Can a “perfect” district be organized in Iowa when it comes to impacting student achievement? This study looks at district characteristics that are associated with success on statewide-standardized tests.

The Iowa Department of Education (IDE) completed a follow-up study examining the relationship between test scores and per pupil expenditures. A previous study completed by the IDE revealed an inverse correlation between district per pupil expenditures and average test scores of 11th grade students. Unlike the earlier study, this follow-up study found no correlation between average district achievement levels and per pupil expenditures.

A teacher shortage exists in Iowa. This study looks at the trends in teacher retention.

Abstract—A norm-referenced growth model using growth percentiles is proposed. A caveat of criterion-referenced growth models are they tend to only capture the growth of students whose achievement are around the cut points. In the proposed model, student growth is explored as current achievement relative to student with identical prior achievement.

Graduation rate is one of the most important indicators used to measure high school success. This study examines the differences between current and proposed formulas for determining graduation rates.