Iowa School Districts Research Articles

Iowa School Districts Were More Likely To Adopt COVID-19 Mask Mandates Where Teachers Were Unionized.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, safely reopening schools has been one of the most pressing public health challenges in the United States. At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly encouraged schools to require mask wearing. Although teachers unions frequently supported such policies, the adoption of mask mandates was uneven. We examined whether teachers unions were associated with mask mandates, using proprietary data on school district-level unionization and mask mandates from the Iowa State Education Association, the state's main teachers union. We found that a 1-standard-deviation increase in the teachers' unionization rate was associated with a 12.5percent relative increase in the probability that a school district adopted a mask mandate. These findings, which are robust to multiple specification checks, help illuminate an important mechanism by which labor unions have informed safety policies in schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fiscal Effects of Tax Increment Financing on Rural School Districts: The Case of Iowa

Tax increment financing (TIF)—an economic (re)development tool originally designed for urban cities—has been available to rural communities for decades. This is the first study to focus solely on TIF in rural school districts, to examine TIF effects on school districts’ property tax base and rates, and to conduct event-study estimations of TIF effects. The study finds that TIF has mostly positive effects on rural school districts’ property tax base and mixed effects on property tax rates, and that TIF-induced increases in tax base come primarily from residential property and slightly from commercial property. The study’s findings assert the importance of returned excess increment if rural school districts in Iowa and many other states are to benefit from TIF.

Is a Face-to-Face Engineering Design Workshop Possible During the Pandemic?

Possible? Sure. Probable? No. A wise choice based on what was known at the time? No. Desired by public K-12 school districts in Iowa during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020? Mostly no. But let us fill in some details.

ILED: Iowa Leadership in Engineering Design

Based on results of a 2018 Iowa Science Teacher Section survey, the Iowa Science Foundation of the Iowa Academy of Science funded a professional development opportunity focused on engineering design (ISF 19–01). A free one–day workshop was created for school districts in Iowa, and the first was held in fall of 2019. During this workshop, teachers learned more about engineering design, experienced engineering design activities from kindergarten through high school levels, and brainstormed facets of engineering design. The day ended with guiding teachers in writing their own engineering design activities. The workshop was successful and well–received according to a post–workshop survey using a five–point rating scale. Comments included “I have a better understanding of how to use engineering design in my classroom” (4.56/5.00), “I was able to make good progress in developing an engineering design activity” (4.67/5.00), and “I would recommend this workshop to friends and colleagues” (4.78/5.00. Participating teachers learned skills that will impact more than 1,100 students, and additional workshops continue to be scheduled.

Teacher leadership development: Tracking one district’s progress over three years

This study tracks the progress of one Iowa school district over the course of three years through its implementation of a Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) model, designed in response to a statewide TLC system initiative. A survey administered at baseline and at the conclusion of each of three pilot years measured teacher leadership development, identified specific areas for improvements, and guided the district’s teacher leadership support efforts. Scores from the items demonstrated evidence of reliability and district leaders reported that resulting data were beneficial to an implementation plan that yielded increased planned retention and improved practice, two goals for the TLC model. Implications for the use of the survey tool, policy, and practice around teacher leadership development are discussed in the context of the collective leadership of teachers and administrators together.

Compiled acoustic and indoor environmental condition data from 220 K-12 classrooms

A team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is currently engaged in a comprehensive study of indoor environmental conditions in K-12 classrooms. Information about the indoor air quality, thermal comfort, lighting, and acoustic conditions have been collected from 220 classrooms across five school districts in Nebraska and Iowa. This paper will present an overview of the acoustic results with regards to sound levels and reverberation time as well as how these results vary based on grade level and school district. This paper will also present an initial overview of the relationship between acoustic metrics and some of the metrics from indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and lighting such as carbon dioxide levels, temperature, and electric illuminance levels. [Work supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Grant Number R835633.]

