Seat Belts on AHSTW School Buses

Hello everyone,

The State of Iowa has been working hard to increase the safety expectations for school transportation.  One change recently adopted by the State Board is the requirement of seat belts on all buses delivered after October 1, 2019.  There is no expectation at this time to retrofit current buses with seat belts, however, we have begun purchasing all new school buses with seat belts.  In fact, we currently have four buses equipped with seat belts at this time.

With the new requirements comes the expectation that students use the belts on each route or activity  or field trip.  We are currently working at the board level to create board policy to describe usage.  With the passage of policy will come administrative rules and expectations.

At this time, we are requesting your assistance.  We ask that you talk with your student(s) about the importance of seat belt use and to help us emphasize that all passengers ‘Buckle Up’ when traveling in any school vehicle with seat belts.  We want to do all we can to promote the safe passage of our students.

  

Thank you for your assistance and discussions with your son(s) or daughter(s). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the school, as we are happy to answer any question you may have.

Respectfully,

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent of Schools

AHSTW Community School District

Statewide Testing

Statewide Testing

For many years students in the state of Iowa have taken the Iowa Test of Basic Skills as an annual assessment.  The assessments were used to measure a student’s growth from year to year and grade to grade.  Over the past few years the state of Iowa has been researching ways to better measure student progress based on the new standards and shifts in education.

Beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, the State of Iowa began assessing students using the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress or ISASP during the spring of the year.  The new assessment, developed by Pearson, was written to provide a clear and accurate assessment of learning outcomes in the areas of English/Language Arts including Reading, Math and Science. 

The 2018-2019 school year was used to collect baseline data on our student’s performance.  After testing, the evaluation and subsequent reporting of data took some time, as the data was truly baseline and proficiency benchmarks needed to be developed.  In addition to benchmarks, performance descriptors also needed to be identified.  At the conclusion of this work the following performance indicators and benchmark scores were created.

English / Language Arts / Reading: [Min. Score / Grade Level Descriptor]

Descriptors	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Not-Yet Proficient	345	350	355	260	370	385	410	435	460
Proficient	398	414	437	456	475	494	505	530	561
Advanced	447	478	513	541	569	594	618	642	660

Mathematics: [Min. Score / Grade Level Descriptor]

Descriptors	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Not-Yet Proficient	345	350	355	360	370	385	410	435	460
Proficient	390	409	429	450	469	490	513	537	559
Advanced	443	476	503	532	575	606	626	654	675

Science: [Min. Score / Grade Level Descriptor] [Assessment is only given at grade 5, 8 & 10]

Descriptors	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Not-Yet Proficient	-	-	355	-	-	385	-	435	-
Proficient	-	-	452	-	-	508	-	545	-
Advanced	-	-	542	-	-	609	-	780	-

AHSTW and school districts across the State of Iowa have received our student’s scores from last year’s testing period.  The reports that have been developed will be shared with you in the near future, most likely along with your student’s 2^nd quarter report cards. 

The reports will include pages sharing both an overview and the domain scores for each content area.  The overview pages will include your student’s scale score and achievement level, along with a short message describing skills and abilities to be proficient.  The domain score pages are designed to share your student’s percent correct in the skill area assessed for each content area.  For example:  Text Type and Purpose, 92%. 

The ISASP scores provide one data point to help you and your student’s teacher identify areas of strength and areas of development.  This data point along with classroom assessments and other district-wide assessments, such as FAST or MAP, provide us with insights into the academic performance of each student and assists us in making educational decisions to best meet our students’ needs.

After reviewing the reports please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have on the assessment or your student’s results.  Any of us will be happy to talk with you about the results.

Have a great day,

 Mr. Darin Jones

AHSTW Community School District