The Iowa Department will release information on its waiver request for the No Child Left Behind Program today. Mid-Prairie and Keota Superintendent Mark Schneider says they hope to change how they report competency levels to the federal government. Currently, Iowa’s competency level for reading and math is the 41st percentile. The state can report a student as above or below that line, but the waiver hopes to add two new options for reporting. They want to be able to incorporate improvements into the system. So a student could be reported as above the 41stpercentile with improvement from the previous year, or above with no improvement, and the same for below the 41st percentile. Mark Schneider says Mid-Prairie Schools already report that way to the state. He thinks it’s a better system for understanding students’ growth over the years rather than just a flat line to report on. KCII will continue to follow this waiver request as it’s considered by the federal government.
