House File 2545 - Enrolled
House File 2545
AN ACT
RELATING TO EDUCATION, INCLUDING BY REQUIRING THE DIRECTOR
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO REVIEW THE STATE’S HIGH
SCHOOL GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS, CORE CURRICULUM, CORE
CONTENT STANDARDS, AND EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS, REQUIRING
THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO REVIEW AND REVISE THE
STATE’S SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS, REQUIRING THAT THE
SOCIAL STUDIES INSTRUCTION PROVIDED TO STUDENTS ENROLLED IN
SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND ACCREDITED NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS IN GRADES
SEVEN AND EIGHT INCLUDE INSTRUCTION RELATED TO CIVICS, AND
INCLUDING EFFECTIVE DATE PROVISIONS.
11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 DIVISION I
2 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION —— COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL
3 STANDARDS
4 Section 1. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION —— COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
5 OF IOWA EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS —— RECOMMENDED REVISIONS.
6 1. The director of the department of education shall
7 conduct a comprehensive review of the high school graduation
8 requirements and core curriculum established pursuant to
9 section 256.7, subsection 26, the core content standards
10 established pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 28, and
11 the educational standards established in section 256.11.
12 The comprehensive review shall be designed to generate
13 recommendations for policy changes to be included in the
14 reports required under subsection 4. The recommendations for
15 policy changes shall include all of the following:
16 a. A plan to regularly review and revise the core content
17 standards focused on English language arts, mathematics,
18 science, and social studies, with a focus on United States
19 history, western civilization, and civics.
20 b. A plan to make Iowa’s educational standards the best in
21 the nation.
22 c. Input from relevant stakeholders, including parents and
23 teachers.
24 d. A plan to increase the quality of the instructional
25 curriculum.
26 e. A plan to maximize local flexibility in graduation
27 requirements and course offerings while maintaining a goal that
28 all high school graduates have necessary skills at graduation.
29 f. Identification of opportunities to equip high school
30 graduates with sufficient knowledge of civics and United States
31 history, including the principles reflected in the Constitution
32 of the United States, so that high school graduates are capable
33 of discharging the responsibilities associated with United
34 States citizenship.
35 g. A statewide literacy plan to increase student
1 proficiency using systematic and sequential approaches to
2 teaching phonetic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency,
3 and text comprehension. The statewide literacy plan shall
4 address standards for practitioner preparation programs
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5 established under section 256.16 that promote evidence-based
6 reading instruction and practical application that are
7 direct, systematic, explicit, responsive, and that consist of
8 phonetic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text
9 comprehension. Such standards shall not include instruction or
10 practical application that is designed to teach students using
11 the instructional model commonly known as the three-cueing
12 system.
13 2. The director of the department of education shall ensure
14 that the core curriculum established pursuant to section 256.7,
15 subsection 26, the core content standards established pursuant
16 to section 256.7, subsection 28, and the educational standards
17 established in section 256.11, comply with section 279.74.
18 3. The comprehensive review described in subsection 1 shall
19 include all of the following:
20 a. Providing the opportunity for the public and interested
21 stakeholders to provide comments related to the comprehensive
22 review, including comments related to each graduation
23 requirement, core content standard, and educational requirement
24 by grade level, at each committee meeting convened pursuant to
25 this subsection.
26 b. Collecting and considering the comments provided
27 pursuant to paragraph “a”.
28 c. (1) Convening committees to assist in the comprehensive
29 review and provide recommendations related to the subject areas
30 in the educational standards established in section 256.11.
31 (2) The director of the department of education shall
32 determine the membership of each committee; provided, however,
33 that each committee shall include four members of the general
34 assembly with one member designated by each of the following:
35 the president of the senate, the minority leader of the senate,
1 the speaker of the house of representatives, and the minority
2 leader of the house of representatives. A legislative member
3 serves in an ex officio, nonvoting capacity.
4 4. a. The director of the department of education shall
5 submit an initial report, including initial findings and
6 recommendations for policy changes, to the governor and the
7 general assembly on or before December 31, 2024.
8 b. The director of the department of education shall submit
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9 a final report, including findings and recommendations for
10 policy changes, to the governor and the general assembly on or
11 before July 1, 2025.
12 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This division of this Act, being
13 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
14 DIVISION II
15 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION —— CORE CURRICULUM
16 Sec. 3. Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a,
17 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as
18 follows:
19 Adopt rules that establish a core curriculum and adopt rules
20 that establish high school graduation requirements for all
21 students in school districts and accredited nonpublic schools
22 that include at a minimum satisfactory completion of four years
23 of English and language arts, three years of mathematics, three
24 years of science, and three years of social studies.
