New Social Studies Standards

Iowa's new Social Studies standards were adopted by the State Board of Education on January 15, 2026. Over the past year, the state of Iowa completed a full rewrite of the Social Studies standards. Unlike ELA, Math, and Science—which focused on refining existing expectations—Social Studies required more significant change to strengthen clarity, coherence, and rigor across grades. 

Schools will have a 3 year timeline for full implementation.  Our first step with the new standards will be to build familiarity.  We can do this by reviewing the K-12 Social Studies Storylines, the Content Comparison Chart, and becoming familiar with the language of the new standards. 

The full standards document is linked below and has been uploaded to the Social Studies page of the Teaching and Learning site.  In addition, the page also has links for each individual grade level as well as 9-12 courses.  

Please feel free to reach out to the Teaching and Learning team to help support the first step of building familiarity with the new standards. We appreciate the work you do every day to help students understand the world around them.

New Social Studies Standards

Adopted January, 2026

• NEW Kindergarten Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 1 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 2 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 3 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 4 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 5 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 6 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW Grade 7 Social Studies Standards
• NEW Grade 8 Social Studies Standards 2026
• NEW 9-12 Economics/Financial Literacy Standards 2026
• NEW 9-12 World History Standards 2026
• NEW 9-12 Geography Standards 2026
• NEW 9-12 Civics/Government Standards 2026
• NEW US History Standards 2026
• NEW 9-12 Psychology Standards 2026 (Elective)
• NEW 9-12 Sociology Standards 2026 (Elective)

Changes to ISASP and an Opportunity to Participate in Standard Setting

There will be some changes to the ISASP test this spring.  As a part of these changes, the Department of Education is seeking qualified individuals to participate in establishing new performance standards.  Please see the information at the end of the blog if you are interested. 

Changes for ISASP 2026

• ELA and Math tests will have additional content coverage (more items) and stronger alignment to the standards. 
• This document includes the changes in the number of items.
• A similar process will follow for Science in 2027--Science will remain the same for 2026.
• The Math test will be in an adaptive format this year. 
• ISASP scores will be interpreted using four different performance levels
• These levels provide additional levels of information for students, educators, and families and supports interpretation at a finer level of differentiation
• This model is currently offered by 47 states and NAEP
• The levels of performance will be:
• Below
• Approaching
• Meeting
• Exceeding
• Practice tests that reflect these changes will be available very soon on the ISASP portal. 

Apply to Participate in Performance Standard Setting for ISASP

The Iowa Department of Education is seeking qualified individuals to participate in a performance standard setting that will help shape the next generation of the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP).

The performance standard setting will cover the updated rigorous academic standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, which were adopted by the Iowa State Board of Education in 2024. Iowa’s academic standards establish what students must learn to be prepared for success at each grade level and after high school.

An estimated 170 seats are available for the performance standard setting for individuals with knowledge and expertise of the updated academic standards for ELA and mathematics. Administrators, educators, higher learning professionals and other community stakeholders are encouraged to apply to participate.  

The performance standard setting will take place on June 8-12 in Des Moines. All individuals who wish to participate must commit to the full schedule. Specific location details will be released in the future. Each participant will receive a $200 honorarium and reimbursement for travel and lodging.

Applications to participate in the performance standard setting will be collected until Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.  

For more information on Iowa’s academic standards, including those on ELA and mathematics, visit the Department’s Iowa Academic Standards webpage.

Specific questions on the performance standard setting can be directed to Heather Briggs, education program consultant, at heather.briggs@iowa.gov. 

Snow Day Self-Paced Professional Development

During the 2024-2025 school year, we implemented a virtual professional development day on one of the snow days in order to fulfill contract days for staff.  We reviewed the data, collected feedback, and we are prepared to implement this model again, if needed, for the 2025-2026 school year.  

In the event a full day of school is cancelled, certified staff will shift to "Snow Day Self-Paced PD".  This model will be implemented for up to 2 potential snow days.  The design of each day will be decided by building leadership and tailored to district goals, your building needs, or individual professional development goals.

In the event of a full snow day, communication will be sent to all certified staff to implement "Snow Day Self-Paced PD." Your building administrator will provide specific details on the content. Think good weather thoughts, and enjoy the season!

Scaffolds and Interventions/December Teaching and Learning Newsletter

Today's blog looks at comparisons between scaffolds and interventions with additional resources and information from December's edition of the Teaching and Learning Newsletter. 

As teams are engaging in pre-unit planning to provide access to core instructional for ALL students, there have been some discussions around the use of scaffolds and interventions.  Below is a table that compares the two. 

