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'hapter f
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S U MMAKY, C-Ui\(-'LGS IONS, IMPLICATIUN S, AND R J Z C O \ ~ \ I E ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
;urnmar!
In I .yo. lllc lo\*lil l.~gis~ilture passed House File 2272 ,Accountab,liry For
~c;~rning Act). The enactment of this bill required all Iowa public school districts to
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pmcesscs of developing standards and benchmarks for student learning and reporting annually
to the state and their local patrons.
Of the 37 1 school districts in the state of Io\va, nearly 20% naa 1ea:er than 4 0
students K- 12. Larger districts ~'ith their layers of leadership and expertise Urere often hard-
pressed to meet the mandates put in place with HF 2272. Yet 1ou.a'~ small districts were
required to meet the same standards as their much larger counterparts.
loivn's slnall districts frlced challenges that made their very existence a concern. not
iuqt for rhe cchool communitv. hut a190 the small t0a.n or towns that made up the local school
tl141ricr. 'Phc problem of I his srud\~ [hen. 14.a~ to learn. dezcrik. and understand ho\v the
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CCILIC;II~~\ fro111 Inu,;~'s sm:rll di~rricrs planned. strategized. and implemented HF -- -.
Funhcr. [his ,tt~dv ~ugtlt rccomrnenda~ion~ for lerislarors as they fine-tuned existing policy
or ilc,i~nc~l ne\rm policy. This a.a< one of se\.en FEE-wpporred studies of Io\~a's
;~cc.nun~:~bilit\. Icgicl;~tion.
The pllrpoSe of [his polic\v implementation stud)' \VaS to expl@~ and IJndentand lhe
~rccption~ ;Ind isclles of cdLlc:l[ional pmctilioners in Small Io\va schml distlicts as they
rel:llcd lo local district ialplemcntation of HF 2272. Teachen. 8dminislraton. and board
mclllherx fr(,nl snl;111 qchools had
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oppni~nily lo share lheir~l~~!. in'plement'tion efforrs'
It \r.:l* hoped ~ l ~ l\lmllF~I : ~ t lllis s,~ldy. insights nli~ht be pained that
assist other smdl