Iowa districts set gifted services and faster math paths

District boards establish consistent ways to identify gifted students and provide them with services matched to their needs. These procedures cover gifted and talented students in kindergarten through grade 12. Identification must use evidence from multiple sources and cannot use any single criterion to bar a student from the program. Districts must make reasonable efforts to identify and serve students across all groups, including students in special education and English learners. District boards review each gifted student’s progress at least once a year.

District boards develop an advanced math course path and automatically enroll some students in it. The pathway is a sequence of courses that speeds up or combines math usually taught in grades six through eight. Automatic enrollment applies when a student in grades five through seven reaches the advanced level on the state math test or shows math proficiency through coursework or another local measure. The pathway requirement applies to school years beginning on or after July 1, 2027.

District boards set procedures for moving students ahead in a subject or into a higher grade, and automatically enroll some students in advanced courses. Acceleration can mean moving ahead in one subject or skipping a whole grade. Advanced courses include the next most rigorous courses or programs the district offers. Automatic advanced-course enrollment applies to grades four through twelve when the student scored at the advanced level on the prior year’s state math or English language arts test and the district finds the student prepared using listed evidence. A parent or guardian may ask the district not to enroll the student. Districts must tell families about available advanced courses and programs. Students taking an accelerated course may take the state test that matches that course. These requirements apply to school years beginning on or after July 1, 2027.