Education (Curriculum)

signed · Iowa · House May 6, 2025

HF 316: A bill for an act relating to career education, including middle school career exploration and industry-recognized credential seals and certificates for high school students.

This bill expands career education opportunities and recognition for Iowa students. It mandates new career planning and exploration curriculum for public school students in grades five through eight, designed to help them understand career pathways and prepare for future academic and career plans. For high school students, the bill directs the Department of Education to establish a list of industry-recognized credentials and create a corresponding seal. School districts would then report students who achieve these credentials and recognize them by adding the seal to their transcripts or providing a certificate.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationBill expands career education opportunities, mandates new curriculum for students, and creates industry-recognized credential seals to enhance student preparation and educational access.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Career & Technical Education Curriculum

introduced · Iowa · House Feb 16, 2026

HF 2540: A bill for an act relating to computer science and artificial intelligence education, including high school curricula and graduation requirements, and practitioner preparation programs, and including applicability provisions.

HF 2540 requires Iowa high schools to offer at least one semester of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) instruction to satisfy graduation requirements, beginning with the 2030-2031 graduating class. The bill mandates that all courses include foundational AI concepts, how AI works, and its societal and ethical impacts. Schools must provide this instruction starting in 2022 (for grade-level offerings), and the state must publish approved course lists and a teacher-training plan by 2027, with special support for small schools. This directly affects all Iowa public and accredited nonpublic high schools and their students, integrating AI education into graduation standards.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationMandates AI/CS curriculum for graduation, enhancing educational requirements and modernizing K-12 education with foundational AI concepts and ethical impacts.95% confidence ✓ TechnologySupports TechnologyMandates AI/computer science education in high schools, promoting tech literacy and workforce readiness through curriculum requirements and teacher training.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum K-12 Education Teachers Artificial Intelligence

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in committee · Iowa · Senate Feb 19, 2026

SF 2174: A bill for an act relating to trainings and curricula regarding specific defined concepts provided by public institutions of higher education and school districts.

SF 2174 requires public schools and colleges in Iowa to ensure that all staff, contractors, and volunteers avoid teaching, promoting, or acting upon stereotyping or scapegoating based on demographic group membership (like race or gender) in curriculum, materials, or training. It prohibits using public funds or school resources for such content and mandates that school districts provide staff with training on these requirements. The bill also allows parents, employees, or residents to file lawsuits to stop violations without needing to prove personal harm. This affects all public school districts, higher education institutions, and their employees, contractors, and volunteers who create or deliver educational content.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationBill mandates inclusive curricula training to prevent stereotyping, strengthens educational standards, and requires staff development - directly advancing student safety and equitable learning environments.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum

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signed · Iowa · House Jun 2, 2026

HF 2670: A bill for an act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to summative testing in schools and the educational program provided to students enrolled in kindergarten through grade twelve, and including applicability provisions.

HF 2670 requires Iowa public schools to administer annual assessments in math and English language arts for students in grades 3-11 during the last school quarter. It also mandates science assessments for grades 5, 8, and 10, and social studies assessments for grades 8 and 10. The bill specifies that assessments must align with Iowa’s academic standards, meet federal requirements, and be available in both paper and digital formats. These changes directly affect Iowa’s K-12 students and school districts implementing testing programs.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationMandates aligned assessments to ensure accountability per academic standards, strengthening K-12 educational program requirements without restricting curriculum or funding.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum K-12 Education Testing & Assessment

passed · Iowa · House Mar 11, 2026

HF 2510: A bill for an act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to the social studies instruction provided to students enrolled in grades one through twelve and the educational programs provided by the institutions of higher education under the control of the state board of regents.

HF 2510 modifies Iowa's K-12 social studies curriculum requirements. It mandates specific instruction on U.S. founding documents (including the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Federalist Papers), "admirable Americans" like Lincoln and Douglass, and Holocaust education for both students and teachers. The bill requires grades 5-6 to study key historical documents, adds a semester of civics focusing on U.S. founding principles and government structures, and specifies that U.S. history instruction must emphasize "exceptional and praiseworthy history" using primary sources. It directly affects all public school students in grades 1-12 and their educators across Iowa.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationMandates specific curriculum content including founding documents, Holocaust education, and civics, strengthening educational standards per bill language.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum K-12 Education

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in committee · Iowa · Senate Mar 19, 2026

SF 2413: A bill for an act relating to social studies instruction provided to students enrolled in grades seven and eight, and including applicability provisions.

