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In a recent statewide superintendent meeting in Iowa, Waterloo Superintendent Jared Smith raised a question regarding the correlation between school performance ratings and free/reduced lunch rates, which are often used as an indicator of poverty. The response he received was that there was no correlation between poverty and the ratings. However, Smith’s analysis of statewide data tells a different story. According to the Iowa School Performance Profile, 34 schools identified as needing Comprehensive Improvement had Free/Reduced Lunch rates greater than 47%. Notably, all these schools came from high-poverty districts. Smith’s findings challenge the assertion that poverty does not impact education and call for a reevaluation of accountability systems to reflect the context of poverty. Read more…