A student concentrating and taking notes while working in a classroom with her classmates. (Photo via Getty Images)
Following a recent national assessment that found decreases in Iowa students’ mathematics scores, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced legislation Monday to help identify and assist students struggling with math.
The bill’s text is not yet available on the Iowa Legislature’s website. A news release from the governor’s office said the measure would require early screening and targeted intervention strategies for K-12 students struggling with math, in addition to providing parents and teachers more resources to aid math instruction. The state Department of Education would provide support to schools and districts to help construct personalized mathematics plans to assist students identified as needing help in the subject.
Reynolds’ office named math education a focus area for her office heading into the 2025 legislative session, but the proposal comes as mathematics proficiency is identified as an area for improvement in the state by recent national test scores. Though Iowa’s 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results showed gains for eighth grade reading scores, mathematics scores decreased for both fourth and eighth graders. The state’s national math rankings fell from 7th to 30th for fourth graders, and from 15th to 23rd for eighth graders, according to the report.
Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow said in a news release Jan. 29 that the results show the “the critical need to support evidence-based mathematics instruction statewide” as proposed by Reynolds and the Department.
“Together with educators and families, Iowa will continue to invest in instruction and interventions that empower all students to meet high expectations and realize their incredible potential,” Snow said.
Reynolds said in a statement Monday the NAEP results shows “plenty of room for improvement” on mathematics instruction and linked her proposal to a law signed in 2024 aimed at improving literacy instruction and providing support for elementary school students not at grade-level reading proficiency.
“Next to early childhood literacy, nothing is a more proven indicator of future success than math proficiency,” Reynolds said. “More than a quarter of Iowa fourth graders are not proficient in math—that is unacceptable. We must provide math instruction in the way we know it works to keep our students competitive and set them up to excel in life after school.”
The legislation will also include a requirement for Iowa students to pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Naturalization Test with 60% or higher in order to graduate from high school, a measure the governor has said she supports. Students would be allowed to retake the test until they pass, and accommodations would be provided for students with disabilities and English language learners.
The House Education Committee approved this requirement as a standalone bill, House File 165, in a 14-8 vote in late January.Â