256.11 - EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS.
256.11 EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS.
The state board shall adopt rules under chapter 17A and a
procedure for accrediting all public and nonpublic schools in Iowa
offering instruction at any or all levels from the prekindergarten
level through grade twelve. The rules of the state board shall
require that a multicultural, gender fair approach is used by schools
and school districts. The educational program shall be taught from a
multicultural, gender fair approach. Global perspectives shall be
incorporated into all levels of the educational program. The rules
adopted by the state board pursuant to section 256.17, Code
Supplement 1987, to establish new standards shall satisfy the
requirements of this section to adopt rules to implement the
educational program contained in this section. The educational
program shall be as follows:
1. a. If a school offers a prekindergarten program, the
program shall be designed to help children to work and play with
others, to express themselves, to learn to use and manage their
bodies, and to extend their interests and understanding of the world
about them. The prekindergarten program shall relate the role of the
family to the child's developing sense of self and perception of
others. Planning and carrying out prekindergarten activities
designed to encourage cooperative efforts between home and school
shall focus on community resources. Except as otherwise provided in
this subsection, a prekindergarten teacher shall hold a license
certifying that the holder is qualified to teach in prekindergarten.
A nonpublic school which offers only a prekindergarten may, but is
not required to, seek and obtain accreditation.
b. If the board of directors of a school district contracts
for the operation of a prekindergarten program, the program shall be
under the oversight of an appropriately licensed teacher. If the
program contracted with was in existence on July 1, 1989, oversight
of the program shall be provided by the district. If the program
contracted with was not in existence on July 1, 1989, the director of
the program shall be a licensed teacher and the director shall
provide program oversight. Any director of a program contracted with
by a school district under this section who is not a licensed teacher
is required to register with the department of education.
c. For the purposes of this subsection, "prekindergarten
program" includes but is not limited to a school district's
implementation of the preschool program established pursuant to
chapter 256C.
2. The kindergarten program shall include experiences designed to
develop healthy emotional and social habits and growth in the
language arts and communication skills, as well as a capacity for the
completion of individual tasks, and protect and increase physical
well-being with attention given to experiences relating to the
development of life skills and human growth and development. A
kindergarten teacher shall be licensed to teach in kindergarten. An
accredited nonpublic school must meet the requirements of this
subsection only if the nonpublic school offers a kindergarten
program.
3. The following areas shall be taught in grades one through six:
English-language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, health,
age-appropriate and research-based human growth and development,
physical education, traffic safety, music, and visual art. The
health curriculum shall include the characteristics of communicable
diseases including acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The state
board as part of accreditation standards shall adopt curriculum
definitions for implementing the elementary program.
4. The following shall be taught in grades seven and eight:
English-language arts; social studies; mathematics; science; health;
age-appropriate and research-based human growth and development;
family, consumer, career, and technology education; physical
education; music; and visual art. The health curriculum shall
include age-appropriate and research-based information regarding the
characteristics of sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV and
the availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV, and acquired immune
deficiency syndrome. The state board as part of accreditation
standards shall adopt curriculum definitions for implementing the
program in grades seven and eight. However, this subsection shall
not apply to the teaching of family, consumer, career, and technology
education in nonpublic schools. For purposes of this section,
"age-appropriate", "HPV", and "research-based" mean the
same as defined in section 279.50.
5. In grades nine through twelve, a unit of credit consists of a
course or equivalent related components or partial units taught
throughout the academic year. The minimum program to be offered and
taught for grades nine through twelve is:
a. Five units of science including physics and chemistry; the
units of physics and chemistry may be taught in alternate years.
b. Five units of the social studies including instruction in
voting statutes and procedures, voter registration requirements, the
use of paper ballots and voting systems in the election process, and
the method of acquiring and casting an absentee ballot. All students
shall complete a minimum of one-half unit of United States government
and one unit of United States history. The one-half unit of United
States government shall include the voting procedure as described in
this lettered paragraph and section 280.9A. The government
instruction shall also include a study of the Constitution of the
United States and the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution
and an assessment of a student's knowledge of the Constitution and
the Bill of Rights.
c. Six units of English-language arts.
d. Four units of a sequential program in mathematics.
e. Two additional units of mathematics.
f. Four sequential units of one foreign language other than
American sign language. Provision of instruction in American sign
language shall be in addition to and not in lieu of provision of
instruction in other foreign languages. The department may waive the
third and fourth years of the foreign language requirement on an
annual basis upon the request of the board of directors of a school
district or the authorities in charge of a nonpublic school if the
board or authorities are able to prove that a licensed teacher was
employed and assigned a schedule that would have allowed students to
enroll in a foreign language class, the foreign language class was
properly scheduled, students were aware that a foreign language class
was scheduled, and no students enrolled in the class.
g. All students physically able shall be required to
participate in physical education activities during each semester
they are enrolled in school except as otherwise provided in this
paragraph. A minimum of one-eighth unit each semester is required.
A twelfth grade student who meets the requirements of this paragraph
may be excused from the physical education requirement by the
principal of the school in which the student is enrolled if the
parent or guardian of the student requests in writing that the
student be excused from the physical education requirement. A
student who wishes to be excused from the physical education
requirement must be seeking to be excused in order to enroll in
academic courses not otherwise available to the student, or be
enrolled or participating in one of the following:
(1) A cooperative or work-study program or other educational
program authorized by the school which requires the student to leave
the school premises for specified periods of time during the school
day.
(2) An organized and supervised athletic program which requires
at least as much participation per week as one-eighth unit of
physical education.
Students in grades nine through eleven may be excused from the
physical education requirement in order to enroll in academic courses
not otherwise available to the student if the board of directors of
the school district in which the school is located, or the
authorities in charge of the school, if the school is a nonpublic
school, determine that students from the school may be permitted to
be excused from the physical education requirement. A student may be
excused by the principal of the school in which the student is
enrolled, in consultation with the student's counselor, for up to one
semester, trimester, or the equivalent of a semester or trimester,
per year if the parent or guardian of the student requests in writing
that the student be excused from the physical education requirement.
The student seeking to be excused from the physical education
requirement must, at some time during the period for which the excuse
is sought, be a participant in an organized and supervised athletic
program which requires at least as much time of participation per
week as one-eighth unit of physical education.
The principal of the school shall inform the superintendent of the
school district or nonpublic school that the student has been
excused. Physical education activities shall emphasize leisure time
activities which will benefit the student outside the school
environment and after graduation from high school.
h. A minimum of three sequential units in at least four of
the following six vocational service areas: agriculture, business or
office occupations, health occupations, family and consumer sciences
or home economics occupations, industrial technology or trade and
industrial education, and marketing education. Instruction shall be
competency-based, articulated with postsecondary programs of study,
and include field, laboratory, or on-the-job training. Each
sequential unit shall include instruction in a minimum set of
competencies established by the department of education that relate
to the following: new and emerging technologies; job-seeking,
job-adaptability, and other employment, self-employment and
entrepreneurial skills that reflect current industry standards and
labor-market needs; and reinforcement of basic academic skills. The
instructional programs shall also comply with the provisions of
chapter 258 relating to vocational education. However, this
paragraph does not apply to the teaching of vocational education in
nonpublic schools.
The department of education shall permit school districts, in
meeting the requirements of this section, to use vocational core
courses in more than one vocational service area and to use
multi-occupational courses to complete a sequence in more than one
vocational service area.
i. Three units in the fine arts which shall include at least
two of the following: dance, music, theatre, and visual art.
j. One unit of health education which shall include personal
health; food and nutrition; environmental health; safety and survival
skills; consumer health; family life; age-appropriate and
research-based human growth and development; substance abuse and
nonuse; emotional and social health; health resources; and prevention
and control of disease, including age-appropriate and research-based
information regarding sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV
and the availability of a vaccine to prevent HPV, and acquired immune
deficiency syndrome.
The state board as part of accreditation standards shall adopt
curriculum standards for implementing the program in grades nine
through twelve.
6. a. A pupil is not required to enroll in either physical
education or health courses, or meet the requirements of paragraph
"b" or "c", if the pupil's parent or guardian files a written
statement with the school principal that the course or activity
conflicts with the pupil's religious belief.
b. (1) All physically able students in kindergarten through
grade five shall be required to engage in a physical activity for a
minimum of thirty minutes per school day.
(2) All physically able students in grades six through twelve
shall be required to engage in a physical activity for a minimum of
one hundred twenty minutes per week. A student participating in an
organized and supervised athletic program or non-school-sponsored
extracurricular activity which requires the student to participate in
physical activity for a minimum of one hundred twenty minutes per
week is exempt from the requirements of this subparagraph.
(3) The department shall collaborate with stakeholders on the
development of daily physical activity requirements and the
development of models that describe ways in which school districts
and schools may incorporate the physical activity requirement of this
paragraph into the educational program. A school district or
accredited nonpublic school shall not reduce instructional time for
academic courses in order to meet the requirements of this paragraph.
c. Every student by the end of grade twelve shall complete a
certification course for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The
administrator of a school may waive this requirement if the student
is not physically able to successfully complete the training. A
student is exempt from the requirement of this paragraph if the
student presents satisfactory evidence to the school district or
accredited nonpublic school that the student possesses
cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification.
7. Programs that meet the needs of each of the following:
a. Pupils requiring special education.
b. Gifted and talented pupils.
c. At-risk students.
8. Upon request of the board of directors of a public school
district or the authorities in charge of a nonpublic school, the
director may, for a number of years to be specified by the director,
grant the district board or the authorities in charge of the
nonpublic school exemption from one or more of the requirements of
the educational program specified in subsection 5. The exemption may
be renewed. Exemptions shall be granted only if the director deems
that the request made is an essential part of a planned innovative
curriculum project which the director determines will adequately meet
the educational needs and interests of the pupils and be broadly
consistent with the intent of the educational program as defined in
subsection 5. The request for exemption shall include all of the
following:
a. Rationale of the project to include supportive research
evidence.
b. Objectives of the project.
c. Provisions for administration and conduct of the project,
including the use of personnel, facilities, time, techniques, and
activities.
d. Plans for evaluation of the project by testing and
observational measures of pupil progress in reaching the objectives.
e. Plans for revisions of the project based on evaluation
measures.
f. Plans for periodic reports to the department.
g. The estimated cost of the project.
9. Beginning July 1, 2006, each school district shall have a
qualified teacher librarian who shall be licensed by the board of
educational examiners under chapter 272. The state board shall
establish in rule a definition of and standards for an articulated
sequential kindergarten through grade twelve media program. A school
district that entered into a contract with an individual for
employment as a media specialist or librarian prior to June 1, 2006,
shall be considered to be in compliance with this subsection until
June 30, 2011, if the individual is making annual progress toward
meeting the requirements for a teacher librarian endorsement issued
by the board of educational examiners under chapter 272. A school
district that entered into a contract with an individual for
employment as a media specialist or librarian who holds at least a
master's degree in library and information studies shall be
considered to be in compliance with this subsection until the
individual leaves the employ of the school district.
9A. Beginning July 1, 2007, each school district shall have a
qualified guidance counselor who shall be licensed by the board of
educational examiners under chapter 272. Each school district shall
work toward the goal of having one qualified guidance counselor for
every three hundred fifty students enrolled in the school district.
The state board shall establish in rule a definition of and standards
for an articulated sequential kindergarten through grade twelve
guidance and counseling program.
9B. Beginning July 1, 2007, each school district shall have a
school nurse to provide health services to its students. Each school
district shall work toward the goal of having one school nurse for
every seven hundred fifty students enrolled in the school district.
For purposes of this subsection, "school nurse" means a person
who holds an endorsement or a statement of professional recognition
for school nurses issued by the board of educational examiners under
chapter 272.
10. The state board shall establish an accreditation process for
school districts and nonpublic schools seeking accreditation pursuant
to this subsection and subsections 11 and 12. By July 1, 1989, all
school districts shall meet standards for accreditation. For the
school year commencing July 1, 1989, and school years thereafter, the
department of education shall use a two-phase process for the
continued accreditation of schools and school districts.
a. Phase I shall consist of annual monitoring by the
department of education of all accredited schools and school
districts for compliance with accreditation standards adopted by the
state board of education as provided in this section. The phase I
monitoring requires that accredited schools and school districts
annually complete accreditation compliance forms adopted by the state
board and file them with the department of education. Phase I
monitoring requires a comprehensive desk audit of all accredited
schools and school districts including review of accreditation
compliance forms, accreditation visit reports, methods of
administration reports, and reports submitted in compliance with
section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph "a", and section 280.12.
The department shall conduct site visits to schools and school
districts to address accreditation issues identified in the desk
audit. Such a visit may be conducted by an individual departmental
consultant or may be a comprehensive site visit by a team of
departmental consultants and other educational professionals. The
purpose of a comprehensive site visit is to determine that a district
is in compliance with minimum standards and to provide a general
assessment of educational practices in a school or school district
and make recommendations with regard to the visit findings for the
purposes of improving educational practices above the level of
minimum compliance. The department shall establish a long-term
schedule of site visits that includes visits of all accredited
schools and school districts as needed.
b. (1) Phase II requires the use of an accreditation
committee, appointed by the director of the department of education,
to conduct an on-site visit to an accredited school or school
district if any of the following conditions exist:
(a) When either the annual monitoring or the biennial on-site
visit of phase I indicates that a school or school district is
deficient and fails to be in compliance with accreditation standards.
(b) In response to a petition filed with the director requesting
such a committee visitation that is signed by eligible electors
residing in the school district equal in number to at least twenty
percent of the registered voters of the school district.
(c) In response to a petition filed with the director requesting
such a committee visitation that is signed by twenty percent or more
of the parents or guardians who have children enrolled in the school
or school district.
(d) At the direction of the state board of education.
(e) The school budget review committee submits to the department
a recommendation for a fiscal review pursuant to section 257.31,
subsection 18.
(2) The number and composition of the membership of an
accreditation committee shall be determined by the director and may
vary due to the specific nature or reason for the visit. In all
situations, however, the chairperson and a majority of the committee
membership shall be from the instructional and administrative program
specialty staff of the department of education. Other members may
include instructional and administrative staff from school districts,
area education agencies, institutions of higher education, local
board members and the general public. An accreditation committee
visit to a nonpublic school requires membership on the committee from
nonpublic school instructional or administrative staff or board
members. A member of a committee shall not have a direct interest in
the nonpublic school or school district being visited.
(3) Rules adopted by the state board may include provisions for
coordination of the accreditation process under this section with
activities of accreditation associations.
(4) Prior to a visit to a school district or nonpublic school,
members of the accreditation committee shall have access to all
annual accreditation report information filed with the department by
that nonpublic school or school district.
