Veteran educator Jane Schmidt, the director of professional growth and student learning in the Maquoketa Community School District, is a strong voice of support for the Iowa Core, also known as the Iowa standards. She dedicated her 2014 Iowa Teacher of the Year role to speak at schools throughout the state about the merits of the standards.

Special education teacher Rachel Kruse makes no bones about it: She likes the Iowa Core, or standards.

Elementary school creates model to ensure Iowa Core access

Fort Dodge’s curriculum director Stacey Cole pondered one day whether students on Individualized Education Programs were receiving instruction through the lens of the Iowa Core.

The Core-and-more battle cry in educating students on Individualized Education Programs turned to boots-on-the-ground reality as teachers unpacked the Iowa Core in earnest. That’s because the Iowa Core is now required in all schools, all grades.

The Iowa Core Parent Guides, in English and Spanish, were developed to provide an overview of what students will learn by the end of each grade level as directed by the Iowa Core, our statewide academic standards.

When the Central Community School District in DeWitt began to implement Iowa’s statewide standards, some teachers initially wondered if the Iowa Core represented an education fad that eventually would pass.