Superintendents: November HAA Meeting Agenda

Click here for the agenda of the Heartland Administrators' Association (HAA) meeting which will be held on November 3 at the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center from 9:00-11:50 a.m.

Curriculum Network: November Curriculum Network Meeting Agenda

The November Curriculum Network Meeting is scheduled for November 6, 2009 at the Johnston Regional Education Center on 6500 Corporate Drive. You can download the agenda here or from the Curriculum Network Web site at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/curriculumnet/2009-10/nov09.html.

Heartland AEA and Southeast Polk Schools to co-host Dr. Donna Beegle in All-Day Poverty Workshop

Heartland AEA in collaboration with Southeast Polk Schools (Central Place) will be bringing in Dr. Donna Beegle to conduct an all-day poverty workshop at the Za-Ga-Zig Shrine in Altoona on January 20, 2010. Dr. Beegle is a highly experienced national public speaker, discussion leader and trainer and is the author of See Poverty, Be The Difference, a resource book for professionals who work with people in poverty. Her book can be ordered by adding an additional $25 to the cost of registration. Early bird registration (good from now until January 4) is $35 which includes lunch. Click here for the registration form. Send the completed form with applicable payments to the following:

Central Place / EPIA
6540 NE 12th Avenue
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327

Explore TDSI's Resources for 'Teaching Tolerance'

The Teaching Diverse Students Initiative (TDSI) is a new resource for educators established by the Southern Poverty Law Center. This free resource is a great opportunity for anyone to explore and grow their cultural competence. Working through the assessments, articles and tools is a great professional growth opportunity. These resources can also help teachers, school leaders, school improvement teams or any group with an interest in maximizing students’ learning opportunities to identify needed policies and practices that support effective teaching and high levels of student learning. The resources available through TDSI are embedded in tools and cases and are the following:

• The Understanding the Influence of Race tool helps educators learn more about the origins of "race" as we understand it, examine the continuing influence of race on their own beliefs and behavior and better comprehend how and why their students succeed or struggle.
• The Common Beliefs Survey identifies beliefs about instruction and learning that may have consequences for students of diverse races and ethnicities.
• Primer on Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is an introduction to teaching that facilitates student learning by taking into account race and ethnicity related values, dispositions and experiences.
• Case-Based Course Modules engage the learner in interactive problem-solving related to teaching literacy; many of the lessons to be learned apply to all subjects.
• The School Survey identifies conditions in schools that support effective teaching and learning of racially and ethnically diverse students.

TDSI places primary emphasis on practices within teachers' immediate control — classroom strategies and pedagogical techniques. The research-based strategies promoted by TDSI, first and foremost, support students' academic learning. Within that focus, it also emphasizes strategies that have the potential to reduce teacher and student prejudice.

While TDSI focuses on improving instruction, it recognizes that teaching and the learning opportunities experienced by students are influenced by school structures, processes and cultures that vary in the extent to which they are responsive to student diversity. Thus, the TDSI helps teachers, administrators and families identify the characteristics of schools that are particularly important in maximizing the social and cognitive development of racially and ethnically diverse students.

To access this free resource, go to http://tolerance.org/tdsi.

"Differentiation: From Planning to Practice" with Rick Wormeli

Join Rick Wormeli for a, “how-to” and “why-we-do-it” workshop for those just getting their feet wet with differentiated instruction or for those already swimming who want more ideas. This seminar will bust differentiation myths and provide dozens of practical, "use-the-next-day" tips for making differentiation work. Wormeli will provide sound instructional ideas on tiering, anchor activities, scaffolding, flexible grouping, attention moves, respectful tasks, compacting curriculum, practical cognitive science applications, classroom management, as well as suggestions for meeting the needs of all students. During the afternoon portion of the seminar, Wormeli will carefully move through each step in the process of creating a differentiated lesson from scratch.

About Rick Wormeli: One of the first Nationally Board Certified teachers in America, Rick brings innovation, energy, validity and high standards to both his presentations, and his instructional practice, which includes more than twenty-five years teaching math, science, English, physical education, health, history and coaching teachers. With his substantive presentations, sense of humor and unconventional approaches, he’s been asked to present to teachers and administrators in all 50 states, Canada, China, Europe, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Australia, the Middle East and even the White House.

