House File 2317 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  SALMON

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the core curriculum and twenty=first century
  2    learning skills adopted or defined by the state board of
  3    education.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 5732YH (6) 87
    kh/rj

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a, Code
  1  2 2018, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    a.  Adopt rules that establish a the following:
  1  4    (1)  A core curriculum and high. However, neither the state
  1  5 board nor the department shall require school districts or
  1  6 accredited nonpublic schools to adopt the core curriculum,
  1  7 or require a specific textbook, textbook series, or specific
  1  8 instructional methodology, or acquire specific textbooks,
  1  9 curriculum materials, or educational products from a specific
  1 10 vendor.
  1 11    (a)  The state board shall not adopt, and the department
  1 12 shall not authorize or require, statewide core social studies
  1 13 standards for kindergarten through grade twelve. This
  1 14 prohibition shall not be construed to limit the state board's
  1 15 or the department's authority relating to the accreditation of
  1 16 school districts and nonpublic schools under section 256.11.
  1 17    (b)  The core curriculum science standards shall be the
  1 18 science standards utilized by school districts in this state
  1 19 during the 2014=2015 school year. The state board shall submit
  1 20 future revisions to the core curriculum science standards to
  1 21 the general assembly for approval, modification, or rejection,
  1 22 and the state board shall not adopt such revisions unless
  1 23 specifically authorized by a constitutional majority of each
  1 24 house of the general assembly and approved by the governor.
  1 25    (2)  High school graduation requirements for all students in
  1 26 school districts and accredited nonpublic schools that include
  1 27 at a minimum satisfactory completion of four years of English
  1 28 and language arts, three years of mathematics, three years of
  1 29 science, and three years of social studies.  The rules
  1 30    (1)  The rules establishing high school graduation
  1 31 requirements shall authorize a school district or accredited
  1 32 nonpublic school to consider do all of the following:
  1 33    (a)  Consider that any student, at any grade level,
  1 34 who satisfactorily completes a high school=level unit of
  1 35 instruction has satisfactorily completed a unit of the high
  2  1 school graduation requirements for that area of instruction,
  2  2 and shall authorize the school district or accredited nonpublic
  2  3 school to issue high school credit for the unit to the student.
  2  4    (2)  (b)  The rules shall allow a school district or
  2  5 accredited nonpublic school to award Award high school credit
  2  6 to an enrolled student upon the demonstration of required
  2  7 competencies for a course or content area, as approved by a
  2  8 teacher licensed under chapter 272. The school district or
  2  9 accredited nonpublic school shall determine the assessment
  2 10 methods by which a student demonstrates sufficient evidence of
  2 11 the required competencies.
  2 12    (3)  The rules establishing a A core curriculum shall
  2 13 address addressing the core content standards in subsection 28
  2 14 and the skills and knowledge students need to be successful
  2 15 in the twenty=first century. The core curriculum shall
  2 16 include social studies and twenty=first century learning
  2 17 skills which include, including but are not limited to civic
  2 18 literacy, health literacy, technology literacy, financial
  2 19 literacy, family life and consumer sciences, and employability
  2 20 skills; and shall address the curricular needs of students in
  2 21 kindergarten through grade twelve in those areas. The state
  2 22 board shall further define the twenty=first century learning
  2 23 skills components by rule.
  2 24    (4)  The rules shall provide for the establishment of
  2 25 high=quality High=quality standards for computer science
  2 26 education taught by elementary, middle, and high schools,
  2 27 in accordance with the goal established under section
  2 28 284.6A, subsection 1, setting a foundation for personal and
  2 29 professional success in a high=technology, knowledge=based
  2 30 Iowa economy. Such rules shall be applicable only to school
  2 31 districts and accredited nonpublic schools receiving moneys
  2 32 from the computer science professional development incentive
  2 33 fund under section 284.6A, or from other funds administered by
  2 34 the department for the same purposes as specified in section
  2 35 284.6A, subsection 2.
  3  1    Sec. 2.  Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph c, Code
  3  2 2018, is amended by striking the paragraph.
