Iowa History Online - What is the state requirement for Iowa history?

Iowa Education Code 281:12.5(3) b.: [Elementary grades 1-6] Social studies instruction shall include citizenship education, history and social sciences. Democratic beliefs and values, problem-solving skills, and social and political participation skills shall be incorporated. Instruction shall encompass geography, history of the United States and Iowa, and cultures of other peoples and nations. American citizenship, including the study of national, state, and local government; and the awareness of the physical, social, emotional and mental self shall be infused in the instructional program.

The 2006 Iowa General Assembly passed and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack signed SF 2320, an act relating to the development of an Iowa Studies Professional Development Plan and the establishment of an Iowa Studies Committee.

The charge of the Iowa Studies Committee is the development of an Iowa Studies Professional Development Plan that includes professional development materials and training measures to provide Iowa's teachers with effective ways to infuse Iowa Studies into their classrooms. The materials developed shall include an active and innovative Iowa studies learning curriculum that may be integrated into the Social Studies requirements for Iowa's secondary school students at the discretion of each board of directors of a school district or the authorities in charge of each accredited nonpublic school. The curriculum shall include lesson plans covering Iowa history, civics, government, and heritage studies. The curriculum developed shall contain enough content for the creation of a course of at least one-half unit of credit.