You can register through the Heartland Professional Development catalog at https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/YYYYYYYYYYYYYYSRCH.

Crafting the Art of Differentiation with Rick Wormeli
Date: January 7, 2010
Time: 8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Location: Airport Holiday Inn
Cost: $60.00 (lunch will be provided)
Activity Number: AS004899991001

Heartland AEA-sponsored Immigration Forum to be on first day of ICLC

Join us for our 2nd Annual Heartland AEA-sponsored Immigration Forum on February 9, 2010 from 2:45-5:00 p.m. The Immigration Forum is held in conjunction with the Iowa Culture and Language Conference (ICLC) which is being held February 9-10 (with Pre-Conference on February 8) at the Polk County Convention Complex at 501 Grand in Downtown Des Moines.

The ICLC and Immigration Forum are great opportunities to expand cultural competence awareness and meet representatives knowledgeable on laws and issues related to ethnicity and immigration. More information on these events can be found on the Northwest AEA Web site at http://www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/upcoming_events/iowa_culture_language_conference/.

Early bird registration for the ICLC is $120, and the Immigration Forum is FREE. Consider bringing a team from your area and complete a registration form for each participant. A direct link to the online registration form is at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dE9vWUJtQlVBR0tKU2hfNFo0eUVzaVE6MA..

For more information about the Heartland-sponsored Immigration Forum, contact Stephaney Jones-Vo, (515) 270-0405 ext. 14680 or Gilmara Mitchell, (515) 270-0405 ext. 14679.

For more information about the ICLC, contact Pat Latham at (515) 270 0405 ext. 14681.

Superintendents: October HAA Minutes Now Available

Click here for the notes from the October Heartland Administrators Association. The presentations on immigration provided during that meeting are available on our Web site at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/ldr/admin.html. The next meeting will be November 3 at the West Des Moines Learning Center.

AASA Learning Supports Webinar and Collaborative

The mission of the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) is to support and develop effective school system leaders who are dedicated to the highest quality public education for all children. The AASA will host two learning support development opportunities that are described below.

For more information on becoming a member of AASA, go to http://www.aasa.org/join-additional-info.aspx?id=2154.

Webinar: Strengthening School Improvement by Developing a Comprehensive System of Learning Supports to Address Barriers to Learning and Teaching

Date: October 29, 2009 Time: 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. EDT

Drs. Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor (educators, researchers and national leaders from UCLA) will talk about why a system of learning supports is imperative for schools to succeed and what forward-thinking states and districts are doing to implement such systems in order to do the following:

• Reduce student dropout rates
• Reduce teacher dropout rates
• Narrow achievement gaps
• Re-engage students in classroom learning
• Eliminate the ““plateau effect”” related to student achievement
• Support schools in crisis

To register, go to http://scholastic.webex.com/scholastic/k2/j.php?ED=127595687&UID=127473567&FM=1 Session Number: 359 033 400. and click "Registration" by Session Status. Once approved by the host, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the session.

Collaborative: School Improvement Opportunity to Develop Comprehensive Systems of Learning Supports
This collaborative is an effort aimed at expanding leaders’ knowledge, capacity and implementation of comprehensive systems of learning supports. This effort supports AASA’s flagship initiative, Educating the Total Child, which is aimed at advocating for an education approach designed to affect real change by addressing key factors that determine children’s academic achievement.

There will only be four districts selected throughout the nation to participate in the collaborative. They will be provided with valuable supports to help them move forward toward developing comprehensive systems of learning supports that are integrated into school improvement planning and implementation that involves the following:

• Building understanding about comprehensive systems of learning supports and how such systems transform public education
• Creating policy and practice framework documents that can be shared among critical stakeholder groups
• Working to design and implement learning support system

Districts will be guided in their work by Drs. Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor. The application deadline is November 1, 2009. To register, go to: http://www.aasa.org/uploadedFiles/Resources/Leadership_Development/Professional_Development_Programs/AASAScholasticUCLARFAFinal.pdf.

