Post-Secondary Readiness Report

Benton Community is working hard to make sure students have the knowledge and skills necessary to obtain employment in high-demand occupations and industries. With more than two-thirds of all jobs in Iowa expected to require post-secondary education or training beyond high school, our students need to be college- and career-ready when they leave our doors. 

For the first time, the state has comprehensive information on student post-secondary enrollment and preparedness that can be connected to every public high school in Iowa. A new web-based tool, called the Post-secondary Readiness Reports, provides information on enrollment in colleges and universities, remedial course-taking rates, and post-secondary retention and completion rates for students who graduated from public high schools in Iowa. These rates are available statewide and by Iowa high school, including ours. 

The Post-secondary Readiness Reports provide a statewide portrait of how prepared Iowa high school graduates are in the key content areas of English and mathematics, as well as provide local results to help guide improvement efforts in schools and school districts. 

While I believe this information can add to conversations in our community about how we’re preparing our students for success, these reports don’t tell the whole story. They do not reflect the work currently underway to raise student achievement and improve the college readiness of our students. Nor do they reflect many factors outside of the school setting that influence college readiness. 

While I encourage you to explore the information in the Post-secondary Readiness Reports, I also urge you to ask questions about our improvement efforts and what you can do to support our teachers and students. We all have a shared responsibility to prepare students for success. 

You can locate our school’s results, as well as more information about the Post-secondary Readiness Reports, on the following website: http://educateiowa.gov/postsecondaryreadiness.