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 Iowa Department of Education this week released the latest edition of the Annual Condition of Education report. The report provides a wide range of state-level data, including shifts in student populations and demographics, teacher salaries and characteristics, student achievement results and school financial information.
Iowa Department of Education Director Brad Buck informed school administrators in December 2014 that the Department will no longer automatically grant waivers from the school start date law, which says schools cannot begin classes before the week of September 1 unless they provide evidence of “significant negative educational impact.”
Iowa law does not define “significant negative educational impact” or establish guidelines for considering waivers. This guidance document, released to school administrators on Jan. 21, does both of these things.
Save the date for the annual Our Kids Summer Institute scheduled this year for June 16-17 which will provide participants with the opportunity to network with other educational professionals and to discover new strategies for working with English Language Learners throughout Iowa.
A new SIS manager support group will be starting up this month. Three experienced SIS managers (Kendra Wolf of A-D-M, Sandra Lathum of Norwalk, and Cathy Fitzgerald from Ames) are going to help get the group organized. This support will come in three main forms:
1) a number of face-to-face meetings held at central locations at strategic times of the year -- the dates of these meetings will be determined by the members of the group.
2) a number of online meetings using the Zoom video conference software -- the dates of these online meetings will be determined by the members of the group.
3) a listserv, similar to the ones used by the tech coordinator and tech integration groups.
The first meeting will be held via Zoom on Feb. 11 from 9:30-11 a.m. The first part of the meeting will focus on State reporting, including the new Civil Rights reporting requirements. If you are unable to attend this first online meeting, a summary of what was discussed will be posted to the listserv. (Please note that this first meeting date is changed from the original plan of Jan. 23.)
More information will be sent in the next week about how to log in to Zoom meetings, as well as how to join the listserv. We hope this new group will provide strong support to its members, in the same way that our tech coordinator group functions.
If you have questions, contact Lance Wilhelm, Director of Technology at (800) 255-0405, ext. 14324.
Based on the many requests of administrators, Connie Toenjes has redesigned the “Assessing Academic Rigor” class for teacher re-licensure credit. This class has the same content as the class for administrators, but has been modified to fit the needs of classroom teachers, instructional coaches, curriculum directors, etc. Participants will learn to use the Revised Blooms' Taxonomy Table as a tool for measuring, assessing and aligning for rigor in the classroom. With the focus on the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy and the assessment of academic rigor in our classrooms, teachers will build their capacity to understand how to look for and identify rigor and alignment in their classrooms in order to increase student learning. The use of the RBT in assessing rigor will deepen the skills of teachers as they work to implement the Iowa Core.
Note: The content of this class is most beneficial if teams from a district go through the process of assessing and aligning their curriculum together. Participants need to bring a unit of study to analyze as part of Day 2 fulfillment.
Assessing and Aligning Academic Rigor in the Classroom
Dates: June 8 & 9
Location: Johnston REC
Activity Number: IS021592111601