Validation of the Physical Education Teacher’s Efficacy for Standards-Based Instruction (ESBI) Scale

The main purpose of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Efficacy for Standards-Based Instruction (ESBI) scale, developed by the current investigators, and to compare the ESBI with two other self-efficacy scales that had been used in physical education (TESPE, Chase, Lirgg, & Carson, 2001;TSES, Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). The ESBI, TESPE, and TSES were administered to 60 physical education teachers from 16 school districts in Iowa. Cronbach’s alpha (internal consistency) for the ESBI was .96, and the Equal-Length Spearman Brown split-half coefficient inferred good reliability (r = .90). The ESBI demonstrated better validity and reliability than the previously developed TESPE (Cronbach’s alpha = .89; Spearman Brown split-half coefficient = .86) and TSES (Cronbach’s alpha = .84; Spearman Brown split-half coefficient = .79). As a test of concurrent validity for ESBI, Pearson’s product moment correlations were performed to test the extent to which the total efficacy scores and subscales were related. The ESBI, TESPE, and TSES all had significant positive correlations with each other (p < .01). Validation of the three self- efficacy scales was also performed using the ranked Physical Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (PECAT) score for each district as an independent measure. The ESBI scale produced a low but significant correlation (r = .28, p < .05) with PECAT, but TSES and TESPE were not significant. This suggested that ESBI was more related to standards and benchmarks than the other two measures. These results indicate that the ESBI has shown good (versus TESPE) or better (versus TESES) validity and reliability compared with previous work. This work also supports Bandura’s (1986) notion of specificity for self-efficacy.

Introduction to Special Issue on the Property Tax and the Financing of K–12 Education

reschovsky@lafollette.wisc.edu The property tax is the mainstay of local K–12 education revenue. Public schools derive over 80 percent of their local own-source revenue from the property tax (Reschovsky 2014). At the same time, nearly half of total property tax dollars collected in the United States is used to finance public elementary and secondary education (U.S. Census Bureau 2013, 2014). This close link between property taxation and school finance is one motivation for this special issue. Another motivation is the state and local fiscal aftermath of the Great Recession. Over the past few years the financing of public elementary and secondary education has become particularly challenging. In real per pupil terms, total revenues devoted to public education fell by 6.2 percent between the 2008–09 and 2011–12 school years.2 Although comprehensive revenue data are not yet available for the most recent years, existing evidence points to a continued decline in financial support for public education. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Quarterly Summary of State and Local Tax Revenue indicate that per capita real local government property tax revenues (for school and non-school purposes) declined by 3 percent between fiscal years 2011 and 2013 (Collins and Langley 2014). And a survey conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that in 33 states, real

Achieving symbiosis: Working through challenges found in co-teaching to achieve effective co-teaching relationships

This grounded theory study explored how secondary school co-teachers in an urban Eastern Iowa school district resolved challenges to co-teaching relationships. Five partnerships (N = 10) participated in focus group interviews, interpersonal behavior questionnaires, classroom observations, and individual interviews. The resulting theory, Achieving Symbiosis, explains how co-teaching partnerships became effective in their collaboration through using personal differences and strengths to become interdependent. This theory provides helpful strategies grounded in the field for co-teachers as they seek to begin or improve collaborative teaching relationships, for administrators as they support co-teachers, and for teacher educators as they prepare students for collaborative partnerships.

Can we build an efficient response to the prescription drug abuse epidemic? Assessing the cost effectiveness of universal prevention in the PROSPER trial

PurposePrescription drug abuse has reached epidemic proportions. Nonmedical prescription opioid use carries increasingly high costs. Despite the need to cultivate efforts that are both effective and fiscally responsible, the cost-effectiveness of universal evidence-based-preventive-interventions (EBPIs) is rarely evaluated. This study explores the performance of these programs to reduce nonmedical prescription opioid use. MethodsSixth graders from twenty-eight rural public school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania were blocked by size and geographic location and then randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions (2002–2010). Within the intervention communities, prevention teams selected a universal family and school program from a menu of EBPIs. All families were offered a family-based program in the 6th grade and received one of three school-based programs in 7th-grade. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of each school program by itself and with an additional family-based program were assessed using propensity and marginal structural models. ResultsThis work demonstrates that universal school-based EBPIs can efficiently reduce nonmedical prescription opioid use. Further, findings illustrate that family-based programs may be used to enhance the cost-effectiveness of school-based programs. ConclusionsUniversal EBPIs can effectively and efficiently reduce nonmedical prescription opioid use. These programs should be further considered when developing comprehensive responses to this growing national crisis.

