Dive Brief:
- Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa is trying to shake past scandals and its reputation as a low performer with a renewed focus on equity.
- Under current superintendent Thomas Ahart, the district has expanded access to advanced courses and worked with the district’s growing English language learner population.
- Proficiency rates in the district’s struggling schools are slowly rising, but students’ growth on state tests has been strong.
Dive Insight:
Though Ahart has directed the district’s focus toward its disadvantaged populations, he isn’t tracking their success by the measure many civil rights advocates are still hanging onto: testing.
“One of the single biggest things I’ve done as superintendent is I don’t put as much stock in these test scores as everybody else does,” Ahart told District Administration. He has focused on alternative measures like Advanced Placement participation and performance. Since he has taken the reins, access to programs like AP and International Baccalaureate has increased.
In many districts, resources are often inequitably distributed across schools, with poor schools struggling to meet the same needs as affluent counterparts with more resources. In Des Moines, Ahart has built new schools in the district’s neediest neighborhoods and tried to sidestep Iowa’s strict funding formula to reallocate more funds to schools with higher English language learner populations. Under his supervision, the district also launched a 1:1 program in one of the city’s poorest schools.
