New state curriculum aims to prepare students for 21st Century

By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer

February 19, 2009 09:19 am

— Suggestions of a statewide school curriculum initially brought worry about a “loss of local control.” But some local officials seem OK with the final legislation.
“This is part of a much bigger issue,” said Judy Jeffrey, director of the Iowa Department of Education. “This is much larger than any school district, or even our state; it’s about our nation and how we will prepare students for the 21st century.”
Some of those skills, said a release from the DOE, include civic and financial literacy as well as employability skills.
“I really do think those 21st century skills can make for better-rounded students,” said Eddyville-Blakesburg Superintendent Dean Cook. “Not just technology, but good communication skills and being healthier. I think there’s merit to that.”
The Iowa Core Curriculum is also a set of “essential concepts and skills” all Iowa students must know by the time they graduate from high school.
“Some states have benchmarks and standards,” Cook said, “and I don’t think a statewide core curriculum is a bad way to go.”
“There was a readiness on the part of our school districts for guidance on what our students need [in order] to be competitive in a [global economy],” Jeffrey said.
“More rigorous classes give kids, [including] those who choose not to go to college, an opportunity to go out into the workplace and be more competitive,” Cook said.
And most districts wanted to head in that direction, but didn’t necessarily have the resources to do much research on the subject, Jeffrey said.
Even the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, which is how the state has been checking on how well students are learning, will have some revisions in about two years. The ITBS, said Jeffrey, needs to reflect and measure the effectiveness of teaching the new course work. Yet, there may not be much change needed in some districts.
“We will [already] line up on much of the Iowa core,” said Sue Meadows, the curriculum director for Ottumwa schools. “We only really started ‘alignment’ this year, where we see what we need to change to line up with the Iowa core. There are certainly things we’ll need to change and rethink. Right now, we’re doing what every district in Iowa is doing, which is training a leadership team.”
That’s what they’re doing in Keota.
“We’re [currently] training a committee to implement it, and they are actually excited to work with the staff to get our curriculum aligned, especially at the elementary level,” said Deb Brenneman, the middle and high school principal in Keota
Though a smaller district, Keota is the No. 2 district in Iowa for preparing students for college. That could suggest the question, “why should the state mess with a good thing?”
The answer, said Brenneman, is that the more challenging core curriculum is “not messing with” the way the district operates.
“We were pretty much doing that anyway. For example, four years of English is just the standard here for every student,” she said.
The core curriculum dictates how many years of each subject students have, making sure they take enough of the “tougher” subjects.
“Again, we were doing that anyway; we have very high expectations, both in the homes and in the community. Most of our kids were taking three years of math, three years of science. Most were taking up through physics and chemistry,” Brenneman said.
Any changes needed would be made less painful, said Meadows, because the state is allowing years to fully implement the program, and they are funding it, too.
“The Legislature has done a very good job in [allocating] professional development dollars and [financially] supporting this legislation,” said Jeffrey.
Maybe that funding won’t get cut, said Brenneman.
“We’re hoping they follow through with what they say, and [fund] the core curriculum [implementation].”
Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mgnewman@mchsi.com.

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