Catholic Schools Find a Catholic School! Read the latest Catholic School News Testimonial  "The very first week of enrolling our two boys in Catholic School my wife and I noticed a definite change in what they talked about at home.  Our boys talked about Jesus and faith-related topics as a normal part of their conversation.  At least once a day they just start singing christian songs together that they are learning at school.  Their catholic education is making our entire family more christ-centered."    - Bret Posegate, Catholic school parent

Student Achievement Results

Catholic school students in the Diocese of Des Moines consistently demonstrate higher test scores than the state and nation.  See the links below to see ITBS, ITED and ACT test scores from 2008-2009.

• ITBS and ITED scores are higher in all areas (reading, math, science) than the state and nation. See ITBS/ITED student achievement data for diocesan students from 2008-2009
  

  • 4th Grade Data

  • 8th Grade Data

  • 11th Grade Data
    
    

• Des Moines diocese Catholic high schools are scoring higher than state averages in all areas of the ACT exam with a composite score of 23.5 for the diocesan high schools versus 22.4 for high schools in the state of Iowa in 2009. See ACT data from 2009
  
  

• The percent of high school graduates who scored at or above the state’s identified college success indicator of an ACT score of 20:
  Diocese of Des Moines: 82%
  Iowa: 72%
  Nation: 59%

Catholic schools in the Diocese of Des Moines must follow testing and assessment directives from the Iowa Department of Education.  One of these directives is to test students in two different ways each year in Reading, Math and Science. 

The first test diocesan students must take is the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) in Grades 3-8 and Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED) in Grade 11.  They are tested in Reading, Math and Science, among other subjects.  Scores from these tests for Grades 4, 8, and 11 are reported to the Iowa Department of Education.

The second test or assessment diocesan students must take depends on the subject matter of Reading, Math, or Science. 

• In Reading, diocesan students take the Constructed-Response Supplement (CRS) in Grade 4. 

• In Math, diocesan students take the Constructed-Response Supplement (CRS) in Grade 6. 

• In Science, diocesan students take the Stanford 9 or SCASS science assessments in Grade 7.