256D.1 - IOWA EARLY INTERVENTION BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED -- GOALS.



        256D.1  IOWA EARLY INTERVENTION BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
      ESTABLISHED -- GOALS.
         1.  An Iowa early intervention block grant program is established
      within the department of education.  The program's goals for
      kindergarten through grade three are to provide the resources needed
      to reduce class sizes in basic skills instruction to the state goal
      of seventeen students for every one teacher; provide direction and
      resources for early intervention efforts by school districts to
      achieve a higher level of student success in the basic skills,
      especially reading skills; and increase communication and
      accountability regarding student performance.  The Iowa early
      intervention block grant program shall consist of the following:
         a.  Class size management.  School districts shall develop a
      class size management strategy to work toward, or to maintain, class
      sizes in basic skills instruction for kindergarten through grade
      three that are at the state goal of seventeen students for every one
      teacher.
         b.  Improving instruction in the basics.  The department of
      education shall identify diagnostic assessment tools that can be used
      to assist teachers in measuring reading accuracy and fluency skills,
      including but not limited to phonemic awareness, oral reading
      ability, and comprehension skills, to improve student achievement in
      kindergarten through grade three.  The department, in collaboration
      with the area education agencies, school districts, and institutions
      with approved practitioner preparation programs, shall identify and
      serve as a clearinghouse on intensive, research-based strategies and
      programs for training teachers in both diagnosis and appropriate
      instruction interventions.
         (1)  A school district shall at a minimum biannually inform
      parents of their individual child's performance on the diagnostic
      assessments in kindergarten through grade three.  If intervention is
      appropriate, the school district shall inform the parents of the
      actions the school district intends to take to improve the child's
      reading skills and provide the parents with strategies to enable the
      parents to improve their child's skills.  The board of directors of
      each school district shall adopt a policy indicating the methods the
      school district will use to inform parents of their individual
      child's performance.
         (2)  The department shall also identify for school districts
      programs and materials by which parents may support classroom reading
      instruction.
         2.  A school district shall integrate its specific early
      intervention block grant program goals and activities into the
      comprehensive school improvement plan required under section 256.7,
      subsection 21, paragraph "a".
         3.  For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise
      requires, "parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a
      stepparent, or a legal guardian or custodian of a student.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         99 Acts, ch 18, §1; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §148; 2006 Acts, ch 1152,
      §5; 2009 Acts, ch 54, §4