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
The January 2015 issue of the School Leader Update from the Iowa Department of Education is available. In today’s issue, Director Brad Buck writes about what to look for in 2015, while attorney Nicole Proesch outlines how to effectively manage food allergies in the school. Also, meet Clemencia Spizzirri, the 2015 Teacher of the Year.
The January 2015 issue of Each and Every Child, the Iowa Department of Education’s e-newsletter that goes to over 15,000 Iowans who are a part of the special education community is now available. In this issue, meet Jason Volmer, the coordinator of special education in the Urbandale Community School District (and former Heartland AEA staff member). You’ll understand what motivates Jason on a very deep level.
The Iowa Department of Education has launched a web-based survey and could use your help. The Department is interested in learning about partnerships between Iowa schools and parents of school-age children who receive special education. The results will be compared to national findings and used to identify areas of success and those in need of improvement.
The survey will close Jan. 15. Here is the link: https://www.edinfo.state.ia.us/I-Star/parents/start.aspx
Please share the link with parents of children who receive special education. The more feedback, the better.
This comes directly from the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education.
The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice today released joint guidance reminding states, school districts, and schools of their obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students have equal access to a high-quality education and the opportunity to achieve their full academic potential.
In addition to the guidance, the Departments also released additional tools and resources to help schools in serving English learner students and parents with limited English proficiency:
- A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools’ obligations under federal law to ensure that English learner students can participate meaningfully and equally in school.
- A fact sheet in English and in other languages about schools’ obligations under federal law to communicate information to limited English proficient parents in a language they can understand.
- A toolkit to help school districts identify English learner students, prepared by the Education Department’s Office of English Language Acquisition. This is the first chapter in a series of chapters to help state education agencies and school districts meet their obligations to English learner students.
This is the first time that a single piece of guidance has addressed the array of federal laws that govern schools’ obligations to English learners. The guidance recognizes the recent milestone 40th anniversaries of Lau v. Nichols and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA), as well as the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The EEOA, similar to Lau, requires public schools to take appropriate action to help English learner students overcome language barriers and ensure their ability to participate equally in school.
The guidance explains schools’ obligations to:
- identify English learner students in a timely, valid and reliable manner;
- offer all English learner students an educationally sound language assistance program;
- provide qualified staff and sufficient resources for instructing English learner students;
- ensure English learner students have equitable access to school programs and activities
- avoid unnecessary segregation of English learner students from other students;
- monitor students’ progress in learning English and doing grade-level classwork;
- remedy any academic deficits English learner students incurred while in a language assistance program;
- move students out of language assistance programs when they are proficient in English and monitor those students to ensure they were not prematurely removed;
- evaluate the effectiveness of English learner programs; and
- provide limited English proficient parents with information about school programs, services, and activities in a language they understand.
Find a letter of information for ordering the 2015 Iowa English Language Development Assessment (I-ELDA) from David Henkhaus of Iowa Testing. Additionally, there are updated ordering directions from the I-ELDA training Moodle. The Moodle has been updated for 2014-15 and is ready for use by test administrators to earn their 2015 certificate.
Save the dates for two upcoming ELL professional development opportunities to be held in Johnston at the Stoney Creek Inn:
• April 22, 2015: Advocating for ELLs: Overview for School and District Administrators
• April 23-24, 2015: Advocating for ELLs: Overview for Teachers and Teacher Leaders
Registration information will be available soon and course credit will be awarded for the April 23-24 course for full participation. Administrators are also encouraged to attend on Days 2-3. Title III funds will be used to cover the cost of substitute teachers.
The course will be grounded in the book Advocating for English Learners: A Guide for Educators by Diane Staehr Fenner. Copies will be purchased for participants. A description is available at http://www.corwin.com/books/Book239353/reviews
For a closer look at course details and presenter bios, see the Agendas and Presenter Bios!
1 Principal at Hawthorne Elementary (Grades K-3)
1 Principal at George Washington (Grades 4-5) / Torrence (PK)
The Keokuk Community School District is seeking two dynamic leaders for our Elementary Schools for the 2015-2016 school year due to retirements. Applicants should be strong instructional leaders current in instructional strategies (Ex.’s Early Literacy Implementation, Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Professional Learning Communities, Gradual Release of Responsibility, Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), etc. Furthermore, applicants should be knowledgeable in the use of data to make decisions, be able to communicate well both verbally and in writing with staff, students and the community, as well as, possessing a clear focus on continuous improvement. Other desired attributes include: strong organizational skills, ability to work collaboratively, a commitment to high expectations for staff and students, and a strong understanding of special education.
