Ames district details multi-year curriculum review and says updated standards will require economics in high school

Dr. Hawkins presented a comprehensive update on the district’s curriculum and standards work, telling the Ames Community School District Board that the district has formalized a five‑phase curriculum‑review process and a separate standards‑review flow to respond when state learning standards change.

The presentation outlined the curriculum phases — visioning and learning; piloting and purchasing; initial implementation; full implementation; and sustained implementation — and explained that the district uses differing timelines and depth of work based on subject and grade level. Dr. Hawkins said the district piloted an elementary art program (Art for Education), completed elementary literacy adoption and initial implementation steps (including upcoming professional development dates in June and August), piloted middle‑school science materials and created a local rubric to evaluate high‑quality instructional materials, and finished a math adoption now in full implementation.

Dr. Hawkins also described a parallel standards‑review process to handle cases when the state releases new standards between regular curriculum cycles. “We needed a standards‑review process because the state is approving new and updated standards before our curriculum cycle calls for review,” Dr. Hawkins said, explaining teams will map the new expectations, suggest implementation plans, pilot any needed changes, and provide professional development.

On health standards, Dr. Hawkins said the district examined Senate File 175 and the State Board of Education’s January interpretation that requires instruction at multiple grades: “That interpretation is that we do need to teach it in each grade — 5, 6, 7 and 8, and then again in high school,” Dr. Hawkins said. District teams have sketched age‑appropriate sequencing and will develop sample lessons for teachers to use.

On social studies, Dr. Hawkins said state changes added economics and expanded financial‑literacy expectations. After reviewing pathways, the high‑school team recommended making an economics course required rather than elective so students meet the updated standards. Dr. Hawkins said the economics course will also meet financial‑literacy requirements, so it should not increase the district’s total graduation‑credit requirement.

Board members asked whether adding the economics requirement would force the district to remove other requirements; Dr. Hawkins responded that many economics standards overlap existing financial‑literacy work and that the planned course should satisfy both requirements without increasing overall credits.

The presentation noted next steps: teacher teams will draft sample lessons (especially for health), pilot or develop new materials where needed (the high school is building its own 6–12 science curriculum units), and bring recommendations to the board for purchases or policy updates as required. Dr. Hawkins also described planned professional development schedules tied to each implementation stage.

The board did not take a formal vote on curriculum directions at this meeting; Dr. Hawkins’s update set an implementation timeline and asked staff to return with purchase recommendations and policy adjustments where necessary.