Edited release
08/31/23
The Iowa Department of Education released new spring 2023 assessment results from the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress for students in grades 3-11. The overall results show little improvement over last year with significant proficiency gaps between certain groups of students.
Director McKenzie Snow said that Iowa prioritized keeping schools open and students in the classroom throughout the pandemic, and students experienced minimal COVID-related learning loss compared to the nation. At the same time, statewide assessment results show that overall student proficiency is not significantly different from last year and concerning achievement gaps persist, especially among students who are English learners, students with disabilities and students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
State-level results from the 2022-23 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress shows relatively little to no growth across most grades in English language arts with some grade levels up a percentage point and other grades down a percentage point. Sixth grade results increased the most from last year, going up four percentage points.
Mathematics scores showed some small improvement across all grade levels.
The Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress is administered each spring and 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. Iowa’s state summative assessment participation rate was 99 percent in 2022-23, 98 percent in 2021-22 and 98 percent in 2020-21, ensuring that the results yielded a true picture of student performance.
Full results of this spring’s assessment can be found at https://educateiowa.gov/data-reporting/education-statistics-pk-12#Student_Performance .