State Board approves revised Iowa Academic Standards for Science and Science Essential Elements
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Summary
The Iowa State Board of Education voted to approve updated K–12 science standards and a matching set of Essential Elements for students with significant cognitive disabilities, with department staff saying the changes keep content aligned while providing reduced depth for alternate assessments.
The Iowa State Board of Education on Thursday approved updated Iowa Academic Standards for Science and the Iowa Science Essential Elements, the department said.
The board voted to accept the revised standards that the department circulated last month and separately approved the set of Essential Elements that will be used for the state’s alternate science assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
State Education staff told the board the academic standards are unchanged from the draft presented in April and stressed that the Essential Elements are intentionally aligned to grade-level content while reducing depth, breadth and complexity for alternate assessment purposes. “Alternate assessments are designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities,” Jennifer Dennen, the department’s alternate assessment consultant, said. She described the Dynamic Learning Maps framework used to develop test items and noted Iowa students will complete field testing in spring 2026.
Stephanie Wagner, the department’s administrative consultant for standards and practices, said the department had also coordinated with science program staff and with the alternate-assessment team to ensure the Essential Elements and the grade-level standards matched. “One of the main aspects of our document is the premise that all standards are for all students,” Wagner said, adding the department had worked with the Alternate Assessment team as an observer to align the two documents.
Board members held no extended debate after staff presentations. The board took two separate roll-call votes — first to approve the Iowa Academic Standards for Science, then to approve the Iowa Science Essential Elements used for the Dynamic Learning Maps-based alternate assessment — and both motions carried.
The Essential Elements document will be used to design short testlets for the alternate assessment; science’s alternate assessment remains a year-end test but can be administered instructionally during the fall window when teachers have students ready to test. The department said it will continue to offer professional-development resources for teachers who administer the alternate assessment and will post test and classroom materials as the field-test schedule progresses.
Board approval means districts will use the updated standards and the new Essential Elements in instruction and state assessment planning. School districts and special-education teams determine individual students’ participation in the alternate assessment, in keeping with federal requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The board’s action on science standards and the Essential Elements completes a required step in state standards review and clears the documents for district use and assessment implementation timelines. Department staff advised districts to review the new materials and the Dynamic Learning Maps resources and to contact regional consultants for technical assistance as the spring 2026 field tests begin.
