Prepare Your District Budget During The ISFIS Budget Workshop

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.

The ISFIS budget workshops at Heartland AEA are Jan. 23 and Feb. 15. Cost to attend is $250 per district. Register online.

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.

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.

Modules Now Available for ELP Standards and ELPA21 Tech Coordinator Training

Modules for ELP Standards and ELPA21 Tech Coordinator Training are now available at http://training.aeapdonline.org. After logging in, search the catalog for the ELP Standards Module 4 or ELPA21 Tech Coordinator Training 2016-2017.

ELPA21 test administration training is not yet available. Stay tuned for an announcement when the training is ready. This google document is updated as modules and trainings become available for both the ELP Standards and the ELPA21 Assessment.

Calling All Science Teachers! Iowa Science Standards Module 2 Workshops Coming to a Town Near You

The two-day Iowa Science Standards Module 2 workshops are a continuation of the work that was begun last year with the Iowa Core Science Standards Overview (Module 1). Participation in Module 1 (or something equivalent) is a prerequisite for Module 2. The focus this year will be on unpacking the standards and developing coherent science lessons/units. This will include identifying "the right" (scientific) phenomena to use in a lesson/unit, using portions of the EQuIP Rubric to measure the alignment to the NGSS and overall quality of lessons/units and bundling standards in a lesson/unit. All workshops are scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Educators have the option of taking the Iowa Science Standards Module 1 from AEA PD Online. This can be used as a review or as new learning for those who were unable to take the PD last year. If you choose to take the online Module 1, we encourage you to take this session as a group, so you have meaningful group conversations. To access Module 1 Online visit the AEA PD Online website, click on the "Catalog" button and search for "science standards." Participants will need to login (or create a login) in order to take this online module.

All Module 2 workshops and registration links can be found on this page of our website.

Register for Celebrating Iowa’s Success Conference

PRESS Senior Literacy Specialist for the Minnesota Center for Reading Research and educator Kathy Patton will keynote Celebrating Iowa’s Success Conference on Jan. 23, 2017, at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. In her keynote, Kathy will share effective components of an intervention and essential elements needed for student growth.

Joining Kathy in the program is Scott Slechta, 2016 Iowa Teacher of the Year, who will discuss the role of a teacher as a reading teacher in all disciplines; how educators teach reading skills for both informational text and literary text, and how the goal as teachers is to instill the love of reading for information and for entertainment.

Celebrating Iowa’s Success!
Date: Jan. 23, 2017
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Iowa Events Center, 730 Third Street, Des Moines
Register at this link by Jan. 9, 2017
Target audience: District / Building Administrators, Classroom Teacher Reading, Reading Support Teacher, Instructional Coach

For more information, visit the Celebrating Iowa's Success 2017 Event Website or contact Mary Jane Stites or Mark Crady, Coordinators of C4K Training Cadre, at mstites@heartlandaea.org or mcrady@heartlandaea.org.

You Asked and We’re Delivering - Another IPI Workshop

Another Instructional Practices Inventory Technology Workshop has been scheduled this month with Jerry Valentine, Professor Emeritus with the University of Missouri.

The Instructional Practices Inventory Technology (IPI-T) Process was developed to provide critical data for faculty about student engagement throughout the school day focusing on technology infusion as a component of engagement. During the workshop, participants will develop the skills to document student engagement through the use of technology and learn how to use the profiles to engage faculty in collaborative learning conversations about engagement, instructional change, technology integration and school wide instructional goals.

IPI Technology Workshop

Date: Jan. 26, 2017
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Johnston Community School District, 5608 Merle Hay Road, Johnston, IA
Register at this link
Target Audience: Administrators, teacher leaders and teachers who are participating in collaborative efforts to improve instruction within a building and have successfully completed the IPI Level I Workshop with an accuracy score of .80 or higher.

Do You Know the Six Shifts Within the Iowa Core in Literacy for History/Social Studies Standards?

If your 6-12 teachers want to learn more about the shifts and how they apply to a social studies classroom, make sure they attend Building Literacy in Social Studies (Year 1 Recap and Year 2): Modules 1-8.

Building Literacy in Social Studies
Dates: Jan. 16, March 13, June 12, 2017
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Heartland AEA Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA
Register at this link

Grant Wood Hosting Workshop to Help Principals Prepare for the Digital Learning Transition

Grant Wood AEA has partnered with the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation to offer the Leadership in Blended and Digital Learning Facilitator Training to any interested organizations, educational service agencies and districts across the country. The three-day training will be held March 21-23 at Grant Wood AEA in Cedar Rapids. For more information about the workshop and how the program works, download this flyer or contact Theresa Gibson at tgibson2@ncsu.edu for registration, pricing and additional program information.

Every Student Succeeds Act Statewide Meeting is Jan. 12 at Heartland AEA

Iowa Department of Education leaders have scheduled January statewide meetings to share a draft plan for meeting requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The statewide public meetings run from Jan. 9-19, with Department leaders presenting information about the plan, fielding questions and taking input.

The meeting at Heartland AEA is scheduled on Jan. 12 in Ames. Additional meeting dates and times can be found here.

ESSA Meeting
Date: Jan. 12, 2017
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Heartland AEA, 511 S. 17th St., Ames, IA

January 2017 School Leader Update

The Iowa Department of Education’s Jan. 17 School Leader Update is now available.

January 2017 Each and Every Child Newsletter

The Iowa Department of Education’s Jan. 2017 Each and Every Child Newsletter is now available.

Online Compressed Program of Study for Strat-2 License Ending This Year

The Strategist II: ID Online Compressed Program of Study and Iowa Department of Education tuition reimbursement will no longer be offered after this upcoming Spring Semester.

Contact Mike Cavin at the Board of Educational Examiners at mike.cavin@iowa.gov to determine teacher eligibility for participation and any of the following Institutes of Higher Education for course registration/enrollment.

Dr. Amy Petersen, University of Northern Iowa, amy.petersen@uni.edu
Dr. Dagny Fidler, Morningside College, fidler@morningside.edu
Dr. Dawn Jacobsen, Upper Iowa University, jacobsend@uiu.edu

Public Forum on Proposed Social Studies Standards Set for Jan. 9 in Johnston

The Iowa Department of Education will gather input on a draft of proposed statewide social studies standards during a public forum at Heartland AEA in Johnston on Jan. 9. The meeting represents the first of three public forums on the proposed social studies standards, which were written last year by a team of Iowa educators and leaders. 

Public Forum on Social Studies Standards
Date: Jan. 9
Time: 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Heartland AEA, Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston