The board’s unanimous vote was based on the Literacy Standards Review Team’s recommendations, which aim to provide clarity and eliminate redundancy within the current standards. For example, the team recommended removing specific text titles and authors throughout the standards based on public feedback that some educators saw them as required reading rather than examples. The team also recommended additional resources for teachers and professional learning opportunities to strengthen instruction.
“These are not wholesale revisions, but they are helpful adjustments based on a lot of feedback,” said Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise. “We thank the Literacy Standards Review Team for its hard work.”
The Literacy Standards Review Team represents the second phase of an ongoing state process for reviewing Iowa’s academic standards, which also cover science, social studies, mathematics and 21st century skills, such as financial literacy.
The Literacy Standards Review Team sought public feedback through an online survey as well as public forums, which drew more than 5,000 responses. A majority of comments were in favor of Iowa’s current literacy standards.
Additionally, two focus groups of teachers who met independently of the review team to discuss the standards said they had done extensive work to implement the literacy standards and would not support significant changes. But they also indicated they needed more time and collaboration with other educators to improve implementation of the standards.
For more information about Iowa’s state standards, visit the Iowa Core website.
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