Iowa: Schools slip to "mediocrity"

Joe Dejka:

Iowa has slid from a national leader in elementary and secondary education to an average performer over the past 20 years as other states accelerated past it, according to a state report released today.

The Iowa report card -- the first released under Republican Gov. Terry Branstad -- provides an unvarnished assessment of the state's academic performance and sounds a clarion call to improve. The report, "Rising to Greatness: An Imperative for Improving Iowa's Schools," says performance on various national and state tests show "an alarming slide toward mediocrity."

In some ways, Iowa public schools have improved over years past, but other states have surged ahead, said Jason Glass, director of the Iowa Department of Education, which produced the report.

Restoring the greatness of Iowa schools will require more than "tinkering around the edges," he said.

Wisconsin has slid, as well.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 23, 2011 1:21 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas