earlier today, we talked to dr. paul gausman, superintendent of sioux city schools jenna back on cam gausman says he feels there was more good than bad in "no child left behind", but there is a lot of anticipation and excitement leading up to these changes... mostly in regards to standardized testing a " but the challenges with no child left behind have to do with assessments, every state takes a different approach to assessments, students perform at different levels many states like iowa continue to change the form of the assessment, the reporting of the assessment,so its very difficult to discover, but the federal government still has to under the previous law hand out these negaitive designations to different schools and different districts based on their performance. " tim on cam many opposed 'no child left behind' ... saying it involved too much testing and not enough teaching. it also had federal oversight... now each state decide's what's best for it's students.

station in des moines brings us more "the no child left behind act is being left behind. the new law is the every student succeeds act, or essa. the president's signature on this new law mean the federal government will give control back to the states and individual school districts to make sure their education system is working. 16:28 the problems came from emphasis on testing and accountability. roark horn is the director of the school administrators of iowa. he says school districts around the state will be excited to break away from the cycle of too- much-testing. 20:09 they're not releasing total control of what needs to be done but they are releasing control of how it's done and that's where iowa is well- prepared to take on horn says the biggest change classrooms will new law is that tests will be used how they're meant to be child's progress and potential. overall it's a better measure of accountability and student achievment. 20:34 i think we're going to take the tenants of every child is important, but with a recognition that doesn't mean we test them to death." tim: the "every student succeeds act" takes affect

jenna: in july of 2017. jenna: a small plane has crashed along interstate 29 in council bluffs, killing one person inside it, authorities said. t he plane landed in the median, just east of eppley airfield. the pottawattamie county sheriff says it appears the plane was trying to make it back to eppley. he said the plane took off from the airfield at just before noon =. one witness told investigators the plane clipped a power line. the ntsb and faa are investigating tim: waterloo police say a body found earlier this month in the cedar river is that of a 18- year-old who's been missing for months. tim: authorities say moe sed disappeared in october from his home in waterloo on bicycle with no cell phone or money.

organized searches, groups of people combed trails and lake cedar river greenbelt in waterloo. sed, a burmese refugee, was known to love fishing and was familiar with the natural areas around black hawk county and would go fishing on his bicycle. a teacher with waterloo schools says this is going to have a big impact on the district. tim: police say the bike was not with his body. the iowa medical examiner's office is performing an autopsy. jenna: an influential iowa conservative says he's backing senator ted cruz for the republican presidential nomination. bob vander plaats is the president and c-e-o of the conservative family leader organization.

one of the most influential critical early vander plaats that cruz is a man he trusts. and i happen to believe that the leader that we need extraordinary times is u.s. senator ted cruz." vander plaats also called cruz the one candidate that can get the called "the mess currently in." the endorsement comes as cruz sees his support growing in iowa. a recent c-n-n o- r-c poll shows 20 percent of likely iowa g-o-p caucus-goers back cruz. jenna: briar cliff university president bev wharton is known for being approachable... and getting to know students. tim: now, as she prepares to retire after 15 years at b-c-u... she's getting some help from student... to make the most of her time left. abc 9's bria bell tells us more about "bev's bucket list." bria: tim and jenna, briar cliff university has challenged

occassions through twitter with the hashtag bev's b-c-u bucket list and so far she's answering the call. president was able to cross off and complete another task the bcu students say they wanted to see her do . "whip and nae nae song" briar cliff university's president bev wharton has whipped and nae naed, sled down a cliff on an old b-c-u lunch tray, and now she can cross working out with student- athletes off of her bucket list. president bev is planning to retire after the academic school year and the school's marketing and communications team came up with an idea for the president to leave on ather lasting mark for the students and faculty to remember her by. "it has been the creative genius of michael and his team and as you can see now our students and alumni...they are getting into the action by providing these challenges for me," said wharten. the challenge has gone viral as students have tweeted with the hashtag bev's b-c-u bucket list. students say their president is relatable and that they enjoy every minute of it. "it's awesome to see someone that high up come down to

"she's an awesome president. she kind of gets out and does her own thing, so it pretty cool to see her doing that," said conley. though alumni and students have the libertally to ask president bev to do whatever challnege they want, there's one thing that is completly "we've had a number for the me and the bucket list challenge. one we cancel finals, the answer to that is no," said wharton. bria: monitary to each challenge that will help fund scholarships. and well president bev, all of us at abc 9 are challenging you to give us the play by play one of briar cliff's basketball games live right here in our studio. ball's in your court. live in studio, bria bell abc 9 news. jenna: tim:

also at briar cliff today... three siouxland celebrating christmas. university faculty were annual christmas party for mid-step services, unlimited and residential services. those organization say, favorite part of the holiday for some of their residents. "as long as i can remember briar cliff has made this an annual tradition for our consumers and highlights of their coming out here and being with the students, they enjoy course...last but not least, they love the grand finale of santa and his elves. christmas carols and served holiday lunch to the residents. jenna: safety regulator with a 70 million thursday for safety

accidents in which killed and injured investigated by the national highway safety automakers are required to report information about accidents so that regulators can determine if a vehicle has a to be repaired through a recall. jenna: coming up after the break...well have some tips on preparing healthy holiday meals. (fred) but a cooldown is coming this weekend, with mixed way too. your forecast is next! " " tim/jenna/fred

welding company skycam hd from the ho chunk centre. 40 was last night's low and today's high of 58 is 25 degrees above normal. highs over western iowa were in the 40s and 50s. eastern nebraska and southeastern south dakota saw highs in the 50s and 60s! incredible! in sioux city, we have 46 degrees with clear skies. the dew point of 29 shows slightly drier air and is a reasonable estimate of what our overnight low will be tonight. local temperatures are in the 40s and 50s with 39 in estherville. winds are west at 5 to 10 miles per hour. the satellite and radar shows this morning's showers, which dipped a bit farther south than we expected. to the west, we have clear skies, but over montana, you can see a weather system that will begin to affect us locally saturday. the stormcast shows quiet weather tonight and tomorrow, then rain building in late saturday and into sunday. the heaviest rain will be found across the south and east, where over 1" of rain may be possible! this likely will change, so stay tuned. tonight's low will be 31. tomorrow's high will be 59 with mostly sunny skies! the 7-day shows 46

sunday and a chance of rain and light snow that will melt quickly. on monday, we'll get a break from the wet weather, but rain may return tuesday, with a chance of snow wednesday and thursday. check out these rainbow pictures from this morning! beautiful! jenna/tim/fred (tim) thanks, fred.

tim: still to come... throwing a holiday party?

holiday party? we've got some ideas on how to make healthy holiday dishes! jenna: if you're

if you're and don't want to pack on the serve healthy dishes to your guests. us some ideas in minute. " "holiday time means fun and food... so this year, throw a holiday party with a not all of the fat. south africa restauranteur justin anthony has tips on how to make healthier dishes. degrees south) there are a lot of things that people can do that they don't realize, like instead of cooking in butter, you can cook take this button mushroom dish. (justin anthony, ten degrees south) grill the mushrooms with some olive oil, with some lemon, and there we go. easy, simple, tasty and people wouldn't

justin often turns to spices to keep dishes healthy. instead of using butter and salt on his rice, he throws in a little turmeric. also, if you are using a store bought sauce, look at what's in it. (justin anthony, ten degrees south) what are those ingredients on the back - how high is the sodium? and why not spice up the chicken, our old stand-by. justin suggests trying curry and a few other healthy ingredients. (justin anthony, ten degrees south) it's got bananas in it, it's got apricot chutney breast for the chicken, so it's lean. all good suggestions for a healthy, fun holiday. for today's health minute, i'm holly firfer. jenna: the cy-hawk series returns tonight as iowa heads to hilton coliseum to take on fourth-ranked iowa state. tim: the hawkeyes lead the all time series, but the cyclones are 7-3 in the last ten years. jon schaeffer is in ames and has more. " " tim:

sports...wayne state is in the elite 8 for the first time in school history. we'll have an update from tampa coming up after the break. jenna: plus...northweste rn introduced its new head football coach this morning. get to know matt mccarty after the

dear future, sailed through that diaper stage, learned to walk, and i'm reading like a third-grader. but now it's time to go out into the world. and from what i hear, it's not all toys and games out there. will you look out for me, future?

has a new head football coach. after kyle achterhoff resigned the position sterday, the red raiders introduced long- time defensive coordinator matt mccarty as the new nwc head coach. mccarty has spent the last 11 seasons coaching the red raider defense, turning the unit into one of the best in the entire country. in 10 of those 11 defense has been scoring average nationally and naia in 2014. former all- american defensive back for northwestern, is excited for the new opportunity as head coach of his alma mater. matt mccarty--"as somebody who's been a part of red raider football as a player or as a coach for 15 of the last 16 years, i am extremely honored, humbled, and extremely excited." earl woudstra--"when we knew this transition was happening, he obviously was somebody that we wanted to have a conversation with. i was just really excited when i met with him yesterday and he was willing to accept this challenge." matt mccarty--"we

and we have great young men on our team. so it's exciting to move forward. i don't think we need to make big changes, but there's going to be some little changes that go along with how i do things and how i coach." mccarty also stressed an emphasis on playing fast and physical on both sides of the ball. chris: the wayne state wildcats he already made school history, winning the central region and advancing to the elite eight for the first time in program history. now, coach scott kneifl's team, is just three wins away from a national championship. and make it two. the wildcats took down carson newman 3 sets to 1 earlier this afternoon to advance to the final four. alyssa frauendorfer had a match high 19 kills while katie hughes and michaela mestl had double- doubles. heelan grad leisa mcclintock had 48 assists in the match. the wildcats will play tomorrow at 6:30 against a yet to be determined opponent.

this week's abc9 rising star...our winner today is isabella schaap of sergeant bluff. she plays with the sbl kindergarten/firs t grade team and does what she can to help the squad. isabella will receive a t-shirt, a framed photo, and 2 passes to kings pointe courtesy of the education station and sign pro. chris: as we just heard a little bit ago, it's officially game- night in hilton coliseum as the cyclones and hawkeyes battle for state supremacy. the game is set to tip off in just minutes over on espn 2 in what is one of the most raucus environments in college basketball. two years ago the cyclones used some hilton magic to come from behind and down the hawkeyes and iowa's mike gesell knows it will be another tough atmosphere. mike gesell--"you u know, it's so much fun. that's why you sign up to play college basketball, to get to play in envivinments like that. you know, it's a fun place to play." isu senior georges niang thrives on the atmosphere at hilton, so he's excited for another aspect of the matchup. excited for

georges niang--"i'm excited to see the big fella, adam woodbury. so, he's a good player, we've gone against each other since high school, so that's a matchup i'm excited for." again tip, just minutes away over on espn2. and the cy-hawk rivalry continues tomorrow in women's hoops action. the cyclones have won 10 straight at home in the series but will have their hands full against the 23rd ranked hawkeyes. tip off is friday at 7 pm in hilton coliseum. " "

june e. nylen cancer center. the woodbury county sheriff's office and sioux city police department raised $4,820 for the cancer center during no shave november. if you're like to submit a facebook fan photo, just post it on our abc-9 facebook page. jenna/tim/chris/fred: tonight's low will be 31. tomorrow's high will be 59 with mostly sunny skies! the 7-day shows 46 saturday and a chance of rain, 42 sunday and a chance

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