Headlines

Educators are asked to wear many hats these days, including monitoring for bullying and other potentially dangerous acts. Why not engage students in those efforts?   Students? Yes. There’s a program that is designed to put students at the forefront of preventing violence in their schools. Called Mentoring in…

Business, industry and education members to convene Dec. 8 DES MOINES - Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced the members of a new Computer Science Work Group created by a 2020 state law that for the first time requires Iowa’s 327 school districts and 116 accredited nonpublic schools to offer computer science instruct…

The Iowa Department of Education is hosting a Choose Iowa Student Culinary Competition for students enrolled in a culinary arts class or foods-based course. Students are invited to put on their chef hats to cook up creative school meal recipes that incorporate locally grown food items. The concept for the competitio…

Iowa’s Seal of Biliteracy continues to grow in popularity among school districts, with 15 percent more high school students being awarded the seal. During the last school year, 662 students earned the seal, compared to 575 the year before. The vast majority of students earned the seal for being biliterate in Engli…

As we near the end of 2020, and undoubtedly one of the most unconventional school years any of us have experienced, it is important to take note of how far we have come since the pandemic changed the face of our education system nearly nine months ago. What seemed insurmountable in the spring became part of our lear…

A literacy screening tool for preschoolers is now available to districts and their community partners at no cost. Called myIGDIs, which stands for Individual Growth and Development Indicators, the screening tool is designed to identify preschoolers who may be at risk in the area of early literacy, so that future dif…

There’s no question that, especially this year, all teachers deserve to be Iowa Teacher of the Year. Still, only one can be named, and nominations are now being accepted for the 2022 Iowa Teacher of the Year. Past Teachers of the Year say the experience is well worth the process. Chris Burke, Iowa’s 2018 Teac…

DES MOINES — The Iowa Department of Education today released the latest edition of its annual report containing state-level data and information on Iowa’s schools. The Annual Condition of Education report includes data on preschool-through-12th grade student populations and demographics, academic achievement, po…

Students are urged to apply for the United States Senate Youth Program, which is a unique educational experience for outstanding high school students interested in pursuing careers in public service. This year’s program will take place entirely online during the week of March 15. Two student leaders from each stat…

Applications are being accepted through Dec. 31 for the Career Academy Incentive Fund. The fund provides targeted grants to support partnerships between school districts, community colleges, business and industry and other partners that expand access to career academy programs, with a focus on programming delivered …