Iowa students have begun to show improvement in English language arts, according to newly released state testing results.
Iowa’s English language arts proficiency rates ranged from 68% to 80% on the 2025 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress, according to a state Department of Education news release.
"(S)tudents who were in third grade during the 2023-24 school year showed outstanding gains as fourth graders in 2024-25, with ELA proficiency increasing 11 percentage points," the release said. "Compared to last year, ELA proficiency rates increased or were maintained in grades 3-5 and 8-10, with grades 3 and 8 showing the most significant increases of 4 and 3 percentage points, respectively."
Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) is a yearly assessment tracking proficiency in math, science and English language arts for students in third through eighth grades. Freshmen, sophomores and juniors also take some of the assessments.
Iowa officials are crediting a 2024 law as part of the reason students’ ELA scores are holding steady or improving. That year, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2618 into law, which focused on improving Iowa's literacy scores.
Reynolds praised the work being done across the state to boost literacy, including teachers taking part in professional development.
“Iowa made literacy a priority in every classroom and for every student over the past year by implementing proven, evidence-based approaches that we know work,” Reynolds said in the news release. “By empowering Iowa teachers with critical training in the Science of Reading and through strong collaboration with students, families and school partners, ELA proficiency for last year’s third graders jumped an impressive 11 percentage points just one year later.”
How Iowa students scored in math
Students’ ISASP mathematics proficiency scores ranged between 64% and 76%, according to the news release. Science proficiency scores were between 64% and 70%.
Related: Nine new laws that will affect how Iowa students learn as the 2025-26 school year begins
During Iowa's 2025 legislative session, lawmakers passed House File 784, also known as the Math Counts Act, which requires students in kindergarten through sixth grade to be tested three times a year to check math proficiency. If a student is found to be struggling, school officials are required to create a personalized support plan.
"Math proficiency in high school grades is much lower than that of earlier grade levels, with differences ranging between 4 to 12 percentage points lower," the release said. "Students in ninth grade experienced the largest long-term decrease in math proficiency, down 5 percentage points from 2019. Compared to last year, math proficiency rates do not show change beyond 1-2 percentage points, reinforcing the need for the Math Counts Act passed in 2025."
“The data show Iowa’s investment in evidence-based literacy instruction is working, and, last winter, we set out to mirror these transformational structures in math through the historic Math Counts Act,” Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow said in the release.
Science proficiency on the rise
Students’ science proficiency is also on the upswing.
"This spring, science proficiency rates show gains across all tested grades, exceeding pre-pandemic performance with a 12-percentage point increase in both 5th and 8th grade since 2019," the release said. "In just one year, science proficiency increased by 4 percentage points in fifth grade, 5 percentage points in eighth grade, and 7 percentage points in 10th grade."
While the data shows improvements in ELA, math and science scores, student subgroups including those with disabilities and English learners continue to lag their peers.
The "average differences across grade levels in ELA proficiency of 45 and 53 percentage points, respectively,” according to the state's news release. “The average proficiency rate gaps in mathematics for students with disabilities and students who are English learners was slightly lower at 41 and 45 percentage points, respectively."
Check out the Iowa Department of Education's website for more information.
How did Iowa students do in English language arts?
Iowa third grade students were among those who gained ground, scoring 68% proficient in English language arts. That is up from 64% in spring 2024.
Fourth graders' scores went from 73% in 2024 to 76% last school year.
Statewide both sixth and seventh grade students lost some ground in English language arts. Sixth grade students scored 73% proficient. This is down slightly from 75% the previous spring. Seventh graders went from 77% proficient in 2024 to 75%.
Eighth grade students were 80% proficient in ELA in spring 2025. Up from 78% of students the previous year
How did Des Moines schools students perform?
Des Moines Public School ninth grade students made one of the bigger jumps with English language arts proficiency, rising from 49% in spring 2024 to 55% in spring 2025.
Statewide, ninth grade students were 76% proficient in English language arts.
Sixth grade students lost some ground in ELA, scoring 50% in 2024 and 49% this past spring.
Des Moines schools' fourth graders were 56% proficient, which is up from 52% the previous year.
