 On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, the Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Department of Education, and Iowa Alliance for Arts Education will hold their biennial Iowa Fine Arts Education Summit at the FFA Enrichment Center on Ankeny’s DMACC campus. The summit will feature multiple strands intended to support fine arts teachers as they work to deliver high-quality, sequential instruction to ensure artistic literacy in four artistic processes: creating, performing/presenting/producing, responding to, and connecting the arts to personal relevance and sociocultural historical context.
Registration information will soon be available on the Iowa Arts Council website. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Eleven years after the release of the National Arts Standards in 2014, the National Coalition for Arts Standards (NCAS) will launch a thorough survey to collect data on the National Standards for dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.
The National Arts Standards have played and continue to play an integral role in improving and supporting arts education for America's students. With nearly all states having revised the state’s arts education standards since 2014, this review process will help us gather the latest knowledge, research, and best practices while addressing the evolving needs of the nation’s students and ensure that the arts remain central to a well-rounded education.
To best inform decision-making and to ensure transparency in the review, all arts educators, thought partners, education and arts organizations, and stakeholders with interests in arts education are asked to provide critical feedback to guide the process.
Your participation is vital to shaping the future of arts education. Please complete the public input survey by May 16, 2025. Additional information and ways to be involved will be shared in the coming months.
If you have any questions, please email contact@nationalartsstandards.org.
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If you know an outstanding Iowa teacher, we want to hear from you! The Iowa Department of Education is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Iowa Teacher of the Year through March 7.
Anyone, including fellow educator colleagues, administrators, students and their parents, association or organization members and other community partners, can submit a nomination form for an exceptional K-12 teacher who is making an impact in an Iowa school. Self-nominations and nominations by a teacher’s family are not accepted at this time.
Nominated teachers will be invited to submit an application and additional information to the Department for further consideration. Each nomination will be reviewed by a selection committee, and nine finalists representing teachers from all regions of the state will be named as Regional Teachers of the Year. Through an interview process with education leaders, one of the Regional Teachers of the Year will be selected to serve as the 2026 Iowa Teacher of the Year.
For more information, visit the Iowa Teacher of the Year webpage or contact Stefanie Wager, Department administrative consultant, at stefanie.wager@iowa.gov.
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The Iowa Department of Education has begun to create a file of emerging classroom leaders that consists of a cadre of distinguished teachers and principals. The educators in this “Talent Pool” file may be considered for membership on advisory boards and task forces and could be considered as candidates for recognition and award programs.
In order to qualify for this specific Talent Pool, educators must have distinguished themselves above and beyond established, top-quality professionals in our schools. They must have between 5 and 18 years of experience in education and are full-time, building-level personnel who directly instruct students (e.g., classroom teachers, related arts teachers, etc.), or principals who are recognized by peers and supervisors as unique in their leadership and results with students.
If you know one or more educators who fit these parameters, please fill out the form linked here. We ask that you keep this recommendation confidential; do not share it with the individual or collaborate with colleagues to complete. If you have any questions, please contact Molly McConnell, Education Program Consultant, at molly.mcconnell@iowa.gov.
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Adjudication of more than 100 complete entries in the K-12 art contest to reimagine Iowa’s education license plate is complete. More than two dozen adjudicators from throughout Iowa evaluated submissions given seven criteria to select 15-20 semi-finalist submissions.
Public voting of semi-finalist entries has begun online. To vote, click on the button below this text.
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This past December, ornaments created by students at Ruthven-Ayrshire CSD were displayed, among others from around the United States, at President’s Park in Washington D.C. In sum, the display included more than 2,000 ornaments from students from U.S. states and territories as well as from school managed by the Bureau of Indian Education and the Department of Defense Education Activity. Each ornament provided an opportunity for students to express themselves and share their unique perspective on what is special about the place they call home.
Ruthven-Ayrshire’s contribution was coordinated by art teacher, Ashley Ellenwood.
If you would like your students to be considered for this special honor in the future, please click the button below this text to indicate your interest.
May 15-17 Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference
May 15-17 Iowa String Teachers Association Conference
June 5-6 Teaching for Impact Conference
June 17 Iowa Fine Arts Education Summit
July 21-24 Iowa Choral Directors Association Summer Symposium
Kris VerSteegt, PhD
Education Program Consultant, Fine Arts
Bureau of Learner Strategies and Supports
Iowa Department of Education
Grimes State Office Building
400 E 14th St
Des Moines, IA 50319
515-371-0410
kris.versteegt@iowa.gov
https://educate.iowa.gov
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