Cedar Rapids
Five Districts, 27% of the Problem: Iowa's Chronic Absence Concentration
Iowa has 327 school districts reporting chronic absenteeism data. Five of them account for more than a quarter of every chronically absent student in the state.
136 Iowa Districts Are at Their All-Time High Graduation Rate
When Iowa's graduation data for the Class of 2024 is sorted district by district, a striking pattern emerges: 136 districts posted their highest graduation rate in the six years of available data. Tha...
The Suburban-Urban Divide: West Des Moines at 90%, Des Moines at 71%
Drive west on Interstate 235 from downtown Des Moines to the suburb of West Des Moines and the graduation rate climbs 18 points. Drive another 10 minutes to Waukee and it climbs 26 points. Same metro ...
The Special Ed Gap Is 18 Points -- Iowa's Most Persistent Equity Divide
Special education students in Iowa graduated at 70% in 2024. The statewide average was 88%. The 18-point gap between the two is the widest equity divide in Iowa's graduation data after Native American...
Des Moines Has Lost 5 Points Since 2019 — The State Capital's Graduation Slide
Des Moines Independent, the largest school district in Iowa, graduated 71% of its students in 2024. Five years earlier, it was 76%.