction to the school district almost three years ago, he noticed Newton schools have focused on the most important things students need to learn from the Iowa Core.

The results of the ISASP tests, Miller said, showcase that effort. Knowing the NCSD is “outperforming the state average almost across the board is really, really nice.”

With the ISASP completed, school districts can now see the proficiencies of their students by grade. Included in the results are percentages of students who are advanced, proficient or not yet proficient. The results also combine the percentage totals for proficient and advanced:

• English-language arts: NCSD scored above the proficient-advanced state average in grades three, four, six, seven and nine.

• Mathematics: NCSD scored above the proficient-advanced state average in grades three, four, five, seven and eight.

• Science: NCSD scored above the proficient-advanced state average in grade eight.

Miller said these results tell him that students are engaged and being taught the right things beyond just memorization.

“When you have a district with our demographic makeup, all the research is going to tell you — and it would be true of all students everywhere — to build relationships,” Miller said. “And I think we start that early. We’re able to do that.”

The next step is for the school district to dig down into the data of each subject and determine which domains the district can improve upon. This may impact teachers’ curriculums and encourage some to spend more time on areas where Newton students need improvement. The tests will be taken again this coming spring.

To read ISASP results in full, visit NCSD website at newton.k12.ia.us.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com