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
This information will also be shared at the March 3 HAA Meeting.
The Iowa Department of Education is launching a year-long program to support building principals state-wide who lead the Teacher Leadership and Compensation System.
Overall Program Purpose: To equip and support principals to form a cohesive building leadership team that is aligned to a singular mission as embraced by the district, and is able to develop and lead a collaborative process to strengthen instructional practice that leverages teacher leaders for school-wide improvement of student learning.
Audience: The program will be open to TLC schools who implemented in school year 2014-15 (YR 1) and who will implement in 2015-16 (YR 2).
Information Session Details: Any districts interested in learning more about this opportunity should plan to participate in one of the following meetings next week. All details, including program outcomes, participation requirements, dates, selection process and other key components will be shared via ZOOM.
ZOOM dates and times are:
Session 1: March 9, 2015 from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Session 2: March 9, 2015 from 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Session 3: March 11, 2015 from 8 – 9 a.m.
Session 4: March 12, 2015 from 9 – 10 a.m.
Superintendents, or superintendent designees are asked to go to the Iowa Department of Education website on the TLC webpage to register for the informational ZOOM session they plan to attend. Participants will then receive the link to the desired ZOOM informational session.
Registration Link to TLC page on the DE website:
https://www.educateiowa.gov/teacher-leadership-and-compensation-system
If you are unable to attend any of these sessions, recorded session will be available, linked to the TLC webpage on the DE website on Friday, March 13, 2015.
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Program Overview
TLC Administrator Support Program Description: The TLC Administrator Support Program will be a comprehensive, year-long professional development program focusing on building the capacity of the principal to develop and facilitate distributed leadership in their school, namely by supporting and leveraging teacher leaders as part of the leadership team.
The program will include:
• three day summer intensive for principals and members of the district leadership
• on-going workshops during the school year for the principal and the building TLC team
• individualized school-based coaching provided on a monthly basis
Participation: The 2015-16 school year is a pilot year for this program. The program is designed to build capacity across the state for continued support and participation. There are limited numbers of openings in the program for 2015-16. In order to support the most number of school buildings, two systems of delivery have been planned. One system will be state supported with leadership coaches providing delivery within each AEA region. The other opportunity will be for districts to build their capacity by identifying and having their own leadership coaches trained to support their building administrators. A selection process for school and district participation has been identified. Further details will be shared at the ZOOM informational sessions and on the TLC webpage.
The March 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, go to Elkader in northeast Iowa where Keystone Area Education Agency has developed a literacy program that is showing a great deal of promise. The cost? Only your commitment.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the 4th cohort of the ESL endorsement partnership between Drake University and Heartland AEA which is starting this summer.
Please forward this flyer to all interested persons (teachers, curriculum directors, counselors, etc.). Note that the $2500 scholarship is available to all teachers served by Heartland AEA's Title III funding stream. This includes educators in all public and private schools within the Heartland AEA service area other than DMPS and the private schools served by DMPS in matters related to ELLs.
Note that informational meetings will not be offered this year; to better accommodate individual schedules, interested persons should contact Dr. Shelley Fairbairn at shelley.fairbairn@drake.edu for individualized guidance.
Please find below a high priority message from Dr. Jobi Lawrence, Title III Director, Iowa Department of Education, which outlines current federal and state regulations related to exit criteria for English Language Learners (ELLs) during the spring 2015.
Dear Colleague;
Last spring the Iowa Department of Education (IDE) received a monitoring visit from the United States Department of Education (USDE) Title III office. In visiting with school districts, the USDE found that some limited English proficient identified students were exited from language instruction education programs (LIEPs) prior to meeting the state exit criteria [IAC rule 281—60.3(3)(b)(4)]. As noted in the exit criteria, a student must receive a composite score of 6 based on the subtests of the English language proficiency assessment (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) in order to be exited from an English language learners program. Additionally, the student must meet three of the following four exit criteria [Rule 60.3(3)(b)(4)]:
1. Success in regular classroom
2. Language Instruction Education Program support not required
3. Sustainability of success
4. Score proficient on district-wide and state-wide assessments, such as Iowa Assessments in reading, mathematics, and science
It is required that the student meet the exiting criteria concurrently, meaning that when the team sits down to make exit determinations the student must have a composite score of 6 and meet the 3/4 additional district-determined criteria at the time the decision is made.
Grand View University’s Jacobson Institute for Innovation in Education and the Grand View Education Department are pleased to present host the third Jacobson Visiting Scholar Symposium 8 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturday, April 11, at Grand View University.
This year Dr. Doug Fisher, an international expert on literacy strategies and instructional design, is the featured speaker. He has published many books and articles focused on reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design, including Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, Rigorous Reading, and Text Complexity: Raising Rigor in Reading. On April 11, Dr. Fisher will present on access points for reading complex texts and the purposeful classroom.
This event is FREE and open to all educators. Learn more about this event including the schedule and driving directions.
For questions, contact eddept@grandview.edu or Melissa Ostrem at 641-263-2844.
Six Iowa teachers received the 2015 STEM Education Award for Inspired Teaching sponsored by Kemin Industries. The highly-competitive award brought in more than 150 applications from across the state. These six K-12 teachers, one from each Iowa STEM region, have demonstrated an unparalleled dedication to inspiring students to explore the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Iowa:
• Kacia Cain, Des Moines Central Campus (South Central STEM Region)
• Lisa Chizek, North Tama Elementary (Northeast STEM Region)
• Jason Franzenburg, Davenport West High School (Southeast STEM Region)
• Allison Gregg, Sidney Elementary School (Southwest STEM Region)
• Shelly Vanyo, Boone High School (North Central STEM Region)
• Mike Wedge, Sibley-Ocheyedan High School (Northwest STEM Region)
After being nominated for the award by a colleague, school administration, parent, student or community member, each nominee completed an application showcasing their contributions toward STEM education. The awardees were selected by a panel of judges based on that application. Each winner will receive $1,500 for personal use and another $1,500 for their classroom. A formal award ceremony and special panel session featuring the award recipients will take place at the 2015 Statewide STEM Summit on March 30. To learn more about the award, please visit: stemaward.fluidreview.com or register for the Summit at iowastem.gov/2015Summit.
Congratulations to the winners and a special thank you to all the nominees! Thank you for being outstanding STEM educators and bettering the lives of students across the state.
The next HAA meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 3 in Room 107 A & B of the Heartland AEA Johnston Regional Education Center (6500 Corporate Drive) and will begin at 9:00 a.m. The agenda, handouts and directions to attend via Zoom are all posted on the HAA Google site.
The next Curriculum Network meeting will be held on Friday, March 6 in Rooms 107 A & B of the Heartland AEA Johnston Regional Education Center (6500 Corporate Drive) and will begin at 8:30 a.m. The agenda and handouts will be posted on the Curriculum Network Google Site.
The Significant
Disabilities State Leadership Team is in the process of developing a
long-range professional development plan on specially designed
instruction of the Iowa Core Essential Elements for administrators,
educators and AEA staff who support students with significant
disabilities. We value your input and request your participation in this
survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/69TTH5N
Thank you for your
assistance in developing a long-range professional development plan on
specially designed instruction of the Iowa Core Essential Elements. The
survey is scheduled to close March 6, 2015.
If you have any questions, contact Keri Steele, Regional Director/Assistant Director of Special Education, at ksteele@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14372.
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