S.F. 2123 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b, 1 subparagraphs (2) and (3), Code 2014, are amended to read as 2 follows: 3 (2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), for the school year 4 beginning July 1, 2016, and each succeeding school year, the 5 rules shall provide that all students enrolled in school 6 districts in grades three through eleven shall be administered 7 an assessment during the last quarter of the school year 8 that at a minimum assesses the indicators identified in this 9 paragraph “b” ; is aligned with the Iowa common core standards 10 in both content and rigor; accurately describes student 11 achievement and growth for purposes of the school, the school 12 district, and state accountability systems; and provides valid, 13 reliable, and fair measures of student progress toward college 14 or career readiness. 15 (3) The director shall establish an assessment task force 16 to review and make recommendations for a statewide assessment 17 of student progress on the indicators identified pursuant to 18 this paragraph “b” . The task force shall recommend a statewide 19 assessment that is aligned to the Iowa common core standards 20 and is , at a minimum, valid, reliable, tested, and piloted in 21 Iowa. In addition, in developing recommendations, the task 22 force shall consider the costs to school districts and the 23 state in providing and administering such an assessment and 24 the technical support necessary to implement the assessment. 25 The task force shall submit its recommendations in a report 26 to the director, the state board, and the general assembly by 27 January 1, 2015. The task force shall assist with the final 28 development and implementation of the assessment administered 29 pursuant to subparagraph (2). The task force members shall 30 include but not be limited to teachers, school administrators, 31 business leaders, representatives of state agencies, and 32 members of the general public. This subparagraph is repealed 33 July 1, 2020. 34 Sec. 2. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph c, Code 35 -1- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 1/ 9

S.F. 2123 2014, is amended to read as follows: 1 c. A requirement that all school districts and accredited 2 nonpublic schools annually report to the department and the 3 local community the district-wide progress made in attaining 4 student achievement goals on the academic and other core 5 indicators and the district-wide progress made in attaining 6 locally established student learning goals. The school 7 districts and accredited nonpublic schools shall demonstrate 8 the use of multiple assessment measures in determining student 9 achievement levels. The school districts and accredited 10 nonpublic schools shall also report the number of students 11 who graduate; the number of students who drop out of school; 12 the number of students who are tested and the percentage of 13 students who are so tested annually; and the percentage of 14 students who graduated during the prior school year and who 15 completed a core curriculum . The board shall develop and 16 adopt uniform definitions consistent with the federal No Child 17 Left Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110 and any federal 18 regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Act. The school 19 districts and accredited nonpublic schools may report on other 20 locally determined factors influencing student achievement. 21 The school districts and accredited nonpublic schools shall 22 also report to the local community their results by individual 23 attendance center. 24 Sec. 3. Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a, 25 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2014, is amended to read as 26 follows: 27 Adopt rules that establish a core curriculum and high school 28 graduation requirements for all students in school districts 29 and accredited nonpublic schools that include at a minimum 30 satisfactory completion of four years of English and language 31 arts, three years of mathematics, three years of science, and 32 three years of social studies. 33 Sec. 4. Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph a, 34 subparagraph (3), Code 2014, is amended by striking the 35 -2- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 2/ 9

S.F. 2123 subparagraph. 1 Sec. 5. Section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraphs b and c, 2 Code 2014, are amended by striking the paragraphs. 3 Sec. 6. Section 256.7, subsection 28, Code 2014, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 28. Adopt a set of core content assessment standards 6 applicable to all students in kindergarten through grade twelve 7 in every school district and accredited nonpublic school. For 8 purposes of this subsection , “ core content assessment standards” 9 includes reading, mathematics, and science. The core content 10 assessment standards shall be identical to the core content 11 assessment standards included in Iowa’s approved 2006 standards 12 and assessment system under Tit. I of the federal Elementary 13 and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et 14 seq., as amended by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 15 2001, Pub. L. No. 107-110. School districts and accredited 16 nonpublic schools shall include, at a minimum, the core content 17 assessment standards adopted pursuant to this subsection in any 18 set of locally developed content standards. School districts 19 and accredited nonpublic schools are strongly encouraged to set 20 higher expectations in local standards. As changes in federal 21 law or regulation occur, the state board is authorized to amend 22 the core content assessment standards as appropriate. 23 Sec. 7. Section 256.9, subsection 53, paragraph a, Code 24 2014, is amended to read as follows: 25 a. Develop and distribute, in collaboration with the area 26 education agencies, core curriculum technical assistance and 27 implementation strategies that school districts and accredited 28 nonpublic schools shall utilize, including but not limited to 29 the development and delivery of formative and end-of-course 30 model assessments classroom teachers may use to measure student 31 progress on the core curriculum adopted pursuant to section 32 256.7, subsection 26 . The department shall, in collaboration 33 with the advisory group convened in accordance with paragraph 34 “b” and educational assessment providers, identify and make 35 -3- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 3/ 9

