Requested Action: DMACC Seeking Adjunct Instructors

DMACC is seeking qualified instructors to teach in a number of college programs. Please forward the email found by clicking here to your teachers and retirees who may be interested in applying for adjunct teaching openings at DMACC. Daytime, evening and summer positions are posted on the DMACC website at https://jobs.dmacc.edu throughout the year. They are in great need of daytime instructors.

The dissemination of information from external organizations by Heartland AEA does not infer sponsorship or endorsement of the information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its educational value.

Updated Special Education Procedures and Documents now Available

Please find the updated editions of the Special Education Procedures, Special Education Procedures Documentation Guide and the March 1, 2011 Release Notes. Key changes include:

• Deferring standards-based IEP requirements to July 1, 2011
• Extended Educational Decision Maker procedures
• Early Childhood Setting Code procedures that reflect December 1, 2010 Web IEP changes
• Clarification of the two IMS codes (RRC & RRT) that denote a return to general education

These documents area also posted on the Iowa IDEA website.

Handwriting Without Tears® Founder to present in July

This summer Heartland AEA will host a Handwriting Without Tears® workshop presented by founder and developer, Jan Z. Olsen. This unique opportunity will allow teachers to learn handwriting instruction and strategies to help struggling writers. Click here for an informational flyer, and please distribute it to teachers who may be interested.

AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey to Launch March 7

It’s that time of year again when we ask that you fill out the AEA Customer Satisfaction survey. Next Monday, March 7 you and your staff will receive an email asking to complete the 2010-11 AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey. The Subject line of the email will read “Response Requested: AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey.” The survey will be available March 7 through April 8.

The survey provides us with your insight on how to improve our services to your school(s) and students. The more feedback we receive, the more comfortable we will feel making program decisions that benefit all schools in the Heartland area.

We will send reminders in March and early April to insure that all district staff have a chance to participate. Since the survey is anonymous, we have no way of knowing who has contributed and who has not. You are only asked to fill out the survey once. After you complete the survey, you may disregard the reminder notices. Please remind all your staff to participate.

We look forward to your input!

New Iowa AEA Online Databases for 2011-12

Iowa’s Area Education Agencies are pleased to announce the Iowa AEA Online resources for 2011-2012. These resources continue to be provided at no cost to accredited public and non-public PreK-12 schools. Heartland users will find that some past resources have changed or been replaced.

• CultureGrams is a new resource
• SIRS Issues Researcher is a new resource
• Britannica Digital Library replaces World Book
• Gale eResources replaces part of EBSCO
• DEStreaming will not be offered statewide--stay tuned for more information and options for accessing that content

The following databases have been available in the Heartland area for a couple of years, and are now available statewide:

• BookFLIX
• Teen Health & Wellness
• Soundzabound
• Atomic Learning's ATT and 21st Century Skills

Teachers will have more engaging and age-appropriate resources to integrate in their units. Students will have easy access to multimedia and etext for just-in-time learning. Parents will have homework helpers readily available. Workshops on how to integrate these resources in teaching will be offered. Promotional materials for students and parents will be available this summer.

Learn more about available online resources at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/library/OnlineDatabases.