WISE for Schools

WISE (Working to Institutionalize Sex Education)

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Iowa Project

The goal of the WISE Iowa Project is to increase Iowa school districts’ sustainable implementation of effective comprehensive sex education that complies with the State’s Human Growth and Development mandate.   EyesOpenIowa will work with school across the state to provide training and technical assistance to those interested in improving their compliance with the State’s mandate objectives of the WISE Iowa Project:

1. Increase the readiness of 120 Iowa school districts to complete the process of creating a sustainable sex education program and comply with the State’s Human Growth and Development mandate.
2. Achieve sustainable sex education in eight Iowa school districts to ensure sustained compliance with the State’s Human Growth and Development mandate, by engaging community and district stakeholders in a sex ed institutionalization framework over the course of three years.

Participating Schools

Participating schools will be led through the process creating a sustainable program through the use of a framework developed through the national WISE Project.  Over the course of three years schools will address the five phases: Planning & Mobilization, Policy, Awareness & Engagement, Implementation, and Sustainability.

National Sexuality Education Standards: Core Content and Skills, K-12

The National Sexuality Education Standards recognize sexuality education as a broad term that includes a range of topic areas that impact a person’s sexual health and well-being.  Although it has historically focused on sexual behaviors and the potential outcomes of those behaviors, in its more comprehensive form, sexuality education is about much more than that. The topic areas included in the National Sexuality Education Standards are:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Puberty and Adolescent Development
• Identity
• Pregnancy and Reproduction
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV
• Healthy Relationships
• Personal Safety

For assistance in mapping the human growth and development provided in your school please contact Katie Dale, WISE Iowa Project Coordinator.

Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE) addresses both abstinence and age-appropriate, medically accurate information. CSE is also developmentally appropriate, introducing information on relationships, decision-making assertiveness, and skill building to resist social/peer pressure, depending on grade-level.

WISE Across the Country

The WISE Project is funded through a private foundation and includes eight projects in seven states. Currently, organizations are working on WISE Projects in California, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Iowa, Georgia, and New York. The national WISE Project has focused onthe phases of institutionalizing sex ed:

• Awareness/Engagement
• Implementation
• Institutionalization
• Planning & Mobilization
• Policy

Each individual project has selected one or more phases to focus their efforts based on the climate of their state and the work already completed.

WISE In Iowa

The WISE Iowa Project recognizes the importance of partnership among various organizationsand community members. This partnership brings together the expertise and resources in the field of teen sexual health, health care, education, unplanned pregnancy prevention, and many other areas of expertise. Partners include:

• Iowa Department of Public Health
• Iowa Department of Education
• The Iowa Initiative
• Family Planning Council of Iowa
• Iowa Department of Human Services

In addition to state level partnerships, the WISE Iowa Project has partnered with local Community Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (CAPP) Grantees. These grantees have beenworking to prevent unplanned pregnancies in youth for years and have strong ties to their communities.