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 gaps in achievement

• Increase annual graduation rates

• Increase gateways to post-secondary success 

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Office Hours and Van Delivery Schedule

All Heartland AEA offices will be closed to the public Dec. 24, 2015 through Jan. 3, 2016. Please note the following schedule as you plan to place orders through Creative Services and send and receive items through our van mail.

• Regular Van Delivery: Dec. 21-23
• No Van Delivery: Dec. 24-Jan. 1
• Regular Van Delivery Resumes: Jan. 4

Additionally, there will be no Administrator Connection Dec. 25 or Jan. 1.

Happy holidays and best wishes in the new year! See you on Jan. 4!

Reminder: Register by Dec. 21 for “Implementing Standards-based Grading” Workshop

The registration deadline is right around the corner!

Heartland AEA will host "ImplementingStandards-based Grading" on Jan. 5, 2016 with featured presenter, Dr. Cathy Vatterott. This professional learning opportunity is designed for administrators and teacher teams who want to learn more about standards-based grading or are in the beginning stages of implementation. Districts are invited to send a team of 3-5 people. Larger districts may send a few additional participants.

Deadline to register is Monday, Dec. 21. Register here. 

If you have been unable to register for the workshop or would like to check the status of your registration, follow these step-by-step directions or contact Heartland AEA Professional Development at (515) 270-0405 ext. 14701 or (800) 255-0405 ext. 14701.

This professional learning opportunity is held in lieu of the January Heartland Administrators' Association (HAA) Meeting.

If you have any questions, contact Kevin Fangman, Executive Director of District Services, at (800) 255-0405 ext. 14374.

Interruption in Network Services Over Winter Break Anticipated

During winter break, the IT department will be moving our Internet connection and our key servers to LightEdge, a state-of-the-art data center in Altoona. We hope to minimize down time for key services, but there will be some outages on Dec. 29 as our Internet connection and services are moved.

Assuming the weather cooperates, and the move goes as planned, the interruptions in key services such as the employee dashboard, universal registration, Moodle and agency phones/voicemail will be limited to the 29th. Access to Google and the agency website will be unaffected by this change. If there are changes in this timeline, we will provide further updates via email and the website.

Thanks for your understanding and patience as we complete this major relocation of services.

For more information, contact Lance Wilhelm, Director of Technology, at (800) 362-2720.

Training Dates Set for New State Assessment of English Language Learners

Beginning this school year, the state’s required assessment for English Language Learners will be an online assessment: the English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21). It will replace the Iowa English Language Development Assessment.

The Department will provide training for tech coordinators, test coordinators, and test administrators with a series of webinars. They are also providing a test administration certification module for teachers.

Training registration information can be found here.

For more information, contact Colleen Anderson, Student Assessment, Iowa Department of Education at (515) 281-3249.

Iowa Science Standards Professional Development Begins Jan. 12

In order to support the implementation of the new Iowa Science Standards, the science learning community of Iowa is partnering to offer the first professional development opportunity, beginning Jan. 12.

Iowa Science Standards Professional Development Module 1 will introduce participants to the new Iowa Science Standards, their conceptual shifts and three-dimensional nature, as well as provide participants and districts an opportunity to have conversations as we move toward implementation.

Find registration, locations and dates at this link. You will sign up for one full day and one half day. The half day is based on grade level.

For more information, contact Robert Kleinow, Science Curriculum Consultant, at 800/362-2720 ext. 14376.