Student Curriculum Plans--PLEASE READ

Heartland has been getting a lot of phone calls on the topic of the requirement for “Student Curriculum Plans” (279.61) also known as 8th Grade Plan &/or IHAPI as have our High School Counselors and principals. Interestingly, phone calls are split between going to the media directors, curriculum, or a few others.

I know there are some misunderstandings as to who ‘dropped the funding ball’.  The IA Dept. of Ed. never funded this requirement.  The Iowa College Aid Commission funded the Xap product – IHAPI- along with the training that took place in the AEA’s & the districts.  The product was put up for bid, purchased and supported from the beginning from the Iowa College Aid Commission.  However, their budget was modified and they can no longer fund this for the state.  There is a  

DE Career/College Ready  Standards Writing  Team which met last  Friday (there are several counselors as well as myself on this team). This team was created by the IA Dept. of Ed's Division of Community Colleges/CTE Bureau as a result of the CTE Secondary Task Force’s (legislated 2013) recommendations.  Our goal was to examine future ways for districts to meet the requirements of Ch. 279.61. 

The 279.61 requirements (and proposed legislative changes to it) have not changed the requirement to meet the IA Code.  What has changed is that the IA College Aid Commission  can no longer provide a free platform for schools (which was called I Have a Plan Iowa – a product of Xap).  The legislative changes proposed require that the IA Dept. of Ed. adopt administrative rules (there were no prior rules written around 279.61).  The DE has requested funding for 279.61 from the IA Legislature.

The committee made a few recommendations and will await a response from the IA State Board of Education.  Specifically, we asked the following:

1. A 1-year grace period for implementing a new product/vendor, which would allow time to explore possibilities (districts would be required to submit an action plan if allowed a 1-year grace period - they can't simply take a year off).

2. Districts no longer be required to use a vendor/product and could use a variety of sources to meet the requirements (putting together a local model utilizing free products and resources).

3. Districts no longer be required to report student-level data to the IA Dept. of Ed.  Districts would provide aggregate percentages of students completing each component.

Vendors have been putting pressure on Superintendents, Curriculum Directors, and School Counselors regarding this issue.  What we were told again by the IA Dept. of Ed.  is that districts should feel free to explore options but not feel pressured into purchasing a product until the state has determined the parameters (and most importantly, the accountability expectations).

The team meets again on Feb. 26th.  This meeting  will hopefully result in detailed guidance and direction to districts from the IA  Dept. of Ed.  Please share with networks as appropriate.