Effects of PROSPER on the Influence Potential of Prosocial Versus Antisocial Youth in Adolescent Friendship Networks

We test the hypothesis that an evidence-based preventive intervention will change adolescent friendship networks to reduce the potential for peer influence toward antisocial behavior. Altering adolescents' friendship networks in this way is a promising avenue for achieving setting-level prevention benefits such as expanding the reach and durability of program effects. Beginning in 2002, the Promoting School-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER) randomized control trial assigned two entire sixth-grade cohorts of 14 rural and small town school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania to receive the intervention and of 14 to control. A family-based intervention was offered in sixth grade and a school-based intervention was provided in seventh grade. More than 11,000 respondents provided five waves of data on friendship networks, attitudes, and behavior in sixth through ninth grade. Antisocial influence potential was measured by the association between network centrality and problem behavior for each of 256 networks (time, grade cohort, and school specific). The intervention had a beneficial impact on antisocial influence potential of adolescents' friendship networks, with p < .05 for both of the primary composite measures. Current evidence-based preventive interventions can alter adolescents' friendship networks in ways that reduce the potential for peer influence toward antisocial behavior.

Local Wellness Policy Strength and Perceived Implementation of School Nutrition Standards across Three States

Congress sought to address escalating rates of childhood obesity by mandating local wellness policies (LWP) (Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004). Previous research has examined LWP content and quality; however, data relative to LWP implementation is limited, and none has examined the relationship between LWP quality and implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of LWP strength on perceived implementation of LWP components. Data collected from school districts in California, Iowa, and Pennsylvania included district LWPs and online surveys at the district (n = 23) and school levels (n = 76). LWPs were scored using a standardized coding tool. Binary and multinomial regression models were used to examine the predictive ability of covariates and independent factors on perceived implementation of reimbursable school meals and nutrition guidelines for competitive foods sold and offered. Overall LWP strength score did not predict perceived implementation of reimbursable school meals or nutrition guidelines for competitive foods. LWP component strength scores for reimbursable meals and nutrition guidelines did not consistently predict perceived implementation of those components. State and urban-centric locale did predict perceived implementation of some LWP components, particularly nutrition guidelines for competitive foods sold and offered. State was a particularly influential factor in the implementation of LWPs in this study, likely due to differences in state policies and laws. Overall LWP, reimbursable school meals, and nutrition guidelines for competitive foods strength scores do not predict perceived implementation of reimbursable school meals and nutrition guidelines for competitive foods.

Economic Analysis of Methamphetamine Prevention Effects and Employer Costs

The goal of this research was to evaluate economically three interventions designed to prevent substance use in general populations of adolescents, specifically focusing on the prevention of methamphetamine use and its subsequent benefits to employers. In a randomized, controlled trial, three preventive interventions were delivered to 6th- or 7th-grade youth in 58 Iowa school districts, with 905 of these youth (449 girls) providing follow-up assessments as 12th graders. Intervention conditions included the family-focused Iowa Strengthening Families Program (ISFP), the school-based Life Skills Training (LST) program, and a combined condition of both the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 (SFP10- 14; an ISFP revision) plus LST (LST + SFP10-14). Analyses based on intervention costs, 12th-grade methamphetamine use rates, and methamphetamine- related employer costs yielded estimates of intervention cost, cost-effectiveness, benefit-cost ratio, and net benefit. The ISFP lowered methamphetamine use by 3.9%, cost $25,385 to prevent each case, and had a benefit-cost ratio of 3.84, yielding a net benefit of $2,813 per youth. The LST program reduced methamphetamine use by 2.5%, required $5,122 per prevented case, and had a benefit-cost ratio of 19.04, netting $2,273 per youth. The combined LST + SFP10-14 prevention condition lowered methamphetamine use rates by 1.8%, cost $62,697 to prevent each case, had a benefit-cost ratio of 1.56, and netted $620 per youth. Findings were robust after varying a number of key parameters across a range of plausible values. Substance use prevention programming is economically feasible, particularly for effective interventions that have lower per person treatment delivery costs.