For more information on the project, please feel free to contact Dr. MaryAnn Jobe at mjobe@aasa.org or Cyndy Erickson at Cyndy.Erickson@iowa.gov.

Iowa DE Guidance Letter for 8th Grade Plans

Kevin Fangman of the Iowa Department of Education recently sent a letter of guidance for 8th Grade Plans to all district superintendents and area education agencies. For a copy of his letter, click here.

October 20th Administrator Networking Session Canceled

The Administrator Networking Session scheduled for October 20th at Fuddruckers in West Des Moines has been canceled due to low number of registrations.

The next networking opportunity is in Carroll on November 11 at the Carrollton Inn, Oakland Room from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. To register, go to the Heartland Professional Development catalog on the Web site and enter the item registration number, AD013099991001. Superintendent Rob Cordes and team will be sharing their story, "Applying Balanced Leadership".

Heartland AEA's PEC to host Transition Times Workshop

It’s never too early for students to start planning for their future! The Parent & Educator Connection (PEC) will host a Transition Times Workshop on Tuesday, October 22. Families and educators of 7-12th grade students on IEP’s, students ages 14 and older and school district professionals are invited to attend. Click here for an informational flyer for the workshop.

To register, contact Maureen Schletzbaum at mschletzbaum@aea11.k12.ia.us or Susan Gill at susan.gill@dmps.k12.ia.us. Please leave your name, phone number, number attending and your school district. If accommodations are needed, please make request by October 9.

New Online Professional Development Course Proposal Form

In an effort to improve our professional development services, two more course proposal forms are now on-line. Study Group and Collaborative Action Research proposals used to be paper forms that were completed and submitted for license renewal and graduate credit. Those forms have now been converted to on-line proposal forms.

To submit a course proposal, authors should go to the "Classes, Workshops and Trainings" tab on the left side of Heartland's home page. Click on "Course Proposal Forms" then choose the appropriate format by clicking on the format type. To create a new proposal, click the box and hit "search". This will take you to the on-line form which follows a similar format to the current on-line proposal form for catalog or site-based courses.

We are excited to offer this updated service to our internal and external clients - this will be a much more "user-friendly" application.

For questions, contact Sue Schirmer, Professional Learning and Leadership Consultant, at at (515) 270-0405 or (800) 255-0405 ext 14379 or sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us.

ASCD's Fall 2009 Conference: Unlocking Seven Strategies of Formative Assessment

This October, Iowa ASCD’s fall conference features Jan Chappuis, who will speak on Formative Assessment. Jan works directly with Rick Stiggins and has a wealth of practical information to help educators. ETS recently published Jan’s book: “Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning”. The book is included with each participant’s registration. It is formatted in a way so that school teams can use it both as a learning tool and as an instructional tool, as it includes forms that are reproducible for use with students in the classroom. Jan was the speaker at last year’s workshop and she was very well received. This year, she will walk participants through her book and explain how school teams can use the assessment tools to further student learning. This workshop aligns very well with the Iowa CORE; there are already several Iowa schools using the book with district leadership teams and PLC’s as they study how to instruct and assess the Core.

The Iowa ASCD is encouraging school groups to send a team, as this is an area that will assist staff in their understanding of how to use formative assessment to inform instruction. Click here for a brochure of more information on the conference and how to register.

You may direct questions to Pam Vogel at (641) 347-5215 or pvogel@east-union.k12.ia.us.

Superintendents: October Heartland Administrators' Association Meeting Agenda

Click here for the agenda of the October 6th Heartland Administrators' Association (HAA) meeting which will be held at the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center from 9:00-11:50 a.m.

Iowa Core Curriculum Update

Year Two, Day One Iowa Core Curriculum training is scheduled for October 5 and repeated on October 8. The sessions in Des Moines are closed but space is still available at the four other locations. Teams are reminded to bring their self-study materials for Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 5 to the training and any other materials needed for work during team planning time. One focus of the October training will be alignment, and participants will have an opportunity to preview the self-study for Outcome 4. Some curriculum terms will be briefly reviewed as a part of the alignment segment of the day. Curriculum can be divided into three categories: intended, enacted and assessed curricula.

