Iowa Core - Brad Buck introduces new website IowaCore.gov
The Iowa CORE has been a hot topic recently and below is a letter from the state Department of Education Department that may help for those of us who have questions.
Dear Parents and Teachers,
While our schools have been hard at work to put our statewide academic standards into practice in classrooms, the Iowa Department of Education has been hard at work on new resources to help Iowans better understand, access and deliver these Iowa Core standards.
Today, those resources are available at IowaCore.gov, a new, user-friendly website launched by the Department.
Having clear, statewide standards for what students should know and be able to do from kindergarten through 12th grade is critical to their success and is critical to our state’s efforts to prepare tomorrow’s workforce. But we still have work to do to clarify for educators, parents and other stakeholders what it means to implement our state standards in classrooms. This new website is a major step in the right direction.
IowaCore.gov has three components:
- Explore the Iowa Core enables users to search the Iowa Core standards by grade level (K-12) and subject (math, science, social studies, English language arts and 21st century skills, such as financial and technology literacy) to understand the knowledge and skills that children are expected to master.
- Parents and Community includes materials that parents and other Iowans can use to understand what the Iowa Core is, what students are expected to know and be able to do, and how parents can help at home. The parent guides found in this section were completed in partnership with the National PTA, as well as Iowa teachers.
- Educator Resources includes a collection of optional classroom resources and materials that educators may use to implement the Iowa Core. More than 8,000 resources are available at no charge in a central, searchable online location called IowaLearns.org, which is accessible through IowaCore.gov. The materials are adaptable to fit the individual needs of local classrooms.
I hope you can take the time to look through the website.
Respectfully,
Brad A. Buck, Director
Iowa Department of Education