In-Use Fuel Economy of Hybrid-Electric School Buses in Iowa

ABSTRACT Although it is much safer and more fuel-efficient to transport children to school in buses than in private vehicles, school buses in the United States still consume 822 million gal of diesel fuel annually, and school transportation costs can account for a significant portion of resource-constrained school district budgets. Additionally, children in diesel-powered school buses may be exposed to higher levels of particulates and other pollutants than children in cars. One solution to emission and fuel concerns is use of hybrid-electric school buses, which have the potential to reduce emissions and overall lifecycle costs compared with conventional diesel buses. Hybrid-electric technologies are available in the passenger vehicle market as well as the transit bus market and have a track record indicating fuel economy and emissions benefits. This paper summarizes the results of an in-use fuel economy evaluation for two plug-in hybrid school buses deployed in two different school districts in Iowa. Each school district selected a control bus with a route similar to that of the hybrid bus. Odometer readings, fuel consumption, and maintenance needs were recorded for each bus. The buses were deployed in 2008 and data were collected through May 2010. Fuel consumption was calculated for each school district. In Nevada, IA, the overall average fuel economy was 8.23 mpg for the hybrid and 6.35 mpg for the control bus. In Sigourney, IA, the overall average fuel economy was 8.94 mpg for the hybrid and 6.42 mpg for the control bus. The fuel consumption data were compared for the hybrid and control buses using a Wilcoxon signed rank test. Results indicate that fuel economy for the Nevada hybrid bus was 29.6% better than for the Nevada control bus, and fuel economy for the Sigourney hybrid bus was 39.2% higher than for the Sigourney control bus. Both differences were statistically significant. IMPLICATIONS The results of the research presented in this paper can be readily used by school districts and policy-makers who are interested in purchasing hybrid school buses. Very little information about actual on-road fuel consumption or costs is available. Because the cost of a hybrid bus can be significantly more than the cost of a conventional bus, the information provided in this paper can be very useful for an agency to determine the costs and benefits of a hybrid bus. The information is also useful to researchers who are studying hybrid school and transit buses.

The Effects of School District Consolidation on Educational Cost and Quality

We examine the effects of both whole-grade sharing and administrative consolidations of local school districts in Iowa in the 1990s, the majority of which were induced by state fiscal incentives. We find no effects of either sharing or consolidation on the pupil-teacher ratio, enrollments, or dropout rates. In terms of revenues, we find evidence of temporary increases in state aid, as predicted by the state incentives. This increased state aid, however, is not offset by changes in local revenue and thus total revenue increases. We find a corresponding increase in local expenditures, although this increase was smaller than the increase in revenues, resulting in an increased surplus. Although we lack detailed quality data on student outcomes, these findings suggest an absence of efficiency gains from either whole-grade sharing or consolidation.

Substance-Use Outcomes at 18 Months Past Baseline: The PROSPER Community–University Partnership Trial

The study's objective was to examine the effects of "real-world," community-based implementation of universal preventive interventions selected from a menu, including effects specific to higher- and lower-risk subsamples. School districts were selected based on size and location, and then randomly assigned to a control condition or to an experimental condition in a cohort sequential design. The study included 28 public school districts in Iowa and Pennsylvania that were located in rural towns and small cities, ranging in size from 6975 to 44,510. Sixth and seventh graders in these school districts participated in the study. Community teams were mobilized; each team implemented one of three evidence-based, family-focused interventions (5 to 12 sessions) and one of three evidence-based school interventions (11 to 15 sessions), for 6th and 7th graders, respectively. Observations showed that interventions were implemented with fidelity. Outcomes included student reports of past month, past year, and lifetime use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, methamphetamines, ecstasy, and inhalants, as well as indices of gateway and illicit substance initiation, at pretest and at a follow-up assessment 18 months later. Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated significant effects on substance initiation (marijuana, inhalants, methamphetamines, ecstasy, gateway index, illicit-use index), as well as past-year use of marijuana and inhalants, with positive trends for all substances measured. For three outcomes, intervention effects were stronger for higher-risk students than lower-risk students. Community-based implementation of brief universal interventions designed for general populations has potential for public health impact by reducing substance use among adolescents.