S.F. 2123 available to school districts end-of-course and additional 1 model end-of-course and additional assessments to align with 2 the expectations included in the Iowa core curriculum. The 3 model assessments shall be suitable to meet the multiple 4 assessment measures requirement specified in section 256.7, 5 subsection 21 , paragraph “c” . 6 Sec. 8. Section 256.9, subsection 54, Code 2014, is amended 7 by striking the subsection. 8 Sec. 9. Section 256.40, subsection 2, paragraph e, Code 9 2014, is amended to read as follows: 10 e. Integrate services provided through the program with 11 other career exploration-related activities such as the student 12 core curriculum graduation plan and the career information and 13 decision-making system developed and administered under section 14 279.61 , where appropriate. 15 Sec. 10. Section 256.42, subsection 6, Code 2014, is amended 16 to read as follows: 17 6. Coursework offered under the initiative shall be 18 rigorous and high quality, and the department shall annually 19 evaluate the quality of the courses and ensure that coursework 20 is aligned with the state’s core curriculum and core content 21 requirements and assessment standards adopted pursuant to 22 section 256.7, subsection 28 , as well as national standards 23 of quality for online courses issued by an internationally 24 recognized association for kindergarten through grade twelve 25 online learning. 26 Sec. 11. Section 257.11, subsection 11, Code 2014, is 27 amended to read as follows: 28 11. Shared classes and curriculum standards. A school 29 district shall ensure that any course made available to a 30 student through any sharing agreement between the school 31 district and a community college or any other entity providing 32 course programming pursuant to this section to students 33 enrolled in the school district meets the expectations 34 contained in the core curriculum adopted pursuant to section 35 -4- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 4/ 9

S.F. 2123 256.7, subsection 26 . The school district shall ensure that 1 any course that has the capacity to generate college credit 2 shall be equivalent to college-level work. 3 Sec. 12. Section 258.4, subsection 8, Code 2014, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 8. Establish a minimum set of competencies and core 6 curriculum for approval of a vocational program sequence that 7 addresses the following: new and emerging technologies; 8 job-seeking, job-keeping, and other employment skills, 9 including self-employment and entrepreneurial skills, that 10 reflect current industry standards, leadership skills, 11 entrepreneurial, and labor-market needs; and the strengthening 12 of basic academic skills. 13 Sec. 13. Section 260C.14, subsection 22, paragraph b, Code 14 2014, is amended to read as follows: 15 b. Collaborate with the state board of regents to meet 16 the requirements specified in section 262.9, subsection 33 , 17 including but not limited to developing a systematic process 18 for expanding academic discipline and meetings between the 19 community college faculty and faculty of the institutions 20 of higher education governed by the state board of regents, 21 developing criteria to prioritize core curriculum areas, 22 promoting greater awareness of articulation-related activities, 23 facilitating additional opportunities for individual 24 institutions to pursue program articulation agreements for 25 career and technical educational programs, and developing 26 and implementing a process to examine a minimum of eight 27 new associate of applied science degree programs for which 28 articulation agreements would serve students’ continued 29 academic success in those degree programs. 30 Sec. 14. Section 261E.4, subsection 4, Code 2014, is amended 31 to read as follows: 32 4. A school district shall establish prerequisite 33 coursework for each advanced placement course offered and shall 34 describe the prerequisites in the course registration handbook, 35 -5- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 5/ 9

