Iowa (RI) — The state’s new “Math Counts Act” requires Iowa schools to start screening students’ math skills three times each year. Katie Black, principal at North Union Elementary in Fenton, says schools have been testing students’ literacy skills three times a year.
Black’s district has used a computerized test for literacy that varies the difficulty and order of questions based on a student’s answers. It will use the same type of test for math — and follow up, as the new law requires, with plans to improve the math skills of each student who lags behind their grade level.
The 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress found large reading gains among students from low income households, but Iowa 4th graders ranked 30th among the states, and 8th graders ranked 23rd.
