National report shows Iowa is No. 1 in graduation rates again

Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise recently released the following statement in response to a new National Center for Education Statistics report showing Iowa again leads the country in high school graduation rates:
“We’re proud that Iowa continues to be the national leader in high school graduation rates,” Wise said. “At the same time, we have work to do to ensure all students are prepared to succeed beyond high school. This work supports the Future Ready Iowa goal of 70 percent of Iowans having education or training beyond high school by the year 2025 to ensure the workforce is equipped with the skills and education employers need.”
In Iowa, 91.3 percent of students in the Class of 2016 completed high school within four years. The state’s graduation rate has climbed three percentage points over a six-year period.
The NCES report shows that the nationwide graduation rate is at an all-time high of 84.1 percent. The only other state with a graduation rate higher than 90 percent was New Jersey, at 90.1 percent.
In Lake Mills, the graduation rates outpaced the statewide number,  at 96.3 percent for 2016 and 94.3 percent for 2017
“We continue to work under the philosophy of “Doing whatever it takes” to help find ways for students to learn,” said Lake Mills Superintendent, Chad Kohagen. He noted that with state funding becoming tighter in recent years, many districts, have had to try to do more with less. “We continue to look for and utilize resources from within our own district, neighboring districts (content specific PLCs), as well as online resources, and resources through our AEA.” He added, “We have restructured our day to provide more individual student support and the addition of Teacher Leadership initiative has been a positive for our district moving forward. When the legislators talk about the resources (money) going to schools, and schools are doing everything they can, that is a large part of why Iowa is number one in the nation in graduation rates.”