Third grade students were 46% proficient up from 43% in 2024.
related: Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill aimed at raising Iowa students' math scores. How it works:
How did English learners and students with disabilities score?
Statewide students with disabilities in third grade were 27% proficient; fourth grade 34%; fifth grade 23%; sixth, seventh and ninth grade students scored 28%; eighth grade students 34%; 27% in 10th grade and 11th grade students were 20% proficient.
In 2024, third grade students with disabilities were 24% proficient in ELA, fourth grade 30%, fifth grade 23%, sixth and seventh grade 31%, eighth grade 32%, ninth grade 28%, 10th grade 25% and 11th grade 20%.
In spring 2025, English learners in third grade were 24% proficient in English language arts, fourth grade 31%, fifth grade 18%, sixth and seventh grade 19%, eighth grade 26%, ninth and 10th grade 17%, and 11th grade 11%.
In 2024, English learners in third grade were 23% proficient in English language arts, fourth grade 26%, fifth grade 18%, sixth grade 21%, seventh and eighth grade 22%, ninth and 10th grade 15%, and 11th grade 13%.
How did Iowa students do in math?
Iowa 11th grade students held steady in math proficiency at 66% from spring 2024 to 2025.
Ninth grade students went from 63% proficient in math in 2024 to 66% this past spring and tenth grade students moved up by two percentage points, scoring 68%.
How proficient are DMPS students in math?
DMPS third grades students appear to have lost some ground between 2024 when students scored 56% proficient to this year's score of 53%. Statewide third grade students were 76% proficient.
Seventh grade students went from being 44% proficient in math in 2024 to 51%. Statewide 72% of students were proficient. Des Moines ninth grade students also saw a 6% bump from one year to the next with 43% of students proficient in 2025.
Tenth grade students' scores climbed from 42% in 2024 to 46% in 2025.
From 2024: Iowa students with disabilities, English language learners lag behind peers on testing
How did English learners and students with disabilities score?
Third grade English learners were 38% proficient in math last spring, fourth grade 33%, fifth and sixth grade 26%, seventh grade 24%, eighth grade 27%, ninth grade 14%, 10th grade 19% and 11th grade 18%.
In spring 2024, third grade English learners were 40% proficient in math, fourth grade 31%, fifth grade 28%, sixth grade 25%, seventh grade 22%, eighth grade 26%, ninth grade 12%, and 10th and 11th grade 17%.
Third grade students with disabilities were 44% proficient in math in 2025, fourth grade 40%, fifth grade 33%, sixth grade 32%, seventh grade 29%, eighth grade 30%, ninth grade 19%, 10th grade 22% and 11th grade 17%.
In 2024, third grade students with disabilities were 45% proficient in math, fourth grade 39%, fifth grade 32%, sixth grade 31%, seventh grade 26%, eighth grade 30%, ninth and 11th grade 17% and 10th grade 21%.
How did Iowa students fair in science?
Iowa fifth, eighth and 10th grade students — the only groups tested in science — saw proficiency improvements.
Fifth grade students went from 60% proficient in 2024 to 64% in spring 2025.
Eighth grade students went from 66% to 71% proficient. Proficiency scores for 10th grade students went from 60% in 2024 to 67% this past spring.
How did DMPS students fair in science?
Tenth, eighth and fifth grade Des Moines students also saw a bump in proficiency.
Tenth grade students were 44% proficient in science, up from 34% in 2024. Eighth grade students' scores went from 44% in 2024 to 49%.
Fifth grade students were 41% proficient in spring. This is up from 38% in 2024.
From 2024: The majority of public schools in Des Moines see gains in reading and math proficiency
How proficient are English learners and students with disabilities in science?
Students who are English learners were 15% proficient in science in fifth grade, 19% in eighth grade and 15% in 10th.
Students with disabilities in fifth and eighth grade were 29% proficient in science in Spring 2025, and 10th grade students were 23% proficient.
The state did not give an analysis for science in 2024.
Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or [email protected]. Follow her on X at @svhernandez, Bluesky at @svhernandez.bsky.social or at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa schools make progress on literacy and science assessments
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