DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education released new spring 2024 assessment results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) for students in grades 3-11. State-level results from the spring 2024 ISASP show student achievement reaching or exceeding pre-pandemic levels across most grade levels in both English language arts and mathematics.
Significant proficiency gaps remain among students with disabilities and students who are English language learners in both English language arts and mathematics. In English language arts, the overall results show modest long-term progress with some grades showing significant gains. In mathematics, the overall long-term results remain steady and do not show meaningful progress in most grade levels.
“We celebrate the successes of our learners, and we continue to work in partnership with families and educators to provide all students what they need to meet high expectations and realize their incredible potential,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow. “Informed by our student achievement data, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthening early literacy and narrowing and closing achievement gaps experienced by students with disabilities and students who are English language learners.”
The data shows significant proficiency gaps between overall student results and specific student groups. Students with disabilities and students who are English learners experienced much lower proficiency rates than their classmates, with average differences across grade levels of 45 and 53 percentage points in English language arts, respectively. The average proficiency gaps in mathematics for students with disabilities and students who are English learners are 41 and 45 percentage points, respectively.
Long-term results in English language arts, proficiency increased across grades 4-8, with significant gains between 7 and 8 percentage points in grades 6-8 since 2019. The results show modest proficiency decreases in grade 3, informing Iowa’s focus on evidence-based early literacy instruction, as well as in grades 9-11 since 2019. When compared to last year, English language arts proficiency rates improved or remained steady across all grade levels with the exception of grade 3.
Long-term results in mathematics, proficiency increased across grades 3, 5-6, and 8, with a significant gain of 5 percentage points in grades 3 since 2019. The results show modest proficiency decreases in grade 4 and 10, with a significant decrease of 7 percentage points in grade 9, informing Iowa’s focus on Algebra I in grade 9 in its new mathematics academic standards. Mathematics proficiency rates show relatively little to no growth across most grades when compared to last year, with some grade levels up a percentage point and other grades down a percentage point.
The ISASP is administered each spring and is the general summative accountability assessment in Iowa that meets the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The assessment reflects what’s being taught in Iowa classrooms and how students are progressing toward grade-level expectations outlined in Iowa’s academic standards. The ISASP helps teachers understand where students are succeeding and where they may need more help. Iowa’s state summative assessment participation rate was 99 percent in 2023-24 and 2022-23 and 98 percent in 2021-22 and 2020-21, ensuring that the results yielded a true picture of student performance.
As part of statewide efforts to improve student proficiency, and for the first time in over a decade, the Iowa State Board of Education adopted new academic standards for mathematics in April and new academic standards in English language arts in June. The standards, which outline what students must learn in order to be prepared for success as they progress each year and after high school, were revised to ensure they are rigorous, content-rich and align with best practices. In over two dozen sessions this summer, the Department provided professional learning to support the implementation of the standards in the 2024-25 school year to nearly 2,000 mathematics educators and over 1,300 English language arts educators.
The standards were reviewed and revised by a team consisting of elementary and secondary educators, administrators and area education agency partners, representatives from institutions of higher education, community members including parents and industry, and content experts from the Iowa Department of Education. State law requires an ongoing review of Iowa’s academic standards, including public comment, to ensure content is current and aligns with best practices.
The spring 2023-24 ISASP state-level results, which include graphs and charts, can be found on the Iowa Department of Education website.