  3  3    Sec. 3.  Section 256.9, subsection 49, paragraph a, Code
  3  4 2018, is amended to read as follows:
  3  5    a.  Develop and distribute, in collaboration with the area
  3  6 education agencies, core curriculum technical assistance and
  3  7 implementation strategies that school districts and accredited
  3  8 nonpublic schools shall may utilize, including but not limited
  3  9 to the development and delivery of formative and end=of=course
  3 10 model assessments classroom teachers may use to measure student
  3 11 progress on the core curriculum adopted pursuant to section
  3 12 256.7, subsection 26. The department shall, in collaboration
  3 13 with the advisory group convened in accordance with paragraph
  3 14 "b" and educational assessment providers, identify and make
  3 15 available to school districts end=of=course and additional
  3 16 model end=of=course and additional assessments to align with
  3 17 the expectations included in the Iowa core curriculum. The
  3 18 model assessments shall be suitable to meet the multiple
  3 19 assessment measures requirement specified in section 256.7,
  3 20 subsection 21, paragraph "c".
  3 21    Sec. 4.  Section 257.11, subsection 9, Code 2018, is amended
  3 22 to read as follows:
  3 23    9.  Shared classes and curriculum standards.  A school
  3 24 district shall ensure that any course made available to a
  3 25 student through any sharing agreement between the school
  3 26  district and a community college or any other entity providing
  3 27 course programming pursuant to this section to students
  3 28 enrolled in the school district is encouraged to ensure that
  3 29 the course programming meets the expectations contained in the
  3 30 core curriculum adopted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection
  3 31 26. The school district shall ensure that any course that has
  3 32 the capacity to generate college credit shall be equivalent to
  3 33 college=level work.
  3 34    Sec. 5.  Section 279.61, subsection 1, paragraph a,
  3 35 subparagraph (1), Code 2018, is amended by striking the
  4  1 subparagraph.
  4  2    Sec. 6.  Section 279.61, subsection 2, Code 2018, is amended
  4  3 to read as follows:
  4  4    2.  The board of directors of each school district shall
  4  5 report annually to each student enrolled in grades nine through
  4  6 twelve in the school district, and, if the student is under
  4  7 the age of eighteen, to each student's parent or guardian, the
  4  8 student's progress toward meeting the goal of successfully
  4  9 completing the core curriculum and high school graduation
  4 10 requirements adopted by the state board of education pursuant
  4 11 to section 256.7, subsection 26, and toward achieving the goals
  4 12 of the student's career and academic plan.
  4 13    Sec. 7.  Section 280.3, subsection 3, Code 2018, is amended
  4 14 by striking the subsection.
  4 15                           EXPLANATION
  4 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  4 17 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  4 18    This bill modifies Code provisions relating to the core
  4 19 curriculum to eliminate language that requires school districts
  4 20 and accredited nonpublic schools to utilize statewide core
  4 21 curriculum standards adopted by the state board of education
  4 22 and instead authorizes the state board to establish a core
  4 23 curriculum that school districts and accredited nonpublic
  4 24 schools may voluntarily utilize.
  4 25    The bill prohibits the state board of education from
  4 26 adopting, and the department of education from authorizing
  4 27 or requiring, statewide core social studies standards for
  4 28 kindergarten through grade 12.
  4 29    The bill directs the state board of education to adopt for
  4 30 statewide use by school districts and accredited nonpublic
  4 31 schools, effective for the school year beginning July 1, 2018,
  4 32 and each succeeding school year, the Iowa core kindergarten
  4 33 through grade 12 science standards utilized by school districts
  4 34 in this state during the 2014=2015 school year. Further,
  4 35 the bill prohibits the state board from adopting any future
  5  1 revision to the core curriculum science standards unless
  5  2 specifically authorized by a constitutional majority of each
  5  3 house of the general assembly and approved by the governor.
  5  4    Language requiring school districts to develop an
  5  5 individualized career and academic plan to prepare a student
  5  6 for successful completion of the core curriculum is stricken,
  5  7 as is language requiring school districts to adopt plans to
  5  8 fully implement the core curriculum.
       LSB 5732YH (6) 87
       kh/rj