The mission of the Iowa Science Teachers Section of the Iowa Academy of Science is to advocate for excellence in science education by promoting professionalism, influencing policy, and enhancing learning.

The mission of the Iowa Academy of Science is to further scientific research and its dissemination, education in the sciences, public understanding of science, and recognition of excellence in these endeavors.

Malcolm Price Laboratory School at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls is the host of the ISTS Web server. The Laboratory School provides the hardware and network connection as a service to Iowa's science education community.

Located on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, Malcolm Price Laboratory School provides one of the nation's outstanding settings for clinical teacher education and research at the early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school levels. As a part of the Department of Teaching within the College of Education, the Laboratory School is a vital part of the University of Northern Iowa and both elementary and secondary divisions are accredited by the North Central Association Commission.

The Laboratory School serves as an attendance center for approximately 350 students living within the larger Cedar Falls/Waterloo metro area.

Seventeen percent of the student body are drawn from diverse cultural and ethnic minority groups. Because the programs of the Laboratory School encompass the UNI Child Development Center, children from the age of six weeks through grade twelve are offered a rigorous academic curriculum and comprehensive activity program. Because of the Laboratory School's commitment to diversity, the instructional program reflects an array of multicultural opportunities and activities. Administrative leadership is provided by a director, elementary and secondary principals, a middle school coordinator, and an activities director. For instructional purposes, elementary and secondary school divisions are organized departmentally with each being responsible for the development and delivery of the instructional program. In addition, the middle level is organized in interdisciplinary teams. The staff of approximately seventy professional educators hold university faculty status including tenure, rank, and salary privileges.

Professional responsibilities of Laboratory School faculty include, but are not limited to, the delivery of the instructional program; management of a clinical laboratory setting for university students enrolled in the teacher education programs; original curriculum development and dissemination; research design, development and publication; and consultation and leadership for the schools of Iowa. Laboratory school faculty work closely with university colleagues and may teach courses in other university departments.