The Iowa Department of Education sets the standards for all public institutions of education in Iowa and accredits private as well as public schools.
[1] As of 2020, the Iowa Department of Education consisted of 8 bureaus and works with the oversight of the 11 member Board of Education.
After Governor Kim Reynolds signed two bills about establishing and operating new charter schools in May 2021, three more were founded in Union, Iowa, Hamburg, Iowa and Des Moines.
In 2023, the department received 8 more charter school applications for the 2024-25 School Year, one in Oakmont, three in Cedar Rapids, and four in Des Moines.
[5] Since 2019, the Department of Education has used the Iowa Statewide Assessment for Student Progress (ISASP) since 2023, it has administered the National Assessment of Educational Progress and since.