Scaffolds	Interventions
Proactive Anticipation of challenges Designed prior to the unit	Reactive In response to student performance Designed as part of daily lesson planning
A component of Tier 1/core instruction that make grade-level learning accessible to all students.	Targeted, Tier 2 supports provided in addition to core instruction  when data indicates more support and practice is needed.
If it can be planned before instruction using knowledge of students’ needs, it’s a scaffold.	If it’s added after data shows a learning gap, it’s an intervention.

So why is this important?? Can't some instructional strategies be used as scaffolds AND interventions?

Yes, that is true.  The difference comes not with the strategy itself, but with the intention of how it is used. When collaborative teams intentionally plan for scaffolds in Tier 1 instruction, fewer students require intervention later.

For a graphic on scaffolds and interventions as well as a resource with multiple ideas for scaffolds, check out the December edition of the Teaching and Learning Newsletter. 

Scaffolding and Interventions

College and Career Opportunities

Writing to Learn

Science for All

K-6 Mathematics: Sample Schedules

Elementary Collaboration: November 12th

We are looking forward to our upcoming Elementary Collaboration on Wednesday, November 12th. Today's blog has information on the content and location for this collaboration.  

K-2 Classroom Teachers

Focus: High Quality Literacy Instructional Materials for grades K-2.

Location: District Office Board Room

Time: 2:45 PM-4:00 PM

We will have limited space, so please do not bring computers.  You may bring paper/pen if you would like to take notes. 

3-5 Classroom Teachers
Special Education Teachers
Reading Specialists
ESOL Teachers
Instructional Coaches
TAG Teachers

Focus: Enhancing Planning for Grades 3–5 Teachers: Deepen your understanding of your next unit by engaging in a step-by-step unit- and lesson-planning protocol. Leave prepared to implement your next unit with a completed unit plan and internalized lessons.

Location: Willowbrook Elementary

• Grade 3 and support: Library

• Grade 4 and support: Art Room

• Grade 5 and support: Cafeteria

Support teams: please plan on dividing up so all grade levels have representation.

Time: 2:00 PM-4:00 PM*
*Optional hour (paid) from 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM. See information below for details.

This session will be facilitated by Amplify presenters. Please bring your Chromebook and something to write with. Grade level teachers, please also bring:

• Teacher materials for Unit 4

• A student reader and activity book for Unit 4

The time from 2:00 PM-4:00 PM will be the planned training.

*An additional hour from 4:00 PM-5:00 PM will be provided. This time is optional, and will address the ideas listed below based on feedback from teams.

• Vocabulary Routines
• Timing and Lesson Pacing
• Teacher Talk vs. Student Talk

If you choose to stay from 4:00–5:00, you will be paid for one hour of additional time at the additional hours rate of $35. Again, this is optional, and you may want to work with your team to see if at least one person is able to participate in the final hour of learning and collaboration.

We’re excited for this opportunity to deepen our understanding of Amplify CKLA and to collaborate on effective planning and instruction!

Preschool Teachers

Focus: Preschool Standards Work

Location: Curriculum Workshop, District Office

Time: 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Core Plus Teachers

Focus: Continued work on your collaborative focus areas. 

Location: Each team please identify and share the location for meeting.

Time: 2:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Teacher Librarians--please report to Clay Elementary for collaborative work around digital citizenship. 

Art Teachers: Please report to Clay Elementary. 

Please reach out if you have questions about the afternoon. We are looking forward to learning and collaborating together!

Secondary Collaboration

Our secondary collaboration is scheduled for tomorrow, (Wednesday, October 22) from 7:30 AM-8:50 AM.  The focus of our work will be providing scaffolding and interventions during core instruction.  If you have a copy of the book All Means All, please bring it tomorrow for reference. 

Please report to the locations listed below:

Collaboration Team	Location
PE/Health 6-12	High School - S140 (MP Room)
CTE (PLTW) & Business	High School - N169 (1st floor)
Science- 6-12	High School - N323 Science (3rd Floor)
Math: 6-12	JH Multi-purpose Room (old Choir room)
World Language, 8th World Language	HS N148
Fine Arts	High School - S108 (Art Hallway)
Social Studies 6-12	JH Rm 146 (N. Morrill)
ELA 6-12, ESOL 6-12, TAG 6/7, Teacher Librarians	JH Auditorium
Counselors	Tour of Eyerly Ball Access Center, 1319 Pennsylvania Ave, Des Moines
SpEd 6-12, ID and BD*	Middle School Library
SpEd Level I and Level II--attend with the content area that you co-teach

Attendance Data on Panorama: Zoom Meeting This Week

Thanks to the hard work of school teams and the community, our attendance data has improved tremendously over the past two years.  While we are still working to maintain these gains, more attention may now be given to Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.

If you are interested in learning more on how to navigate Panorama (the site has been updated) and/or how to select and monitor interventions, we will have a Zoom meeting  on Wednesday of this week.  Information on this webinar may be found below.  

Zoom Link