Mason City High School will begin ISASP (Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress) testing on Tuesday of this week. ISASP results are used to determine how a school measures up against other schools in Iowa and how to allocate resources to best improve scores.
Mason City’s results from last year (2024) showed an increase in both English/Language Arts and in Math proficiency compared to the 2023 results, but was still below the state average.
This year, staff at Mason City have worked with administrators to bring up test scores. According to principal Dan Long, all teachers have been working with students on practice testing, skills, and goal setting.
“This year we have had a more comprehensive plan to help raise scores,” said Long. “All teachers are involved in some way to help promote improvement.” Math teachers, for example, have administered practice tests and used the resulting data to re-teach areas identified as needing improvement.
“We are really promoting effort on tests for all students in grades 9-11 while we stress the importance of these tests to our students and school,” said Long.
Something new for Mason City this year is the addition of incentives for high achievement. “One thing being planned at this time is a school-wide tailgate in the spring for grades 9-11 with activities for students,” said Long, adding, “this will be done to celebrate students that gave effort, made improvements in their test scores, or were proficient.”
A school-wide survey was shared with students at MCHS on student attitudes about testing and how to best incentivize results. “Feedback from the survey will be used to plan some of the activities during the tailgate,” said Long.
But why do ISASP scores matter? “Our performance on the ISASP is one measure considered when our school/district looks at data to help make decisions about how to keep making improvements,” said Long.
The data is also used to compare Mason City to other districts around the state. This data is made public on the Iowa School Performance profile.
According to Long, this data does not completely accurately describe the overall performance of Mason City. “One of the challenges that larger schools like MCHS face is that we are scored or rated by all subgroups,” said Long.
ISASP subgroups, according to the ISASP Technical Guide, include students with low socio-economic status, students with disabilities, English learners, and various races/ethnicities. In order for a subgroup to be scored, there must be twenty or more students attending that school who qualify for a subgroup.
Because Mason City is a comparatively large school with a high diversity level, nearly all of these subgroups are included in its proficiency report.
“We want students to perform their best any time we are testing or measuring our progress,” said Long. “Making growth is always something we strive for, regardless of what our data is at currently.”
ISASP testing at MCHS will commence on Tuesday morning. Tests will be taken during an extended first period with shortened periods the rest of the day. To view the full ISASP schedule, click here.
