Students across Iowa will be assessed on their knowledge in April when the Iowa Assessments are administered.  Elementary and junior high schoolers take the exams, as well as freshmen, sophomores and juniors.

The 2018 Iowa Assessments will be held between April 3 and 13. Administration is still making a decision on the dates, according to head guidance counselor Erin Soedt.

“The Iowa Assessments note the progress of students and enables the school and district to adjust and improve what they are teaching the students based off of their strengths and weaknesses,” Soedt said.

One of head principal Jenni Weipert main goals along with The Iowa Department of Education’s main goals, is having continual growth throughout the course of these tests. Also,  having students graduate from high school ready for either going to college or going into the workforce.

“Colleges can look at the scores to see if students are proficient in all main core subjects,” Weipert said. “The most important thing to remember is that these tests are supposed to be valuable for everyone. They allow people over time to decide what they want to do after high school.”

Some students feel that the scores they recieve on the Iowa Assessments do not accurately represent their knowledge of certain subjects.

“The (Iowa Assessments) are alright,” sophomore India Cavazos said. “I feel like we need to be taught the content of the test before it is actually given to us so we are able to get a better score.”

Math teacher Kelly Schroeder explained how her students have little to no motivation in class when they come back from taking these Iowa Assessments. But, Schroeder can also see the beneficial sides to Iowa Assessments along with some of the downfalls.

“As a teacher I feel like it’s a good scale of knowledge and it shows what kids are coming in with and what skills they need,” Schroeder said. “But they can take away from learning time. There are a lot of things that we need to cover in our curriculum and with only having the students for a certain amount of time it can be tight with Iowa Assessments.”