Intended curriculum: the content target for the enacted curriculum, often captured in content standards or other similar documents.

Enacted curriculum: the content actually delivered during instruction in the classroom and other learning settings.

Assessed curriculum: the content that is assessed to determine achievement (Porter, 2004).

The following is the answer to a frequently asked question related to alignment.

Question: Are we aligning the Iowa Core Curriculum to our local standards and benchmarks? If not, why not?

Answer: The Iowa Core Curriculum is not about rewriting district standards and benchmarks. Rather, it focuses on providing a curriculum that includes the essential concepts and skills for all students. However, an even more important question is, do the local standards and benchmarks really represent what is going on in the classroom (enacted curriculum)? The goal is to align the content, instruction and assessment delivered to students with the Iowa Core Curriculum. (Taken from the Department of Education’s Iowa Core Curriculum Network Team work)

Questions about the Iowa Core Curriculum may be directed to Linda S. Biermann Hoobin, Teaching and Learning Consultant, who can be reached at lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us or 515-270-0405 extension 14327.

Preparing Your School Counseling Services to be Site Visit Ready

On September 24, an ICN was held for schools across Iowa to prepare for a K-12 School Counseling site visit. The document review checklist with suggested artifacts for these programs can be found at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/prodev/counseling/.

For questions concerning School Counseling, please contact Sue Schirmer at (515) 270-0405 or (800) 255-0405 extension 14379 or sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Early Childhood Parent & Educator Connection Conference November 8‐10, 2009

Make sure to register for this year's Early Childhood Parent & Educator Connection Conference. The conference will be held November 8‐10, 2009 at the Scheman Building in Ames, Iowa and will highlight various topics and resources associated with special education needs. The conference is tailored for families, educators, community agency representatives and students. Please notify your staff and community of this valuable learning opportunity with the attached flyer and brochure.

Registration is $35 and must be submitted by October 22, 2009. Participants can register by going to www.aea11.k12.ia.us/pareduc/ then clicking on "workshops" or going directly to https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/DL001799991001inv*.

If you have questions regarding the conference or Parent & Educator Connection services, please contact Terry Mendell at (515) 270-0405 ext 17135 or tmendell@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Membership Guidelines for the Iowa Staff Development Council (ISDC)

The Iowa Staff Development Council (ISDC) is a state organization of the National Staff Development Council. ISDC seeks to:

1) Advocate a common voice for quality professional development in the state of Iowa

2) Build an understanding of how districts and other organizations involved with professional development can design and support high quality professional learning by applying the NSDC Standards and Iowa Standards

Membership in this organization is open to any individual interested in the continuous improvement of professional learning and runs from August 09-August 2010. To join, send your name, organization, address, email and phone along with a check or purchase order of $25 to the following:

Lou Howell, Treasurer
2555 Pine Circle
Urbandale, IA 50322

Please contact Sue Schirmer, Board Member, at sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us with questions or if you would like to be more involved with ISDC.

YouthBizCentral Online Entrepreneurship Curriculum

The University of Iowa’s Jacobson Institute has a stipend opportunity for Iowa High School teachers interested in piloting the YouthBizCentral Online Entrepreneurship Curriculum, which was developed through support from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine, Iowa.

Secondary educators participating in the pilot MUST be willing to implement the 8-unit curriculum, provide feedback via online surveys and have students take pre- and post- assessments measuring their attitudes about and knowledge of entrepreneurship. Each participating educator will receive a $250 stipend upon completion of the pilot project.

Curriculum features are the following:
· Online/Easily Accessible
· 8 Fully Customizable Core Units
· Lesson Plans
· PowerPoint Presentations
· Activities & Web Resources
· Entrepreneurial Profiles
· Student Business Planning Template
· Equips Youth with the Skills to Succeed in Business and Entrepreneurship! T

Teachers will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis and can apply online at http://www.jacobsoninstitute.org/youthbiz_app.cfm.