Nearly half of Des Moines public schools received below-acceptable grades in a new set of report cards released today by the Iowa Department of Education. The Iowa School Report Card is a new Web-based system to evaluate and rate each public school in the state based on performance in a required set of measures, such as student attendance and graduation rates. The report assigns each school one of six ratings: Exceptional, High-Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement and Priority. Of 57 schools rated in the Des Moines Independent Community School District, 18 were rated “Needs Improvement” and eight received “Priority” ratings, indicating the highest need for improvement. Two Des Moines elementary schools, Cowles and Jefferson, received “High-Performing” ratings, and no schools in the district received “Exceptional” scores. The system meets a legislative requirement and aligns with the department’s efforts to provide Iowans easier access to meaningful education statistics, to hold schools accountable for student progress, and to support local efforts to improve schools, the department said in a release.