(5) After visiting the school district or nonpublic school, the
accreditation committee shall determine whether the accreditation
standards have been met and shall make a report to the director,
together with a recommendation whether the school district or
nonpublic school shall remain accredited. If the recommendation is
that a school district or nonpublic school not remain accredited, the
accreditation committee shall provide the school district or
nonpublic school with a report that includes a list of all of the
deficiencies, a plan prescribing the actions that must be taken to
correct the deficiencies, and a deadline date for completion of the
prescribed actions. The accreditation committee shall advise the
school district or nonpublic school of available resources and
technical assistance to improve areas of weakness. The school
district or nonpublic school shall be provided with the opportunity
to respond to the accreditation committee's report. The director
shall review the accreditation committee's report and the response of
the school district or nonpublic school and shall provide a report to
the state board along with copies of the accreditation committee's
report, the response to the accreditation committee's report, and
other pertinent information. At the request of the school district
or nonpublic school, the school district or nonpublic school may
appear before the state board and address the state board directly
regarding any part of the plan specified in the report. The state
board may modify the plan. During the period of time specified in
the plan for its implementation by a school district or nonpublic
school, the school district or school shall remain accredited.
11. The accreditation committee shall revisit the school district
or nonpublic school and shall determine whether the deficiencies in
the standards have been corrected.
a. The accreditation team shall make a report and
recommendation to the director and the state board. The committee
recommendation shall specify whether the school district or nonpublic
school shall remain accredited. For a school district, the committee
report and recommendation shall also specify under what conditions
the district may remain accredited. The conditions may include but
are not limited to providing temporary oversight authority,
operational authority, or both oversight and operational authority to
the director and the state board for some or all aspects of the
school district in order to bring the school district into compliance
with minimum standards.
b. The state board shall review the report and
recommendation, may request additional information, and shall
determine whether the deficiencies have been corrected.
c. If the deficiencies have not been corrected, and the
conditional accreditation alternatives contained in the report are
not mutually acceptable to the state board and the local board, the
state board shall merge the territory of the school district with one
or more contiguous school districts at the end of the school year.
The state board may place a district under receivership for the
remainder of the school year. The receivership shall be under the
direct supervision and authority of the area education agency in
which the district is located. The decision of whether to merge the
school district and require payment of tuition for the district's
students or to place the district under receivership shall be based
upon a determination by the state board of the best interests of the
students, parents, residents of the community, teachers,
administrators, and school district board members and upon the
recommendations of the accreditation committee and the director.
d. In the case of a nonpublic school, if the deficiencies
have not been corrected, the state board may declare a nonpublic
school to be nonaccredited. The removal of accreditation shall take
effect on the date established by the resolution of the state board,
which shall be no later than the end of the school year in which the
nonpublic school is declared to be nonaccredited.
12. If the state board removes accreditation from a school
district and merges the territory of the school district with one or
more contiguous school districts, the district whose accreditation is
removed ceases to exist as a school corporation on the effective date
set by the state board for removal of accreditation. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the contiguous school districts receiving
territory of the former school district whose accreditation was
removed are not considered successor school corporations of the
former district.
a. Division of assets and liabilities of the school district
whose accreditation was removed shall be as provided in sections
275.29 through 275.31.
(1) If one or more of the contiguous school districts receiving
assets and liabilities of the school district whose accreditation was
removed utilizes the equalization levy, only that territory in the
school district imposing the equalization levy that comprises
territory of the former school district shall be taxed.
(2) Income surtax revenue and revenues generated by property
taxes shall be distributed proportionately based on taxable value of
the territory received by one or more school districts contiguous to
the former school district whose accreditation was removed.
(3) Revenues that are based on student enrollment shall be
distributed based on percentages of students of the school district
whose accreditation was removed who now reside in territory received
by one or more school districts contiguous to the school district
whose accreditation was removed.
b. Prior to the effective date set by the state board for
removal of accreditation, the school district whose accreditation is
to be removed shall remain responsible for, and may retain such
authority as is necessary to complete, all of the following:
(1) Execution of one or more quitclaim deeds, in fulfillment of
the merger of territory received by one or more contiguous school
districts from the former school district whose accreditation was
removed.
(2) Preparation of and payment for a final audit of all the
district's financial accounts.
(3) Preparation and certification of a final certified annual
report to the department.
c. The provisions of section 275.57 apply when removal of
accreditation from a school district and merger of its territory with
a contiguous school district that is currently divided into director
districts leads to the formation of new director districts.
