The Iowa Department of Education (DE) supports quality learning opportunities and environments for young children by developing, implementing, and monitoring preschool programs and services provided by, or in partnership with, school districts. High quality research-based early learning experiences are essential to building a foundation to successfully achieve the social and academic challenges of school-age programs.

Standards and Benchmarks

Iowa Early Learning Standards

The IELS emphasizes developmentally appropriate content and skills children may know and be able to do prior to entering kindergarten. The content areas defined in IELS lead to success as students enter school and later become productive adult citizens in our communities.

The developmental areas are:

  1. Social-emotional
  2. Physical well-being and motor development
  3. Approaches to learning
  4. Social studies
  5. Creative arts
  6. Communication, language, and literacy
  7. Mathematics
  8. Science

Iowa Early Learning Standards – 3rd Edition

Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards (IQPPS)

The DE developed the Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards (IQPPS) in 2007 to establish program standards for school districts and their community partners providing preschool. The IQPPS are instrumental in supporting the Iowa State Board of Education’s following goals: “All children will enter school ready to learn” and “All PK-12 students will achieve at a high level.”

IQPPS and Criteria

Preschool Curricular Programs

Preschool Program Director- Shanna Putnam-Dibble