25 Sec. 4. Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a,
26 subparagraph (3), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
27 (3) The rules establishing a core curriculum shall address
28 the core content standards in subsection 28 and the skills and
29 knowledge students need to be successful in the twenty-first
30 century. The core curriculum shall include social studies
31 and twenty-first century learning skills which include but
32 are not limited to civic literacy, health literacy, financial
33 literacy, family life and consumer sciences, and employability
34 skills; and shall address the curricular needs of students in
35 kindergarten through grade twelve in those areas. The state
1 board shall further define the twenty-first century learning
2 skills components by rule.
3 Sec. 5. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION —— RULES ESTABLISHING A
4 CORE CURRICULUM. Rules adopted by the state board of education
5 on or before the effective date of this division of this
6 Act relating to the core curriculum shall remain effective
7 until modified or rescinded by action of the state board of
8 education.
9 DIVISION III
10 STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION —— SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS
11 Sec. 6. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION —— REVIEW AND REVISION OF
12 SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS.
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13 1. The state board of education shall complete a review
14 and revision of the state social studies standards contained
15 in the core content standards established pursuant to section
16 256.7, subsection 28, with a focus on United States history,
17 government, founding philosophies and principles, important
18 historical figures, western civilization, and civics. At a
19 minimum, the revised social studies standards shall include
20 instruction related to all of the following topics in grade
21 one through grade twelve, in such a manner that is both
22 relevant and appropriate for the age of the student receiving
23 instruction:
24 a. The United States federal and republican form of
25 government, including the branches and structure of the
26 United States federal government, the division of power
27 between branches of government and between federal and state
28 governments, a comparison to alternative forms of government,
29 and the crimes against humanity that have occurred under
30 communist regimes since 1917.
31 b. The rights and responsibilities of citizens of the United
32 States and the state of Iowa, including civic virtues displayed
33 in the lives of exemplary Americans.
34 c. The history of the United States and the state of Iowa,
35 including all of the following:
1 (1) The political, diplomatic, and military history of the
2 United States, including exemplary Americans important to such
3 events, beginning with the discovery of the western hemisphere
4 through the present, including but not limited to the founding
5 fathers, the American Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the
6 Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, the
7 Korean War, and the War on Terrorism, including the attacks on
8 September 11, 2001.
9 (2) The founding of Iowa, and famous Iowans and their
10 involvement in important events in history.
11 (3) The secular and religious ideals and institutions of
12 liberty, including political, religious, economic, social, and
13 cultural liberty, in western civilization, the United States,
14 and the state of Iowa.
15 d. Exemplary figures and important events in western
16 civilization, the United States, and the state of Iowa,
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17 including but not limited to the history of ancient Israel, the
18 free Greek city-states, the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire,
19 medieval Europe, Columbus and the Age of Discovery, World War
20 I, World War II and instruction related to the Holocaust, and
21 the Cold War.
22 e. Important historical and founding documents to the
23 United States and the state of Iowa, including but not limited
24 to the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence,
25 the Constitution of the United States and the amendments to
26 the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the Emancipation
27 Proclamation.
28 2. The director of the department of education, or the
29 director’s designee, shall present the revised social studies
30 standards to the state board of education for adoption on or
31 before December 31, 2025.
32 DIVISION IV
33 EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS FOR GRADES SEVEN AND EIGHT
34 Sec. 7. Section 256.11, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended
35 to read as follows:
1 4. The following shall be taught in grades seven and
2 eight: English-language arts; social studies, including
3 instruction related to civics; mathematics; science;
4 health; age-appropriate and research-based human growth and
5 development; career exploration and development; physical
6 education; music; and visual art. Computer science instruction
7 incorporating the standards established under section 256.7,
8 subsection 26, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (4), shall be
9 offered in at least one grade level commencing with the
10 school year beginning July 1, 2023. Career exploration
11 and development shall be designed so that students are
12 appropriately prepared to create an individual career
13 and academic plan pursuant to section 279.61, incorporate
14 foundational career and technical education concepts aligned
15 with the six career and technical education service areas as
16 defined in subsection 5, paragraph “h”, incorporate relevant
17 twenty-first century skills to facilitate career readiness,
18 and introduce students to career opportunities within the
19 local community and across this state. The health curriculum
20 shall include age-appropriate and research-based information
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21 regarding the characteristics of sexually transmitted diseases.
22 The state board as part of accreditation standards shall adopt
23 curriculum definitions for implementing the program in grades
24 seven and eight. However, this subsection shall not apply to
25 the teaching of career exploration and development in nonpublic
26 schools.
______________________________ ______________________________
PAT GRASSLEY AMY SINCLAIR
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 2545, Ninetieth General Assembly.
______________________________
MEGHAN NELSON
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2024 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor


Statutes affected:
Enrolled: 256.7