13. Notwithstanding subsections 1 through 12 and as an exception
to their requirements, a private high school or private combined
junior-senior high school operated for the express purpose of
teaching a program designed to qualify its graduates for
matriculation at accredited four-year or equivalent liberal arts,
scientific, or technological colleges or universities shall be placed
on a special accredited list of college preparatory schools, which
list shall signify accreditation of the school for that express
purpose only, if:
a. The school complies with minimum standards established by
the Code other than this section, and rules adopted under the Code,
applicable to:
(1) Courses comprising the limited program.
(2) Health requirements for personnel.
(3) Plant facilities.
(4) Other environmental factors affecting the programs.
b. At least eighty percent of those graduating from the
school within the four most recent calendar years, other than those
graduating who are aliens, graduates entering military or alternative
civilian service, or graduates deceased or incapacitated before
college acceptance, have been accepted by accredited four-year or
equivalent liberal arts, scientific, or technological colleges or
universities.
c. A school claiming to be a private college preparatory
school which fails to comply with the requirement of paragraph
"b" of this subsection shall be placed on the special accredited
list of college preparatory schools probationally if the school
complies with the requirements of paragraph "a" of this
subsection, but a probational accreditation shall not continue for
more than four successive years.
14. Notwithstanding subsections 1 through 13 and as an exception
to their requirements, a nonpublic grade school which is reopening is
accredited even if it does not have a complete grade one through
grade six program. However, the nonpublic grade school must comply
with other minimum standards established by law and administrative
rules adopted pursuant to the law and the nonpublic grade school must
show progress toward reaching a grade one through grade six program.
15. The board of directors of a school district or the
authorities in charge of a nonpublic school may award credit toward
graduation to a student if the student successfully completes basic
training for service as a member of the Iowa army national guard, the
Iowa air national guard, the active military forces of the United
States, the army national guard of the United States, or the air
national guard of the United States. Section History: Recent Form
86 Acts, ch 1245, § 1411; 87 Acts, ch 224, § 26; 87 Acts, ch 233,
§ 451; 88 Acts, ch 1018, §1, 2; 88 Acts, ch 1262, §1, 2; 89 Acts, ch
210, § 4, 5; 89 Acts, ch 265, § 23--26; 89 Acts, ch 278, §1, 2; 89
Acts, ch 319, § 39, 40; 90 Acts, ch 1272, §32, 39, 40; 91 Acts, ch
104, §1; 91 Acts, ch 193, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1088, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1127,
§1, 2; 92 Acts, ch 1159, §2; 92 Acts, ch 1163, § 58; 93 Acts, ch 127,
§ 1, 2; 94 Acts, ch 1091, §13; 94 Acts, ch 1152, §1; 2001 Acts, ch
56, §11; 2001 Acts, ch 159, §1--3; 2002 Acts, ch 1140, §7; 2004 Acts,
ch 1027, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 3, §55; 2006 Acts, ch 1182, §2; 2007 Acts,
ch 42, §1; 2007 Acts, ch 98, §2, 3; 2007 Acts, ch 108, §4; 2007 Acts,
ch 148, §7; 2008 Acts, ch 1031, §42; 2008 Acts, ch 1187, §142, 145;
2009 Acts, ch 50, §1, 2; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §74
Referred to in § 161A.7, 237.1, 237A.1, 256.7, 256.9, 256.10A,
256.11A, 257.11, 257.31, 258.4, 258.16, 260C.18A, 273.2, 279.50,
280.2, 280.3, 282.18, 285.16, 299.2, 299.24, 422.11S, 422.12, 455E.8,
483A.27, 714.19
Vocational agriculture education; § 280.20 Footnotes
Fitness working group to develop recommendations for
implementation of proposed physical activity requirements; 2008 Acts,
ch 1187, § 144