New Teachers and Iowa Assessment Growth

New Teachers and Iowa Assessment Growth

By Turner Russell

The Atlantic School District board met on Monday, April 28. Subjects discussed included Atlantic’s Iowa Assessment scores and the open teaching positions at AHS. The high school still had four positions left to fill at the time of the board meeting. These positions are in the subjects of English, Spanish, and math.

An overview of this year’s Iowa Assessment scores showed growth in nearly all subjects and grade levels. The scores revealed that the high school’s junior class showed the “least amount of growth” but still improved. As far as subjects, there was growth in all areas except for the  high school’s science portion which declined from 77% to 74% proficiency. Many board members were pleased to see, however, that overall math grew from 76% to 79% proficiency. High school seniors were not included in this testing.

The board discussed the high school’s teaching positions that need to be filled before the start of the 2014-15 school year. AHS principal Heather McKay said that she had observed four interviews so far and still has four positions left to fill. One of the candidates for a math teacher next year was described as “very energetic.” The board members all voted to approve McKay’s recommendation to hire Morgan Peterman, a 2014 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University for one of the math positions.