Waterloo
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...
Iowa's White-Black Graduation Gap Is 15 Points -- And It Hasn't Budged
Iowa's statewide graduation rate returned to 88% in 2024, matching its pre-pandemic level for the first time since 2019. By the most visible metric, the state has recovered.
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%.
One in Three: Waterloo and Davenport's Persistent Absence Crisis
Correction (2026-05-09): An earlier version of this article reported the 2021-22 gap between Waterloo and the state average as 12.2 points. The correct value is 12.9 points.