Our Mission
To improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth by providing services and leadership in partnership with families, schools and communities.
Our Goals
- Increase learning growth for students
- Decrease the gap in achievement
- Increase annual graduation rates
- Increase gateways to post-secondary success
The Heartland Administrators’ Association (HAA) will meet Dec. 6 from Noon - 1:00 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center, 8600 Northpark Dr., Johnston, IA. For up-to-date meeting information and agenda, refer to the HAA Google Site.
This is also Day 2 of the Visible Learning Institute with an emphasis on leadership actions that have the greatest impact on student outcomes.
Please note the following schedule as you plan to place orders through Creative Services and send and receive items through our van mail.
All Heartland AEA offices will be closed to the public Dec. 23 through Jan. 2, 2017.
- Regular Van Delivery: Dec. 19-22
- No Van Delivery: Dec. 23-Jan. 2
- Regular Van Delivery Resumes: Jan. 3
Wishing you a happy holiday season from Heartland AEA!
Each year, ISFIS partners with Piper Jaffray and Iowa's Area Education Agencies to provide face-to-face budget workshops for business managers and superintendents. These hands-on workshops are an opportunity for leaders from each district to prepare their individual budgets in just one highly productive day. This year there will be an additional hour at the end of each session for districts who would like to stay and complete their 5-Year Financial Projection.
The ISFIS budget workshops at Heartland AEA are Jan. 23 and Feb. 15. Cost to attend is $250 per district. Register online.
Workshop participants will receive information about:
- Budget process, changes for the upcoming fiscal year, legislative update and other items of general budget interest.
- Unspent Authorized Budget portions reserved for categorical purposes and strategies to fully utilize categorical resources.
- Completed Certified Budget and strategies to set maximum certainty of property tax rate if SSA is not set by the publication deadline.
- Data and tools related to the budget process.
- Access to a district specific PowerPoint presentation based on the district’s certified budget file.
- District Specific 5-Year Financial Projection Plan including a Sample Working Line Item Budget Template.
- Unlimited phone and email support about the Certified Budget.
- Complimentary assistance if a district’s budget is appealed to the State Appeal Board.
For more information, contact Marissa Gaal at marissa@iowaschoolfinance.com or (515) 251-5970 ext. 4.
The following updates are provided by the Iowa Department of Education.
- A sample parent letter has been developed for districts to use for communication to parents. While it is not required that districts use the attached letter, it will serve as a good model for districts who desire to develop their own communication. For districts that wish to utilize the document, put on district letterhead and add additional information as deemed necessary and appropriate for your context.
- The Title III Network is collaborating on translations for the sample parent letter, but the timeline for when those will become available is still unknown. It may not be in time for the 2015-16 scores, but we will work hard to have as many languages as possible available for the upcoming spring 2017 administration and reporting period. Work with your Title III consultant to access the translations as they become available.
- There have been several changes to the Online Reporting System based on feedback from stakeholders from the field:
- The comparison data will be suppressed on the PRINT VERSION of Individual Student Reports to protect student privacy (due to low N sizes of ELs in many districts). The comparison data will be available in the online system for district use, but it will not show on the printed score reports that are sent home to parents.
- The numeric values utilized to indicate proficiency determinations (-1, 0, 1) have been changed to the corresponding text values (Emerging, Progression, Proficient). This should help to clear up any confusion that exists regarding proficiency determinations.
Iowa's schools are implementing successful reading interventions every day! These efforts are being supported with a symposium to share effective practices in reading interventions. If you would like to share your school’s interventions and/or instructional strategies with supportive data, consider being a part of the Collaborating for Iowa’s Kids (C4K) annual event and share your knowledge and successes with other educators in our state.
School teams are invited to apply to present during a breakout session. Proposals are due by Dec. 9, 2016.
Celebrating Iowa’s Success!
Jan. 23, 2017
Iowa Events Center, 730 Third Street, Des Moines
Registration link
For more information, contact Mary Jane Stites or Mark Crady, Coordinators of C4K Training Cadre, at mstites@heartlandaea.org or mcrady@heartlandaea.org.
PRESS (Path to Reading Excellence in School Sites) Trainings are two-day learning opportunities for training cadre members, agency consultants and school leadership teams. The goal for PRESS and C4K is to train district and nonpublic school staff to use PRESS interventions for literacy at the targeted levels in grades K-6 while developing AEA and state capacity to support implementation within the Universal Instruction and Intervention System facilitation guides.
PRESS is integrating with the C4K statewide system and a variety of learning opportunities and resources for Iowa educators will be available to help establish a school-based system and practices for all K-6 students in order to become capable readers.
Registration Links:
Closing date for registration will be one week prior to the PRESS event.
Storm Lake
Jan. 12-13, 2017
Buena Vista University
Registration Link
Des Moines
Jan. 25-26, 2017
Plymouth Congregational Church
Registration Link
Start early to identify your EL/general education teams who would like to attend this conference and watch for more information about Title III supports for attendees.
DMACC Ankeny Campus has the following surplus items available. If interested, contact Julie Klocke with DMACC Purchasing at jaklocke1@dmacc.edu.
Various sizes of steel shelving units
Office Desk measuring 6.5’ x 9’ x 30 in
15 Computer desks with monitor window (monitor below), keyboard tray, and shelving for tower
30 sled based desks
Message board with letters (3’ x 2’)
With over $5 million in awarded grants, the Voya Unsung HeroesTM Awards Program has proven to be an A+ program with educators. Each year, 100 educators in K-12 are selected to receive $2,000 to help fund their innovative class projects. Three of those are chosen to receive the top awards of an additional $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. If you or someone you know has an idea for an outstanding educational project, you’re encouraged you to apply for the Voya Unsung Heroes program by April 30, 2017.
Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise recently emailed superintendents and AEA chief administrators with Early Literacy Guidance on Third Grade Retention as part of Iowa Code 279.68. As you know, the retention requirement of this law is scheduled to take effect in May 2018.
The Department approached this guidance as they do other state initiatives, by honoring local decision-making within statewide parameters. While a student’s reading ability must be the largest factor in the third-grade retention decision, that determination will not be made using a single measure, nor in the absence of other factors. Additionally, retention will not be considered for any third-grade student who is eligible for – and completes – an intensive summer reading program, nor for any student who qualifies for an exemption.
The Department has developed some materials to help you navigate questions from your communities. A fact sheet, answers to common questions document, and sample letter to parents are available here.
Questions about the new guidance can be directed to Barbara Ohlund at barbara.ohlund@iowa.gov.
Welcome to the December issue of Each and Every Child. There's magic, and then there's this Cedar Falls elementary school. It relies on seamless strategies and practices to produce simply the best delivery of education in Iowa for students on Individualized Education Programs.
The Iowa Department of Education’s Dec. 2016 School Leader Update is now available.