This bill (SF 2413) requires all Iowa schools serving grades seven and eight - including public school districts, accredited nonpublic schools, charter schools, and innovation zone schools - to include at least one-half semester of instruction on U.S. government as part of their social studies curriculum. It expands current law, which previously only mandated civics instruction, by adding specific requirements for U.S. government education in those grades. The policy applies to all eligible schools for the 2028-2029 school year and later. The change ensures students receive dedicated time on U.S. government structure and function, alongside existing civics content.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationMandates U.S. government instruction in 7th-8th grade social studies, expanding curriculum requirements to strengthen civic education as part of core curriculum.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum

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introduced · Iowa · House Feb 6, 2026

HF 2338: A bill for an act prohibiting school districts, charter schools, and innovation zone schools from providing any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction relating to gender theory or sexual orientation instruction in grades seven through twelve.

HF 2338 prohibits Iowa public school districts, charter schools, and innovation zone schools from offering any program, curriculum, test, survey, questionnaire, promotion, or instruction about gender theory or sexual orientation to students in grades seven through twelve. This bill extends an existing ban (previously limited to kindergarten through grade six) to cover all middle and high school grades. The law requires schools to comply with this restriction when developing human growth and development courses, including those covering topics like sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases. It amends multiple sections of Iowa code to enforce this prohibition uniformly across all covered school types.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationProhibits gender theory and sexual orientation instruction in grades 7-12, restricting curriculum content in schools per bill's explicit language.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum K-12 Education

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in committee · Iowa · Senate Feb 18, 2026

SSB 3163: A bill for an act relating to education programs and systems, including career and technical education expenditures and definitions, statewide lower division general education framework and common course numbering systems, and the implementation of a statewide corequisite model in Iowa community colleges.

This bill establishes a statewide framework for career and technical education (CTE) in Iowa high schools and community colleges. It requires high schools to offer computer science instruction aligned with CTE standards and mandates students complete sequential CTE courses across six defined career pathways (e.g., health sciences, business, agriculture). For community colleges, it implements a common course numbering system to simplify transfer between institutions by 2027 and replaces traditional remedial math/English courses with corequisite models by the 2028-2029 school year. The bill directly affects Iowa high school students, community college students, educators, and school districts through new curriculum requirements and funding alignment with high-demand, high-wage occupations.

Topics ✓ EducationSupports EducationMandates CTE courses and computer science in high schools, standardizes community college transfers - strengthens career education framework95% confidence

Sub-Topics Career & Technical Education Curriculum Higher Education

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in committee · Iowa · House Feb 5, 2026

HF 2286: A bill for an act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to the social studies curriculum, core curriculum, graduation requirements, area education agencies, and high school equivalency diplomas, and including transition provisions and effective date and applicability provisions.

HF 2286 replaces Iowa's social studies curriculum standards by directly adopting South Dakota's standards as the state's new requirements. It mandates specific content including U.S. government, U.S. history, and voting procedures (requiring one-half unit of government and one unit of history), while explicitly prohibiting "action civics" (defined as assignments encouraging political activism or advocacy). The bill modifies graduation requirements to include three years of social studies and removes the Iowa Department of Education's authority to set social studies content, directing schools to follow the adopted standards instead. This directly affects all Iowa public and accredited nonpublic schools, their students, and teachers implementing social studies curriculum.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationProhibits 'action civics' and mandates specific social studies content, restricting curriculum freedom per bill's explicit language.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum K-12 Education

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in committee · Iowa · House Feb 17, 2026

HSB 718: A bill for an act relating to practitioner preparation programs, including by modifying the preparation required to be included in practitioner preparation programs and the duties of the state board of education and the director of the department of education, and including applicability provisions.

This Iowa bill (HSB 718) requires teacher preparation programs to remove specific concepts from their curriculum by July 1, 2027. It prohibits instruction on "diversity, equity, and inclusion" theories, multicultural classroom management frameworks, and social-emotional learning models. Instead, programs must include explicit training in "authority-centered" classroom management techniques - such as clear rules, teacher-led instruction, and consistent discipline - and analyze historical management approaches prior to 1990. The law applies to students admitted to approved programs on or after July 1, 2027, and directs the state education board to enforce these changes through program approvals.

Topics ✗ EducationOpposes EducationProhibits DEI concepts in teacher prep curricula, replacing them with authority-centered methods - direct curriculum restriction per topic description.95% confidence

Sub-Topics Curriculum Teachers

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