Recently, officials from Iowa’s Emmetsburg Community School Board received the preliminary Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) report from the state’s Department of Education, Emmetsburg News reported. While high schoolers met their AYP goals, the same could not be said of students from Emmetsburg’s middle school and West Elementary institution.
According to John Joynt, Emmetsburg’s superintendent of schools, these students did not meet the district’s goals in the areas of reading and math. However, Joynt believes these results are related to the fact that students have switched from taking the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) to the Iowa Assessments.
"One of the things we need to remember as we look at these reports is that last year, our AYP was measured on the basis of our scores from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills," Joynt told the news source. "Several of our staff felt the new tests weren't a true assessment, because some of the areas they cover we haven't implemented through the Iowa Core."
However, Joynt did point out that any AYP deficiencies were "very slight."
According to a 2011 press release from The University of Iowa, the Iowa Assessments differ from the ITBS in that they were developed based on content from the Common Core State Standards, as well as the Iowa Core.
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