256D.1 - IOWA EARLY INTERVENTION BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED -- GOALS.
256D.1 IOWA EARLY INTERVENTION BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
ESTABLISHED -- GOALS.
1. An Iowa early intervention block grant program is established
within the department of education. The program's goals for
kindergarten through grade three are to provide the resources needed
to reduce class sizes in basic skills instruction to the state goal
of seventeen students for every one teacher; provide direction and
resources for early intervention efforts by school districts to
achieve a higher level of student success in the basic skills,
especially reading skills; and increase communication and
accountability regarding student performance. The Iowa early
intervention block grant program shall consist of the following:
a. Class size management. School districts shall develop a
class size management strategy to work toward, or to maintain, class
sizes in basic skills instruction for kindergarten through grade
three that are at the state goal of seventeen students for every one
teacher.
b. Improving instruction in the basics. The department of
education shall identify diagnostic assessment tools that can be used
to assist teachers in measuring reading accuracy and fluency skills,
including but not limited to phonemic awareness, oral reading
ability, and comprehension skills, to improve student achievement in
kindergarten through grade three. The department, in collaboration
with the area education agencies, school districts, and institutions
with approved practitioner preparation programs, shall identify and
serve as a clearinghouse on intensive, research-based strategies and
programs for training teachers in both diagnosis and appropriate
instruction interventions.
(1) A school district shall at a minimum biannually inform
parents of their individual child's performance on the diagnostic
assessments in kindergarten through grade three. If intervention is
appropriate, the school district shall inform the parents of the
actions the school district intends to take to improve the child's
reading skills and provide the parents with strategies to enable the
parents to improve their child's skills. The board of directors of
each school district shall adopt a policy indicating the methods the
school district will use to inform parents of their individual
child's performance.
(2) The department shall also identify for school districts
programs and materials by which parents may support classroom reading
instruction.
2. A school district shall integrate its specific early
intervention block grant program goals and activities into the
comprehensive school improvement plan required under section 256.7,
subsection 21, paragraph "a".
3. For purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires, "parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, a
stepparent, or a legal guardian or custodian of a student. Section History: Recent Form
99 Acts, ch 18, §1; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §148; 2006 Acts, ch 1152,
§5; 2009 Acts, ch 54, §4