Postville Community School District

The Postville Community School District in Iowa operates two schools: John R Mott Junior/High School and Cora B Darling Elementary. Both schools have relatively low rankings within the state, with John R Mott Junior/High School ranked 276th out of 338 Iowa high schools and Cora B Darling Elementary ranked 488th out of 557 Iowa elementary schools for the 2023-2024 school year.

The schools in the Postville Community School District face significant challenges in providing a high-quality education to their students. Both schools perform below the state average on most ISASP (Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress) tests, with proficiency rates ranging from around 30-75% across different grade levels and subject areas. The highest proficiency rates are in 7th grade English Language Arts at John R Mott Junior/High School (76.7%) and 8th grade English Language Arts at the same school (75.5%), while the lowest proficiency rates are in 10th grade Science at John R Mott Junior/High School (31.1%) and 8th grade Science at the same school (28.6%).

The district serves a predominantly low-income, minority student population, with over 65% of students at both schools identifying as Hispanic and over 70% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The higher student-teacher ratio at the junior/high school level compared to the elementary level may be a contributing factor to the lower test scores at the secondary level. Additionally, the higher spending per student at the elementary school level compared to the junior/high school level is an interesting finding, as one might expect the opposite due to the increased complexity of instruction at the secondary level.