Lowell

Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise has announced a new committee to help schools transition to new statewide assessments.

The Statewide Assessment Advisory Committee met for the first time on Thursday, Oct. 13. Director of K-12 Instruction at Pella Schools Lowell Ernst is part of the group made up of other school administrators from around the state. Iowa recently put in place new statewide tests for students whose first language is not English and students with significant cognitive disabilities. The state also is on track to implement new statewide assessments in English language arts, mathematics, and science in the 2017-18 school year. The next meeting is Thursday, December 8, 2016.