Each of Iowa’s nine AEAs serves the special and unique needs of schools and children in a particular area of the state. Although there is still a need for support at the regional level, response to a 2011 legislative study and two consecutive years of $20 million budget reductions in state AEA funding have given reason for the AEAs to formalize a more system-wide mission and approach.
Last school year, the leadership from the AEAs worked with the leadership from the Iowa Department of Education (DE) to define and strengthen the relationship between the AEA system and the DE. Building upon this collaborative work, the AEA chief administrators drafted a document entitled A New Compact with Iowa Schools and the Department of Education.
This document announces a new, bold statement for AEA system co-ownership of student results and outlines a new direction in terms of accountability for Iowa’s AEAs. The document also is a statement of leadership for educational reform and is intended to be a vehicle for AEAs to be proactive and focused on student learning.
The unified AEA Board of Directors and each of the nine individual AEA Boards have endorsed the Compact. Throughout this month the Compact is being shared with staff in the AEA system, staff in the DE, state elected officials and local school administrators and staff.
The Compact identifies the commitment of the AEAs to work collaboratively to achieve one overarching goal:
By 2018 every child who graduates from an Iowa PK-12 public or non-public accredited school will be prepared for success in post-secondary studies, a career and citizenship.
Progress toward this overarching goal will be monitored through the use of a “vital few” or key measures (immediate focus will be on measures 1 and 2):
1. Every Iowa child will be proficient in reading by the end of third grade.
2. The learning gaps between students with IEPs and those without and for those students in disaggregated sub-groups will be reduced by half by 2018.
3. A numeracy goal will be determined after sufficient progress has been made in reaching the literacy goal identified above.
4. A post-secondary readiness goal will be established by 2014 that most accurately identifies and tracks post-secondary success.
Click here for the Compact document and here for a short PowerPoint which provides an overview. Click here for a short video outlining a summary of the Compact. The video is narrated by Roark Horn, Chief Administrator at AEA 267.
Although many details are yet to come, please feel free to share your thoughts, ideas and/or questions about the Compact with Dr. Paula Vincent.
Heartland AEA’s mission is to provide services and leadership to improve the learning outcomes of all children in central Iowa. An audience we sometimes have trouble connecting with as an Agency is parents. Parents are a child’s first teacher and should be actively involved in their child’s education. We’d like to partner with our schools to help inform parents of tools, such as our online databases, that are available for their children and can be used for homework help.
Throughout the year, we will create a series of releases about digital resources provided through the school and made possible by Heartland AEA. To make it more meaningful for parents, the releases can be personalized by including photos of students using the resources and testimonials of how students and educators have used them. The first of these releases is about ebooks and can be found here.
The following are two things we would like you to do to promote these resources. If your school/district has other ideas, please contact the Heartland AEA Communications Dept at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.
Put in School Newsletters
Include the release, with the above-mentioned photos and testimonials, in school newsletters that are sent to your communities.
Send to Local Newspapers
Please send the release as is or with your added photos and testimonials to your local newspaper(s) following your school’s/district’s media relations procedures. We assume you already have an established relationship with your local paper(s), but if not, a listing of area newspapers can be found on the Iowa Newspaper Association website. If you do not have a public relations/communications department, consider using the following message when sending the release.
Dear [Editor’s name],
Students in [school/district] have 24/7 access to hundreds of ebooks with thanks to Heartland Area Education Agency (AEA). Please print the attached release in the paper and let us know if you would be interested in doing a story on how our school district is working with the local AEA to improve the learning climate for students in school and at home.
Best regards,
[Your name, title]
Please refrain from publishing your school’s username/password. This information should be protected and can be obtained by contacting the school librarian. We appreciate your assistance in helping spread awareness of our digital resources. If you have any questions, contact the Heartland AEA Communications Dept. at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.
School districts are buying more and more computers, which means that the need for computer recycling is rapidly growing. While there are many options available to districts, one to consider is free through Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa. Goodwill will accept the following:
● Computers and computer parts (desktop and laptop)
● CRT and LCD monitors and terminals
● Printers and scanners
● Keyboards, mice, speakers and other peripherals
● Cords and cables
● Ink and toner cartridges
● Computer software, floppies and magnetic media
● Computer batteries and battery backups
● Hard drives, optical drives and floppy drives (external or internal)
● Internal computer components (motherboards, power supplies, etc.)
● All other computer-related electronics (networking equipment, web cameras, etc.)
This equipment can be dropped off at the Goodwill warehouse at 4900 NE 22nd Street in Des Moines or you can contact Dave Parr, Goodwill of Central Iowa Vice President for Operations, for more information about pickup options. He can be reached by phone at (515) 265-5323 or by email at davep@dmgoodwill.org.
(NOTE: The Goodwill office that covers central Iowa covers most, but not all, of the Heartland AEA area. For the Carroll and Guthrie Center areas, the same service is available via Goodwill’s Sioux City and Council Bluffs offices.)
If you have small numbers of computers to recycle, Heartland AEA will pick those computers up as part of our regular van service. We will use Goodwill to recycle this equipment, so the van drivers will use Goodwill’s above list of approved items when making a pickup. Place the items to be recycled in the same location that Heartland AEA picks up and drops off other materials. Print off and attach the Heartland AEA “Recycle Me” sheets to each of the items. (Tech Coordinators will be provided a pdf of the “Recycle Me” sheet.) The items will not be taken unless they have the official “Recycle Me” sheets attached to them.
