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Kim Reynolds
governor
Office of the Governor Chris Cournoyer
LT GOVERNOR
June 02, 2026
The Honorable Paul Pate
Secretary of State of Iowa
State Capitol
Des Moines, Iowa 503 1 9
Dear Mr. Secretary,
I hereby transmit:
Senate File 2220, an Act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related
to the Iowa statewide assessment of student progress and programs for gifted and talented
children, and by requiring school districts to develop an advanced mathematics pathway
and implement procedures for subject acceleration and whole-grade acceleration, and
including applicability provisions.
The above Senate File is hereby approved on this date.
Sincesely,
Governor of Iowa
cc: Secretary of the Senate
Clerk of the House
STATE CAPITOL DES MOINES, IOWA 50319 515.281.5211 WWW.GOVERNOR.IOWA.GOV
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Senate File 2220
AN ACT
RELATING TO EDUCATION, INCLUDING BY MODIFYING PROVISIONS
RELATED TO THE IOWA STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT
PROGRESS AND PROGRAMS FOR GIFTED AND TALENTED CHILDREN,
AND BY REQUIRING SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED
MATHEMATICS PATHWAY AND IMPLEMENT PROCEDURES FOR SUBJECT
ACCELERATION AND WHOLE-GRADE ACCELERATION, AND INCLUDING
APPLICABILITY PROVISIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph b,
subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (a), Code 2026, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) That all students enrolled in school districts in
grades three through eleven be administered an assessment in
mathematics and English language arts, including reading and
writing, during the last quarter of the school year and all
students enrolled in school districts in grades five, eight,
and ten eleven be administered an assessment in science during
the last quarter of the school year.
Sec. 2. Section 257.42, Code 2026, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION . 01. The board of directors of each school
district shall do all of the following:
a. (1) Establish systematic and uniform procedures for
screening, referring, identifying, and serving gifted and
Senate File 2220, p. 2
talented children enrolled in kindergarten through grade
twelve .
(2) The board of directors of a school district shall base
the identification of gifted and talented children on a body
of evidence from multiple data sources, both objective and
subjective, which must include, at a minimum, local comparisons
within the school district and, when appropriate, within
individual attendance centers, and which may include but are
not limited to any of the following:
(a) Standardized assessments.
(b) Student achievement.
(c) Cognitive ability.
(d) Creative ability.
(e) Qualitative and quantitative data.
(f) Teacher and parent input.
(g) Observation of gifted characteristics and behaviors.
(3) The identification procedures established by the board
of directors of a school district shall not provide that any
one particular criteria prohibits a student from participating
in the school district's program for gifted and talented
children.
(4) The board of directors of a school district shall make
all reasonable efforts to identify gifted and talented children
among all student populations, including students participating
in special education and students who are English learners.
For purposes of this subparagraph, "English learner" means the
same as defined in section 280.4.
(5) The board of directors of a school district is
encouraged to include universal screening within the school
district's identification procedures.
b. (1) Provide educational service options for gifted
and talented children that are based on the areas in which
the child is gifted or talented and ensure that the school
district provides gifted and talented children with appropriate
instructional adaptations and educational services beyond those
that are provided in the regular school program.
(2) The educational services a school district provides to
a gifted and talented child must satisfy all of the following
requirements :
Senate File 2220, p. 3
(a) The educational services must address the cognitive
needs of the gifted and talented child.
(b) The educational services must address the character
development of the gifted and talented child. For purposes
of this subparagraph division, "character development" means
addressing common challenges of gifted and talented children
and promoting skills to support personal growth and academic
success .
(c) The educational services must be in alignment with the
gifted and talented child's identification data.
(d) The educational services must correspond to the
academic strengths and interests of the gifted and talented
child .
(3) The board of directors of a school district shall review
the progress of gifted and talented children at least annually
to ensure that the educational services the school district
provides to gifted and talented children meet the academic
needs of each gifted and talented child.
(4) The board of directors of a school district shall make
all reasonable efforts to provide educational services to each
gifted and talented child that promotes the academic growth in
the gifted and talented child's academic strengths.
Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 279.89 Advanced mathematics pathway.
1. The board of directors of each school district shall
develop an advanced mathematics pathway that is designed to do
all of the following:
a. Increase the number of students who complete higher-level
mathematics courses in grades nine through twelve.
b. Enable students to be prepared for, and enroll in,
algebra I as early as middle school and to complete algebra I
no later than by the end of grade nine.
2. The board of directors of each school district shall
automatically enroll a student in the advanced mathematics
pathway if any of the following apply:
a. The student attains a score that is within the advanced
performance level on the statewide summative assessment in
mathematics that was administered to the student when the
student was enrolled in grades five, six, or seven.
b. The student demonstrated proficiency in mathematics as
Senate File 2220, p. 4
indicated in the student's mathematics coursework or other
local measure when the student was enrolled in grades five,
six, or seven.
3. For purposes of this section, "advanced mathematics
pathway" means a sequence of courses and curricula that
accelerates or combines mathematics instruction that is
typically provided to students enrolled in grades six through
eight .
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 279.90 Acceleration and automatic
enrollment in advanced courses.
The board of directors of each school district shall do all
of the following:
1. Establish and implement procedures for subject
acceleration and whole-grade acceleration that satisfy all of
the following requirements:
a. Describe how the school district will assess a
student's readiness for subject acceleration and whole-grade
acceleration .
b. Correspond to the level, complexity, and pace of the
curriculum in order for the student to receive the appropriate
acceleration to meet the student's academic needs.
c. Provide support to the student to address any possible
gaps in learning that may have been created when the subject
acceleration or whole-grade acceleration occurred.
2. a. Automatically enroll a student in the next most
rigorous level of advanced courses or programs offered by
the school district if all of the following requirements are
satisfied :
(1) The student is enrolled in grades four through twelve.
(2) The student attained a score that is within the advanced
performance level on the statewide summative assessment in
mathematics or English language arts that was administered to
the student in the immediately preceding school year.
(3) The school district determines that the student
demonstrates academic preparedness using any of the following
data sources:
(a) Standardized assessments.
(b) Student achievement.
(c) Cognitive ability.
Senate File 2220, p. 5
(d) Creative ability.
(e) Qualitative and quantitative data.
(f) Teacher and parent input.
(g) Observation of gifted characteristics and behaviors.
(4) The school district determines that the student is
prepared to participate in the next most rigorous level of
advanced courses or programs offered by the school district
pursuant to procedures adopted pursuant to section 257.42,
subsection 01, paragraph "a", subparagraph (1).
b. Notwithstanding paragraph "a", a school district shall
not enroll a student in the next most rigorous level of
advanced courses or programs offered by the school district if
the student's parent or guardian requests that the student not
be enrolled.
c. A school district shall use the automatic enrollment
described in paragraph "a" as a way to increase student access
to, and enrollment in, advanced courses.
d. A school district shall notify students and the parents
or guardians of students of the advanced courses and programs
available to eligible students.
e. This subsection shall not be construed to limit other
options available to students to participate in advanced
courses or programs, including the senior year plus program
established pursuant to chapter 261E.
3. Allow any student who is enrolled in an accelerated
course to take the statewide summative assessment that
corresponds to the content and level of the course in which the
student is enrolled.
Sec. 5. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance
with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
received by the school district under section 257.16. This
specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of
section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding
shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act
by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school
districts .
Senate File 2220, p. 6
Sec. 6. APPLICABILITY,
beginning on or after July
1. The section of this
2. The section of this
_ _
AMY SINCLAIR
President of the Senate
The following apply to school years
1, 2027:
Act enacting section 279.89.
Act enacting section 279.90.
P^VI^R^S^
Speaker of ^the House
I hereby
is known as
certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
Senate File 2220, Ninety-first General Assembly.
Approved , 2026
W. CHARLES SMITHSON
Secrerary 4^^the Senate
KIM REYNOLDS fl
Governor
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