Our Mission
To provide services and leadership, in partnership with families, schools and communities, that improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth.

Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success

U of I to Offer Global Education Institute for Teachers

The 2014 Global Education Institute for Teachers will be held on the University of Iowa campus on December 6-7, 2014. The institute is sponsored by the Stanley Foundation and UI International Programs. This year's participants will earn 1 license renewal credit. 

Forty middle, junior and high school teachers will be selected to attend this year's institute and will receive free tuition. The first 20 teachers to register who live outside a 25-mile radius of Iowa City will receive free housing. 

 Application deadline is October 28, 2014. 

More information and an application form may be found on the UI International Programs website. 

If you have any questions, contact Amy Green at amy-green-1@uiowa.edu or 319-335-1433. 

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.

Purchase Orders for IEC Audio/Visual Orders

Please pass the following information on to your district’s business manager. 

Please keep the following in mind when ordering from the IEC AV Co-op! The IEC no longer processes purchase orders for our AV Co-op, and we no longer have an office in Burlington. If you faxed an AV Co-op order to our Burlington office, you will need to re-fax it directly to the appropriate vendor. 

You can find all the latest vendor information by going to http://av.co-op.k12.ia.us/ and clicking on the Vendors link on the left. If you have any questions, contact Robert Ogan, IEC Coordinator, at rogan@iec-ia.org or 563.344.6412.

Heartland AEA to Host DE Mini-Summit on Oct. 3

Heartland AEA will host an Iowa Department of Education Mini-Summit open to superintendents, curriculum directors, special education directors and other administrators and teachers who are responsible for providing oversight for a federal or state program/initiative. The mini-summit will be held on October 3, from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites on Merle Hay Road in Des Moines. 

The Iowa Department of Education will have representatives available from different program areas and state initiatives to give updates, share new information and answer questions. Some of the programs/initiatives represented include the following: 

• New Iowa Core website/resources 
• C4K 
• Early literacy 
• MTSS
• Competency-based education 
• Special education 
• Early childhood 
• Teacher leadership 
• TAG 
• Fine arts 
• Iowa Learning Online 
• Senior Year Plus 
• Board of Educational Examiners 
• Legal updates 
• Open enrollment 
• Whole grade sharing 
• Bullying and harassment 
• Alternate assessment 

A final agenda will be in the Administrator Connection in mid-September. 

Brad Buck, director of the Iowa Department of Education, will participate in a conversation facilitated by school administrators and speak to the participants over lunch. All participants need to register as lunch will be provided free of charge. Registration is available through the Heartland AEA professional development catalog. 

If you have any questions, contact Kevin Fangman, Executive Director of District Services, at kfangman@heartlandaea.org.

Evaluation Supplement Now Available for School Counselors

School Counselors must be evaluated on the Iowa Teaching Standards, however, the teaching standards do not necessarily correlate with the work of the school counselor. To ease this process, the Iowa School Counselor Association, in conjunction with other stakeholders, has created the Evaluation Supplement for School Counselors. 

This tool crosswalks the Iowa Teaching Standards with the School Counselor Competencies from the American School Counselor Association and provides rubrics to assist both the counselor and the administrator in moving forward. To assist with the process, a series of videos has been prepared and housed on our Heartland EA EduVision site. 

Evaluation Supplement for School Counselors - Overview for Counselors 
This video gives the “high-level” overview of the Evaluation Supplement with the history and process for determining how the Iowa Teaching Standards and SC Competencies intersect. The video also explores the ways in which this supplement can be used as a reflective tool for professional growth or in the evaluation process. 

Evaluation Supplement for School Counselors - Overview for Administrators 
This video gives the “high-level” overview of the Evaluation Supplement with the history and process for determining how the Iowa Teaching Standards and School Counselor Competencies intersect. The video also explores the ways in which this supplement can be used as a reflective tool for professional growth or in the evaluation process. 

Evaluation Supplement for School Counselors - Standards 1-4 
This video examines the first four Iowa Teaching Standards and the intersection of the School Counselor Competencies in the Evaluation Supplement. 

Evaluation Supplement for School Counselors - Standards 5-8 
This video examines the last four Iowa Teaching Standards and the intersection of the School Counselor Competencies in the Evaluation Supplement. 

If you have any questions, contact Sue Schirmer, Professional Learning & Leadership Consultant, at sschirmer@heartlandaea.org.

Reminder: Paraeducator Competency Changes, New Curriculum Coming

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners recently changed the competencies for the Paraeducator Generalist Certification and the Area of Concentration-Special Needs Paraeducator. As a result of those competency changes, a statewide group was formed to write new curriculum aligned with the changes. This work is wrapping up and will now be consistent across the state. Heartland AEA will continue to provide a hybrid (on-line and face-to-face) training for paraeducators currently employed by districts. Because of the changes, the course will not be ready for training to begin until late September or early October. Please contact your regional director or the professional learning and leadership Consultant that serves your district for more information.

Digging Deeper into Chapter 62/ELI: Support for District & Building Leadership

Heartland AEA will be offering a professional learning opportunity focused on early elementary reading as it pertains to Chapter 62 requirements. These sessions will be held Sept. 11-25, 2014 at various locations across the Heartland AEA region. The targeted audience includes school administrators, curriculum coordinators, coaches and student services coordinators. These sessions will include presentation of most recent information, review of new guidance documents and discussion of current questions and sharing processes being used by participants to meet Chapter 62 requirements. Areas of coverage include: 

• What does “at risk of substantial deficiency” mean and what is required? 
• What does “substantially deficient” mean and what is required? 
• Discussion of the relationship between substantially deficient and suspicion of a disability. 
• Parent notification. 
• Progress monitoring and monitoring requirements. 
• Data-based decisions based on monitoring data. 
• Considerations around implementation fidelity. 

These meetings are sponsored by Heartland AEA and will be facilitated by Randy Allison and Martha Condon. 

Here is the registration information.

Early Literacy Alternate Assessments Information From Iowa Dept. of Education

The Iowa Department of Education has issued the following guidance document about Iowa’s Early Literacy Alternate Assessments.

Reminder: Student Invitation to the United States Senate Youth Program

The state of Iowa has accepted an invitation to participate in the U.S. Senate Youth Program (USSYP), sponsored by the William Randolph Heart Foundation. The program is designed to give young Americans a working knowledge of American political life. 

Each year two Iowa students have the opportunity to spend a week in Washington, D.C. The William Randolph Heart Foundation pays all expenses. In addition, the two Iowa high school representatives each receive a $5,000 scholarship. 

Selection of the two Iowa high school representatives is based on the outstanding ability and demonstrated leadership qualities of elected junior and senior high school student officers for the 2014-15 school year. 

Each high school may nominate up to three students. Student application materials are available on the Iowa Department of Education U.S. Senate Youth Program webpage. 

Please submit the completed applications to Linda Hoobin, Heartland AEA USSYP contact, at the Johnston AEA Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, AIA by 4:00 p.m. on October 3, 2014. Nominees will take a qualifying examination on October 15, 2014 in Conference Room 125 at the Johnston AEA REC on the U.S. Constitution and government. The award recipients will be announced in December. 

Contact your AEA USSYP contact, Linda Hoobin (lhoobin@heartlandaea.org) or Stephanie Rosenberg Wager (stefanie.wager@iowa.gov) at the Iowa Department of Education for information.