While most area schools did well on a 2018 state review, some particular areas at individual schools will need to receive extra attention during the coming year.

The Iowa School Performance Profiles are issued by the state as a requirement of the Every Student Succeeds Act; it measures a number of subjects and subgroups to determine where schools are keeping up, and where they need improvement.

Four area schools are on the targeted list, each with a shortfall in a particular area. Knoxville Middle School and Indianola Middle School are each below the benchmark for students with disabilities on an Individualized Education Program, or IEP.

Meanwhile, Pella High School and Twin Cedars Elementary are each short of the minimum with low socio-economic status students.

Three-hundred-and-seven schools statewide are on the Targeted list, while another 34 are listed as Comprehensive; these are schools which are found to have been below standards in a number of areas, and will need extensive work to bring themselves up to standards.

Educators say ESSA is preferable to the old No Child Left Behind Act because it points out areas of concern and gives school districts the opportunity to fix problems, rather than being punitive.