New Web Resource Targets Linguistic Diversity

New Web Resource Targets Linguistic Diversity

Computer Use, Training Preferences, and Computer Anxiety of School Food Service Managers in Iowa

LEARNING OUTCOME: To identify computer use, training preferences, and computer anxiety of school food service managers in Iowa The objectives were to: 1) identify current computer use and computer training preferences of school food service managers in Iowa, and 2) assess the computer anxiety level of Iowa school food service managers before and after computer training. For the first objective, a questionnaire was developed and mailed to the person in charge of the school food service program in 117 Iowa school districts with budgeted student enrollments of 1,000 or more. Of 105 school districts reporting data, 80% had computers available in their food services; 92% of these food service managers used their computers. Microcomputers were the most common type of computer hardware (95%). School food service applications software was used in 49% of the 105 school districts. Of 107 respondents, 74% indicated willingness to participate in computer training. They preferred to learn about school food service applications software (72%) during training offered 6 hours (25%) or 4 hours (20%) per day. Many respondents indicated no preference for either a starting day (35%) or the number of days (42%) of computer training. For the second objective, a standardized instrument, the Computer Anxiety Index (CAIN), was administered to 56 school food service managers before and after a 2-day computer training workshop; 80% completed the CAIN. Mean CAIN scores were 51.5 of 156 before training and 49.4 of 156 after training. Change in mean CAIN scores was not significant. However, those who had no previous computer training (n = 25) reduced their anxiety level significantly more than the group that had previous computer training (n = 22). The higher the initial anxiety level, the greater the reduction in anxiety level after training. The workshop involved teaching Nutrient Standard Menu Planning using a software package.

The Iowa Scope, Sequence, and Coordination Project: A Middle School Science Reform Program Approved by the National Diffusion Network

The Iowa-Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) project is a part of the national reform effort conceived by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) which operated during 1990–93 in California, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas, and Iowa. The project operated in 10 Iowa school districts using the Science-Technology-Society approach and Constructivist teaching practices.Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA) and t-tests were used to compute differences in levels of student learning in six domains: 1) Concept; 2) Process; 3) Application; 4) Creativity; 5) Attitude; and 6) World View.

Small area student enrollment projections based on a modifiable spatial filter

This paper describes a new method for making short-term (4–8 yr) student enrollment projections by grade and ethnic group for small geographic areas. The method links an information system that contains student characteristics and home addresses with a commonly available digital geographic database (TIGER) to create a geographic accounting table of student residences by census blocks. Progression rates of students from one grade to the next are estimated for each small area by aggregating student residences, by grade, for a 3 yr period over a larger area (the modifiable spatial filter) centered on the small area. The size of the filter area depends on the geographical distribution of students, a user-specified student threshold value, and a maximum distance constraint. The progression rates are applied to the student population of each census block in a grade-cohort component projection model. Projections of the number of students enrolled in each grade for any defined geographical area are made by aggregating the projections for the census blocks in the area. We show that results using this method are consistent with those from the same model applied to school attendance area enrollment data, whereas results using the small-area data without the filter are not. This result supports our conclusion that the method is reliable for making grade-specific enrollment projections, for which past enrollment data do not exist, such as those for new schools or for revised attendance areas. We describe the techniques used to link the student information system to the digital map, compute the spatial filter statistics efficiently, and make projections for new school attendance areas. We have used the modifiable spatial filter method for projecting student populations and modifying attendance area boundaries in two Iowa school districts.