DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Education has released its yearly Iowa School Performance Profiles, a report ranking all schools in Iowa, and 12 of Des Moines Independent Community School District’s schools were in the bottom 5% of schools in the state.

Dr. Ian Roberts, the DMPS Superintendent, said that the report will help the district provide targeted support to the schools that need improvement.

“We saw the 12 schools and we looked at two years where we have to grow and improve, it just inspires our next steps around how do we make sure that we’re providing sort of targeted and differentiated supports to each of those schools,” Dr. Roberts said.

Des Moines had multiple schools improve their ranking this year, with three rising out of the bottom 5%. Dr. Roberts said that having schools improve is a good sign.

“We are excited to celebrate the fact that we have 15 schools. Right. Who had their own designation change because of the outstanding work happening in schools,” Dr. Roberts said.

Here are the 12 DMPS schools that were listed in the bottom 5% of the state.

Elementary Schools:

• Brubaker Elementary School
• King Elementary School
• Studebaker Elementary School

Middle Schools:

• Goodrell Middle School
• Harding Middle School
• Hiatt Middle School
• Hoyt Middle School
• Weeks Middle School

High Schools and Virtual Campus:

• East High School
• Lincoln High School
• North High School
• Virtual Campus

The Department of Education rankings are based on a variety of metrics including proficiencies in English, Math, and Science as well as chronic absenteeism and graduation rates.

Dr. Roberts said that Chronic Absenteeism is a problem that the district is taking steps to improve.

“Chronic absenteeism, for example, transcends any grade level, any demographic, makeup, race or ethnicity. And so that’s one of the indicators that we are being measured on. And it means that we just have to be really thoughtful about how we are going to provide support to have students attend schools,” Dr. Roberts said.

To learn more about the Iowa Department of Education’s state school ratings, visit the department’s website.