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

Invitation to Participate in Colo-Nesco Career & College Fairs

The Colo-Nesco Community School District invites you to participate in one or both of their Second Annual Career and College Fairs. All 5th-12th grade Colo-Nesco students, their parents and students and parents from neighboring school districts are invited to attend. 

The Fall Career and College Fair will take place on Nov. 6, 2014 from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in the high school gym in Colo. Students will also take part in the Iowa College Application Campaign in association with the Iowa College Student Aid Commission on this night. The fall fair will focus on these career clusters: 

• Arts, A/V Technology & Communications 
• Government & Public Administration 
• Law, Public Safety, Corrections & Security 
• Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics 
• Health Science 
• Information Technology 
• Finance 

The Spring Career and College Fair will take place on March 12, 2015 from 5:00-7:30 p.m. in the high school gym in Colo. The spring fair will focus on these career clusters: 

• Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources 
• Architecture & Construction 
• Business Management & Administration 
• Education & Training 
• Hospitality & Tourism 
• Human Services 
• Manufacturing 
• Marketing 
• Mathematics 
• Transportation, Distribution & Logistics 

Contact one of the following C-N staff if you are interested in participating in this event.

Jessica Radmaker
K-12 Professional School Counselor
(641) 377-2282 ext. 226 

Kandice Roethler  
K-12 TAG Coordinator    
(641) 377-2282 ext. 244 

The Big Picture Schools Coming to Storm Lake

Shared by our colleagues from Prairie Lakes AEA 

The Met School in Providence, Rhode Island is a special place. Consistently recognized as one of the best, most innovative schools in the country, it and the other schools that are now part of the Big Picture Network are organized around several principles that make them very different places than most traditional schools: 

• Students work with adult, non-educator mentors to complete real-world projects; 
• Curricula, projects, use of time and learning environments are personalized to students’ needs and interests; 
• Authentic assessments, not traditional tests or grading systems; 
• Advisory groups that actually work well and mean something; 
• A focus on collaboration and teamwork; 
• A college preparatory focus; and 
• A learning framework focused on empirical reasoning, quantitative reasoning, social reasoning, communication and personal leadership. 

The Big Picture Schools is coming to Storm Lake on October 21! Many of these principles are ones that we are trying to make happen in our own schools here in Iowa and around the country. We have some spots for others to join us for this powerful day of thinking and learning. The registration link is below. 
http://bit.ly/leavingtolearn

Director Buck Supports Long-overdue Revision of Federal NCLB Law

More Iowa schools and districts were identified as “in need of assistance” under the federal No Child Left Behind law based on student performance on state tests taken during the 2013-14 school year, according to the 2014 State Report Card for No Child Left Behind released this week by the Iowa Department of Education. 

The results say more about the arbitrary accountability system under No Child Left Behind than it does about the work under way in Iowa classrooms, Director Brad Buck said. 

“No Child Left Behind has outlived its usefulness as a lever for improving student achievement in our country,” Buck said. “We need some different solutions. In Iowa, we embrace high expectations and accountability, but we must have an approach that dignifies growth and progress as much as proficiency on a test.” 

While most states have obtained a waiver from key components of No Child Left Behind, Iowa must continue to follow the federal law unless it is reauthorized by Congress or Iowa’s system for educator evaluation is changed by state legislators to meet waiver criteria. 

“I continue to fully support Congressional reauthorization, which is long overdue, as well as a significant overhaul of this law,” Buck said. “We want a rigorous system that both acknowledges growth and holds schools and districts accountable without labeling schools that fall short of proficiency targets as failures.”

Adding Other Administrators to Administrator Connection Distribution

The Administrator Connection is emailed out every Friday during the school year to superintendents, principals and curriculum directors. If you have other school administrators who you would to add to the distribution list, please send their name, position and email address to the Heartland AEA Communications Dept. at comms@heartlandaea.org.

Programming Change Approaching for Licensure Classes

All Drake University Extension Education courses offered after July 1, 2015, must be offered for EDMA credit. Drake EDMA courses must have 30 hours of outside work for each credit offered in the course. For example, if you offer a one-credit course (15 contact hours), there must be an additional 30 hours of work the participants are required to do outside of class. There must also be a way to document or assess that work. Courses that start before July 1, 2015, can be offered for EDEX credit even if the course ends after July 1. Drake is currently working to develop a web page that outlines this change and include other resources and updates as we move forward. Our Heartland AEA Professional Development Advisory Council will be drafting procedures for this change as we move forward. 

Please see our professional development web page for information.

Teacher Leadership & Compensation Grant Peer Review to be Held Oct. 10

Heartland AEA will host a Teacher Leadership & Compensation (TLC) Grant Peer Review on Oct. 10, 2014, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Johnston Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, in Conference Room 107A. Interested districts can register here. 

This review is intended for districts submitting a TLC application by Oct. 31, 2014. In order to participate, districts must send 2-3 people who are knowledgeable about the TLC grant. Participants will be assigned to read the same 2-3 sections of grants submitted by participating districts and give feedback. Districts will have all their feedback before they leave at noon. 

The deadline to register is Oct. 7. Participating districts must email a copy of their grant to Kevin Fangman by 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 9. 

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

Reminder: DE Mini-Summit on Oct. 3; Session Descriptions Announced

Here is some specific information about the Iowa Department of Education Mini-Summit.

Date: Oct. 3, 2014 
Location: Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites, 4800 Merle Hay Road, Urbandale 
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 

Intended Audience: Superintendents, curriculum directors, special education directors and other administrators and teachers who are responsible for providing oversight for a federal or state program/initiative 

Topics: Alternate Assessment, Bullying and Harassment Iowa Youth Survey Data, C4K, Competency Based Education, Data Quality, Early Childhood, Early Literacy, Federal Reporting Updates, Fine Arts, Gifted and Talented, Homeless Education, Iowa Core Website/Resources, Iowa Learning Online, Legal Lessons, Legislation, Licensure/Ethics Updates, MTSS, Open Enrollment, SINA/DINA, Special Education, Teacher Leadership and Compensation, Whole Grade Sharing/Reorganization, 504 

Important Links: 

• Registration 
• Agenda 
• Session Descriptions 

If you have any questions, contact Kevin Fangman at kfangman@heartlandaea.org. We hope to see you there!