Iowa

EyesOpenIowa (EOI) joined WISE in 2009 and has worked to support implementation of Iowa’s Human Growth and Development Mandate. Passed in 2007, the mandate requires schools to teach research-based, age-appropriate, and bias-free sex education. EOI launched efforts to achieve two goals: 1) increase awareness among school and district administrators of Iowa’s state policy and 2) boost the capacity of ready school districts to implement sex education. Iowa’s WISE work has leveraged existing state networks to build awareness about the state sex education requirements. Upon completing school district capacity assessments, EOI works with administrative stakeholders to assess schools' current policies and practices and identify goals related to sex education implementation, and then provides technical assistance and training to meet those goals. In this way, EOI has been steadily institutionalizing sex education in Iowa and is now poised to expand work beyond its state borders.