Please place no more than 5 items out at a time. (Smaller components in one box would count as 1 item.) Please keep in mind that depending on what other districts have recycled, it may take a few van runs before we are able to collect those 5 items. Once those 5 items have been picked up, you can set out 5 more.
This is our first attempt at providing a service like this to our schools, so please have patience as we work to make it beneficial for schools. Remember that this is just for small amounts of equipment—we will NOT pick up large amounts of equipment at one time. If you have any questions about the process or would like more information, contact Dustin Gean, Operations Manager, at dgean@aea11.k12.ia.us.
JourneyEd and the Iowa Educators Consortium are offering a special deal on software just in time for the holidays.
In December JourneyEd is offering a 5% discount on any personal use software or product order over $50. Available products include Inspiration, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat Xl Pro, Dragon Naturally Speaking, CorelDraw and more.
1. Purchase online at www.JourneyEd.com/IEC5OFF.
2. Enter PRIORITY CODE 304678 at checkout to apply the 5% savings on your order of $50 or more. Some exclusions may apply. Discount not valid on Microsoft Store purchases.
3. Purchases made through JourneyEd are for in-home, personal use only.
4. Eligible customers include students, teachers, K-12 public and private administrators and all support staff.
Please share this message with your faculty, staff and students. Click here for a flyer that can be put in the teachers’ lounge and sent home with students.
The Iowa Educators Consortium is an independent nonprofit organization supporting the mission of the Iowa Area Education Agencies. The IEC provides cooperative purchasing opportunities for Iowa K-12 schools, colleges, universities, public libraries and city/county/state government.
By request, we will now include the Iowa Department of Education’s School Leader Updates each month in the Administrator Connection. Click here to download the December 2012 issue. This issue brings you good news about Iowa’s graduation rate and about Iowa schools that have made significant progress in closing achievement gaps.
The Iowa Department of Education wishes to congratulate two outstanding students selected to represent Iowa at the 51st U.S. Senate Youth Program in Washington, D.C. March 9-16, 2013. The program is merit-based and highly competitive. The two delegates are Syed Umar Farooq, a senior from Gilbert High School and Cormac Broeg, a senior at Williamsburg High School. Iowa’s two delegates will spend a week in Washington, D.C., meet with high-ranking government officials and receive a $5,000 college scholarship.
Two alternates were also selected. They are Jacob Ihnen, a senior from Sheldon High School, and Raymond Boyd, a junior from Missouri Valley High School. Congratulations to Syed, Cormac, Jacob, and Raymond! Visit the U.S. Senate Youth Program site for additional information.
We have received recent guidance from Dr. Jobi Lawrence, Director of Title III and Education Consultant at the Iowa Department of Education, regarding the use of the Home Language Survey. Please see below for the message.
Please be advised regarding the current use of the Home Language Survey for all students. Based on guidance from our Title III program officer, until further notice, school districts are to provide the Home Language Survey as a hard copy in its full form to new enrollees and maintain that paper copy in a student folder. This form is located on www.TransAct.com and is identified as Form A. This will allow access to the form in 23 languages.
In light of the upcoming Title III visit to Iowa next year, we will want to maintain this practice. We will provide updated information as it becomes available.
The School of Education at Iowa State University is now accepting applications for the Online Literacy Coaching Certificate program that starts this summer. This 17-credits, totally online program is designed to prepare classroom teachers, instructional leaders and other school personnel to serve in literacy leadership roles with the goal of improving teacher practices and student achievement in diverse Pre K-12 school settings.
It is a unique opportunity to develop deep expertise in literacy research, policy, practice and leadership skills. The admission process is limited.
Application deadline for Summer Cohort is March 1, 2013.
Detailed application information can be found at the program website (http://www.education.iastate.edu/literacy-coaching) or request additional information at literacy-coach@iastate.edu.
The dissemination of information from external organizations by
Heartland AEA does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the
information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its
educational value.
Phyllis Yager received a Master of Arts in 1953 and a doctorate in 1983 from the UI. She is the late wife of Science Education Professor Emeritus Robert E. Yager, who also received a Master of Arts in 1953 and a doctorate in 1957 from Iowa. Phyllis Yager devoted her career to advocating multicultural opportunities and gender-affirming activities through her work as a teacher in the Iowa City School District and later as a consultant to the Grant Wood Area Education Agency.
Named in honor of Phyllis Yager, the Phyllis A. Yager Memorial Commitment to Diversity Award recognizes educators who go above and beyond the required curriculum to increase diversity awareness. Recipients receive a stipend to further diversity initiatives or professional development, and are asked to make a presentation to the College of Education community during the College of Education Diversity Committee’s annual Beyond Tolerance Diversity Conference on April 11, 2013.
If you are interested in applying for the grant, applications and further description of award amounts can be found through the College of Education Diversity Committee website:
http://www.education.uiowa.edu/dean/diversity/information.aspx
The deadline for the applications is March 15, 2013 and can be mailed to College of Education Diversity Committee, Office of the Dean, 459 Lindquist Center, Iowa City, Iowa 52242.
Any further questions can be addressed to Marcus Alt, the College of Education Diversity Committee Graduate Assistant at marcus-alt@uiowa.edu.
The dissemination of information from external organizations by
Heartland AEA does not imply sponsorship or endorsement of the
information. It is being passed on to our stakeholders for its
educational value.
