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or eliminating the Iowa Core.&nbsp; Heidi Doellinger, the district's instructional strategist, said prior to the core curriculums each Iowa school district wrote its own curriculum but that changed when the Iowa Core was implemented. Doellinger said they aligned the district's curriculum with the Iowa core and again with the national core. “It's tedious doing this again and again,” she said. Related Topics: Ames Community School District, Curriculum, Dan Woodin, Legislators, Mandy Ross, No Child Left Behind, and Schools Email me updates about this story. [["validates_email_format_of",{"message":"Enter a valid email address e.g. janedoe@aol.com."}]] Website: Thanks. We'll email you the next time we update this story. &nbsp;Email &nbsp;Print Follow comments &nbsp;Submit tip &nbsp; Comment Leave a comment [["validates_presence_of",{"message":"Hey, you forgot to let us know how you feel \u2014 please enter a comment."}],["validates_length_of",{"too_long":"Easy there, Tolstoy. Your comment cannot exceed 1500 characters.","maximum":1500,"allow_blank":true}]] Website: Get Email Updates Send me email updates for this article Would you like to receive email updates about this article? Yes, please No thanks Make a new comment on this article Close Read More in Government <

H.F. 45 17. CORE CURRICULUM AND CAREER INFORMATION AND 1 DECISION-MAKING SYSTEM 2 For purposes of implementing the statewide core curriculum 3 for school districts and accredited nonpublic schools and a 4 state-designated career information and decision-making system: 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1,901,556 6 75,556

The funding for implementation of the statewide core 16 curriculum for schools and for the career information and 17 decision-making system are eliminated and legislative intent is 18 stated for amending the law relating to the curriculum.

This move to participate in the national standards [officially known as the “Common Core”] was part of a national trend.&nbsp; So far, 48 states have adopted all or part of these national standards.&nbsp; The reason?&nbsp; The Obama administration’s “Race to the Top” program. “They put some big carrots out there for states,” Latham said, referring to the administration’s $4 billion competition. One of the ways states score points in the competition is doing exactly as Iowa did: adopt both state and national standards.&nbsp; So far, 11 states and the District of Columbia have won funding in two rounds of competition. Iowa has not even been a finalist, and thus the state has not seen the tens of millions of dollars in aid that other states have won.&nbsp; However, four Iowa schools with high poverty and low achievement rates did receive grants from the Race to the Top legislation.&nbsp; Being committed to adopting state and national standards was key for those schools to receive the grants, Latham said.

Starting in 2012, Iowa’s schools will have to follow state standards in certain subjects and national standards in others.

States score a significant portion of Race to the Top points by opening up charter schools and pegging teacher pay to student performance—two features that are common in New York and D.C., but are virtually nonexistent in Iowa.

In 2010, legislation defined full implementation of the Iowa Core as "accomplished when the school or district is able to provide evidence that an ongoing process is in place to ensure that each and every student is learning the Iowa Core standards for ELA and Mathematics and the Essential Concepts and Skills of Science, Social Studies and 21st Century Skills.&nbsp;

"If district leaders (administrators, teachers, and the school board) and other educators monitor and increase the degree of alignment among the intended, enacted, and assessed curriculum, then the quality of instruction will improve and student learning and performance will increase."&nbsp;&nbsp;