Hudson Continues to Receive High Marks on Iowa Performance Profile

If you saw the news late last week, you likely heard the Iowa Department of Education released the statewide report cards for Iowa public school districts, also known as the Iowa Performance Profile. The performance profile uses much of the same data that is compiled in our Annual Report on Student Progress, which was published on October 23, 2024. As this report card confirms and we have come to expect, our district once again earned very high marks on this progress report. Our elementary school received a 'High Performing' designation while our high school earned a 'Commendable' designation. 

Hudson Elementary

The Iowa Performance Profile is a school accountability measure that is required under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act. This year, the Act required Iowa to develop a new system utilizing a streamlined set of core indicators that hopefully makes it easier for the consumer to understand how the scores were calculated. Some measures were removed, while at the same time new measures were added. For example, chronic absenteeism is a new data point used in the calculation of rankings. This of course is one of the reasons the state passed a law during the last legislative session to address school attendance. The other metrics that are used to determine rankings include proficiency, growth, English language proficiency (specifically those who are learning English as a second language), and post secondary readiness. The fact our schools have continued to receive high marks using both sets of metrics over multiple years speaks to the validity of the instrument and the quality of our schools. Even so, as we evaluate these data points it is wise for us as a school to look for opportunities of improvement. Let's begin with a look at the elementary school. 

In the table above, the green bar represents the performance of Hudson elementary students. The black diamond represents the state average. With the exception of chronic absenteeism, if the green bar is further to the right of the diamond, that would indicate a positive result. This graphic illustrates that our students have outperformed the state benchmark. In the case of chronic absenteeism, you'll notice that our performance is below the state benchmark, which in this case is also good: 10.79% of students labeled chronically absent compared to the statewide benchmark of 21.63%. So then, where are the opportunities for growth? 

Hudson Grades 7-11

This data suggests that the greatest opportunity for gains can be found by improving attendance, and rate of growth in both English Language Arts and Math. So how do we do this? Well, for starters our attendance and chronic absenteeism policies will help. Improvement in the growth metric is being addressed through the implementation of our initiatives. Currently, the professional training regimen that our teachers are implementing is a scientifically based instructional approach designed to improve reading outcomes. This two year initiative is already paying dividends in the results we are seeing in student achievement. In math the results are also promising! A deep dive into our data would suggest that in those grades where the program is being implemented with fidelity, the results are phenomenal. Consider this: the sixth grade boasts a 97% proficiency rate in math! Even so, it is incumbent on our system to be attuned to our subgroups. A learning gap exists for students with disabilities and those in the low socio-economic stratta compared to the overall student population. 

Turning now to the high school, what you should first take note of is the fact that there are many more indicators. Here you should note that graduation rates as well as post-secondary readiness-college credit, and post secondary readiness-work based learning are measured. Using the same analytic technique that was employed above, we can use the same logic to quickly understand how our secondary students compared against the state benchmark. Again, if the green bar is to the right of the diamond, it indicates that our students outperformed the benchmark. In this instance, the opportunities for improvement are more readily apparent. First, you should notice that our chronic absenteeism rate is slightly higher than the statewide benchmark. (Remember, this is one area where we would like to see the green bar on the left hand side of the black diamond.) In the case of Hudson, 22.4% of our secondary students were identified as being chronically absent compared to the statewide average of 21.63%. So what are the other opportunities for growth? Well again the table above offers some insight: growth in math and English would be a good place to start. 

Some of the strategies that are being deployed to foster improved student outcomes look a bit different at the secondary level. For starters, the LTRS training that is being deployed at the elementary is designed primarily to address holistically the scientific process of teaching young people to read. At the secondary level, our focus is to identify through screening (which is new this year) which students are having reading or math difficulty and to target specific interventions to those subgroups of students. Likewise, we see opportunities for improvement specifically in our post-secondary readiness index as our career and technical education strands begin to attract more students, particularly as more program offerings come online. 

In the final analysis we have a lot to be proud of! Not only are we surpassing the state benchmarks in the vast majority of criterion, our schools rank among the top in the Cedar Valley and in the NICL conference! But at the same time, we must look for opportunities to improve our standing and implement those strategies that will enable us to close the achievement gap, ensuring that all our students find success in school.