S.F. 2123 which shall be provided to every junior high school or middle 1 school student prior to the development of a core curriculum 2 graduation plan pursuant to section 279.61 . 3 Sec. 15. Section 261E.6, subsection 2, Code 2014, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 2. Notification. The availability and requirements of this 6 program shall be included in each school district’s student 7 registration handbook. Information about the program shall be 8 provided to the student and the student’s parent or guardian 9 prior to the development of the student’s core curriculum 10 graduation plan under section 279.61 . The school district 11 shall establish a process by which students may indicate 12 interest in and apply for enrollment in the program. 13 Sec. 16. Section 261E.8, subsection 1, Code 2014, is amended 14 to read as follows: 15 1. A district-to-community college sharing or concurrent 16 enrollment program is established to be administered by the 17 department to promote rigorous academic or career and technical 18 pursuits and to provide a wider variety of options to high 19 school students to enroll part-time in eligible nonsectarian 20 courses at or through community colleges established under 21 chapter 260C . The program shall be made available to all 22 resident students in grades nine through twelve. Notice of 23 the availability of the program shall be included in a school 24 district’s student registration handbook and the handbook shall 25 identify which courses, if successfully completed, generate 26 college credit under the program. A student and the student’s 27 parent or legal guardian shall also be made aware of this 28 program as a part of the development of the student’s core 29 curriculum graduation plan in accordance with section 279.61 . 30 Sec. 17. Section 261E.9, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 31 2014, is amended to read as follows: 32 b. A regional academy may include in its curriculum virtual 33 or internet-based coursework and courses delivered via the Iowa 34 communications network, career and technical courses, core 35 -6- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 6/ 9

S.F. 2123 curriculum coursework, courses required pursuant to section 1 256.7, subsection 26 , or section 256.11, subsections 4 and 5 , 2 and asynchronous learning networks. 3 Sec. 18. Section 261E.9, subsection 4, Code 2014, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 4. Information regarding regional academies shall be 6 provided to a student and the student’s parent or guardian 7 prior to the development of the student’s core curriculum 8 graduation plan under section 279.61 . 9 Sec. 19. Section 261E.10, subsection 4, Code 2014, is 10 amended to read as follows: 11 4. Information regarding career academies shall be provided 12 by the school district to a student and the student’s parent 13 or guardian prior to the development of the student’s core 14 curriculum graduation plan under section 279.61 . 15 Sec. 20. Section 262.9, subsection 33, paragraph c, Code 16 2014, is amended by striking the paragraph. 17 Sec. 21. Section 279.61, Code 2014, is amended to read as 18 follows: 19 279.61 Student plan for progress toward university admissions 20 —— report. 21 1. For the school year beginning July 1, 2008, and each 22 succeeding school year, the The board of directors of each 23 school district shall cooperate with each student enrolled 24 in grade eight to develop for the student a core curriculum 25 plan to guide the student toward the goal of successfully 26 completing, at a minimum, the core curriculum developed high 27 school graduation requirements adopted by the state board of 28 education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26 , by the 29 time the student graduates from high school. The plan shall 30 include career options and shall identify the coursework 31 needed in grades nine through twelve to support the student’s 32 postsecondary education and career options. Additionally, the 33 plan shall include a timeline for each student to successfully 34 complete, prior to graduation, all components of the 35 -7- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 7/ 9

S.F. 2123 state-designated career information and decision-making system 1 administered by the department in accordance with section 118 2 of the federal Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education 3 Improvement Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-270. The student’s 4 parent or guardian shall sign the core curriculum graduation 5 plan developed with the student and the signed plan shall be 6 included in the student’s cumulative records. 7 2. For the school year beginning July 1, 2008, and each 8 succeeding school year, the The board of directors of each 9 school district shall report annually to each student enrolled 10 in grades nine through twelve in the school district, and, if 11 the student is under the age of eighteen, to each student’s 12 parent or guardian, the student’s progress toward meeting the 13 goal of successfully completing the core curriculum and high 14 school graduation requirements adopted by the state board of 15 education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26 . 16 Sec. 22. Section 280.3, subsection 3, Code 2014, is amended 17 by striking the subsection. 18 EXPLANATION 19 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 20 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 21 This bill eliminates requirements and references to the 22 (Iowa) core curriculum and to core content standards, but 23 continues to direct the state board of education to adopt high 24 school graduation requirements and assessment standards. 25 Provisions directing school districts to cooperate with 26 each eighth grade student on a core curriculum plan to meet 27 core curriculum requirements are amended to replace “core 28 curriculum plan” with “graduation plan” and “core curriculum 29 requirements” with “high school graduation requirements”. The 30 term “core content standards”, which was used to describe the 31 assessment standards adopted by the state board, is replaced 32 with the term “assessment standards”. The assessment standards 33 will remain applicable to all students in kindergarten through 34 grade 12 in every school district and accredited nonpublic 35 -8- LSB 5868XS (4) 85 kh/rj 8/ 9