Iowa Test of Basic Skills

Each child in Grades K-6 participates in the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. This nationally normed test provides information as to what each child has learned in the areas of Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science. The Iowa Test of Basic Skills is an academic achievement test. HFE comosite scores range from the 91st percentile for first grade to the 96th percentile for the fourth grade.

Although nationally standardized tests do indicate the skill level of students, they do not measure the depth and breadth of the knowledge our children have learned througout the year. Nor do they indicate that Holy Family Elementary School strongly emphasizes religion, Catholic moral teachings, character, discipline, and manners.

Comparison to Local Public Schools

The following two graphs illustrate Holy Family Elementary School's students performance on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills compared with students in the local public schools.

Percentiles

Percentile is the status or relative standing of a school in comparison to other schools in the country. For example, if a school earns a percentile rank of 70 on a particular test, it shows that the school scored higher than 70 percent of the schools in the norm group and that 30 percent of the schools in the norm group scored higher.