Dr. Jorgensen's Highland Highlights - May 28, 2019
May 28, 2019
Last fall, I shared the results of how Highland Community School District compared with
neighboring districts and buildings on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The Highland
Buildings did very well on their scores and were as good or better than most all neighboring
school districts on those results. The ESSA components based primarily on accountability
scores and educational data based on testing standards for regular education and special
education students as well as any reportable sub-groups the district may have.
On May 21, 2019, the Iowa Department of Education reported out the Iowa School Performance
Profiles for every school district and building in the state of Iowa. In the past, this was “The Iowa
Report Card”. The Iowa School Performance Profiles gives each school building throughout
the state a score and a grade based on several performance indicators. The results for every
school district and building are available at iaschoolsperformance.gov.
Iowa School Performance Profiles is an online tool showing how public schools have performed
on certain measures. The website includes school scores, ratings and additional education
data. Iowa publishes reports cards reflecting school performance under state and federal law.
Report cards help stakeholders understand how their school buildings are serving students and
empowers them to compare performances.
The Iowa School Performance Profiles are much more comprehensive than the ESSA reports.
The ESSA scores are primarily based on assessment scores. The Iowa School Performance
includes suspension and expulsion data, chronic absenteeism, post-secondary readiness
standards, state assessment participation, national assessment of educational progress results,
and progress on state goals. Each school building is rated into a category. “Exceptional, (Top
2%) High-Performing (next 11%) , Commendable (Top 40%) , Acceptable (41-77%) , Needs
Improvement (Bottom 17 %) and Priority. (Bottom 5%) ”
I am proud and please to announce that the Highland Community School District Elementary
Building, Middle School and High School scored very well on the Iowa School Performance
Profile. In fact, we scored better or equal to all of our neighboring school district’s buildings in
most every category. The Elementary and High School were both grade as being Acceptable
while the Middle School scored even better as Commendable. The Elementary Building score
was 53.49, the High School was 53.06 and the Middle School scored 58.51. I encourage you
to visit the site and compare these scores with other buildings of the same grade levels. While
the Highland CSD is pleased with these indicators, we are not yet satisfied and strive to be even
better in the future. No Washington County or surrounding area school building scored above
commendable and we would like to be in the High-Performing or Exceptional categories in the
near future. We believe we are implementing high expectations and rigorous standards in our
curriculum. I encourage our residents to view and compare results to confirm that the Highland
CSD is providing students with an excellent education in comparison with neighbor districts.