Salary and benefits are regionally competitive.
Closing Date:
01/17/2015 at Noon
Tim Hood, Superintendent
Keokuk Community School District
1721 Fulton Street
Keokuk, IA 52632
Phone 319-524-1402
email tim.hood@keokukschools.org
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.
We know that students use
Google for its one-click feature. Students now
have that one-click access but with one BIG difference—the results are
from reliable and trusted sources of information. Heartland AEA’s new
SUPERSearch combines many of our online databases into one search
interface!
There are separate interfaces for elementary, middle school and high school
students listed on our grade-specific online resource pages. Each grade span links to different age-appropriate databases.
What are the benefits for students?
- It addresses the practical reality that students want in a Google-like search experience.
- It provides quality full-text search results.
- It includes links to thousands of research starters - think of it as a curated, vetted Wikipedia.
- It’s a tool to help
students personalize their research—save to folders, social media,
persistent links and automatic citation generator.
- It’s an expectation
for college and career readiness. Many Iowa colleges and universities
provide this type of search interface for their students.
To become college and
career ready, the Common Core Standards require that students master
digital literacy, which is the ability to gather facts from narrative or
informational texts in any source or format, understand and use the
information appropriately, and then be able to communicate it to others
using a variety of print, audio and visual media.
Another piece of digital
literacy is digital inquiry. Not only must students evaluate and analyze
their reading, they must learn to ask questions that go beyond
assembling simple facts to gathering information that helps them reach a
new level of understanding. Reading critically and asking deeper
questions that lead students to new understanding is at the heart of
digital literacy and higher order thinking skills.
Watch a short video demonstrating the SUPERSearch features and get started on your learning journey!
Upcoming Webinars
You’ll learn why students and teachers will want to make this their first stop for research!
Monday, Jan. 12 will mark the opening day to the Iowa Legislature’s 2015 session of the 86th General Assembly. Find a list of contact information for all Iowa House and Senate members in Heartland’s area.
The December issue of the IEC newsletter focuses on the Health Supplies category as well as a few other notable items to share and dates to remember.
Never want to miss an issue? Subscribe to have the newsletter sent directly to your inbox!
We've had people requesting a paraeducator certification Library, Media and Technology course. Your wish is our command – a course has been scheduled in early spring! Participants will develop skills and strategies in library, media and technology to support the K-12 school teacher-librarian in the operation of the school library. Please distribute this information to all who may be interested.
Paraeducator Certification: Library, Media and Technology
Dates: March 7 & April 4 (+ online), 2015
Location: Bondurant-Farrar Middle School
Activity Number: PP002007201501
Starting Jan. 15, 2015, two changes will occur with the Web IEP Program.
1) The Extended School Year (ESY) form will be available on the IEP program when “Yes” is checked to the question, “Are Extended School Year (ESY) services required?” on tab G. The form will be available via the Forms tab.
Users will be able to document up to four goal areas on the ESY form. The Incomplete Data Report (IDR) will require the form when “yes” is selected to the ESY question. An explanation will also be required when the question is answered “yes”. The form will be editable regardless of the IEP status (open, submitted, ready to review, validated and archived). This is similar to updating progress on graphs.
If ESY on tab G was marked “yes” previously, the ESY form can be added via the “Forms for Active IEP” button on the IEP overview screen.
2) Forms created on an IEP will be restorable. Currently, when a form is deleted, it is gone and cannot be retrieved. Beginning Jan. 15, users of the Web IEP will be able to contact the Web IEP Administrators (Sue Dunsmoor and Mary Keul) requesting that the deleted form be restored or permanently deleted.
If there is a form in the recycle bin, the IDR will display a message and the count number on the tab will show a number other than “0”. However, users will be able to mark the IEP, “Ready to Review,” and the IEP can go through the review process and be validated.
If you have questions, please contact Misty Christensen at (800) 255-0405 ext. 11203.
