A new state requirement through the Iowa Senate is a civics test as a graduation requirement for all Iowa students beginning with the class of 2027.

The Council Bluffs Community School District was selected to participate in the statewide pilot for this assessment. Most junior students took the civics test prior to winter break. Students who passed the pilot exam will have met the graduation requirements and will not have to retake the exam in the future.

Students who did not pass the exam will have the opportunity to retake it in the future. This gives them the opportunity to get a head start and help ensure a smooth process for administering the assessment.

Chief Academic Officer Tracy Mathews said the Council Bluffs School District expressed interest in the pilot test.

“The Department of Education put out a form of interest to see who might want to participate in a pilot test, and they received a vast number of districts who wanted to participate,” said Mathews. “We collaborated with our high school administrators and the other teams to determine if we wanted to be considered for the pilot. And ultimately, we decided that it would be a benefit to our students to get a head start on this because anybody who passes the test in this pilot period will not have to retake the exam.”

American Government teacher Bryan Pregon said he is excited about the result.

”I feel that I’m excited to see our results for our school, and as a person who teaches government, I would always think it’s important for students to learn about civics,” said Pregon. “But I’m not professionally a big fan of this particular type of assessment.”

Junior Presley Cannon feels the test surprised her and students were not prepared.

“I personally didn’t like the new civics test. I feel that it just sprung on us which should not be the case, especially knowing that it is now a graduation requirement,” said Cannon. “But I do believe the students should know about some of the things that the test talks about/mentions.”

Junior Caleb Philmon said it was a good experience and opened his eyes a little more to our government.

“I feel like the new civics test was a good way of showing how myself and fellow students not only paid attention in class, but also how well we respond to the forms of teaching we’ve gotten on the subject,” said Philmon “A lot of our tests are by unit, shorter chapters, etc. but this was an all around understanding of things we as students have learned over time so while it was time consuming, I feel like it was a good experience and opened up my eyes a little more to our government and events in our history due to this test reminding me of it.”

As Iowa starts the new graduation rule, students will have to adjust. Some people think the civics test will help students learn more about government, while others are not so sure. Either way, the new requirement will affect many students across the state.