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
Heartland AEA Chief Administrator Paula Vincent has notified the Heartland AEA Board of Directors of her intent to retire, effective June 30, 2017. Preliminary plans for succession to a new chief administrator have begun.
In a communication with employees, Vincent said, “It has been my privilege to spend the majority of my career working in Iowa schools and AEAs. My career has been enhanced through the talented and caring colleagues everywhere I have worked, especially here at Heartland AEA! Thank you for the opportunity to serve alongside you. For the next several months I will be focused on contributing in whatever ways I can to assure a smooth transition. I am confident the Board will establish a well-considered process for hiring a new administrator.”
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.
Do you know someone who has made outstanding contributions to education and the system of Iowa Area Education Agencies (AEAs)? Please take a few minutes to nominate this person for recognition by Iowa’s AEAs. Iowa’s Area Education Agencies bestows three awards to outstanding candidates for their contributions to education and the AEA system.
To submit a nomination, complete this application by Feb. 3, 2017. Anyone is welcome to submit a nomination. The nominations will be reviewed by a selected group of AEA personnel in February. Both the nominating individual and those who are selected to be recognized will be notified by March 1. The awards will be presented at the Iowa AEA Boards of Directors’ Conference on March 30-31, 2017 in Des Moines.
It’s important that all districts are familiar with the exit date for ELs for winter reporting due to the delay in ELPA21 scores for the first operational administration.
Districts need to use the actual date that the team met and decided to exit the student based on ELPA21, reading and math proficiency. This will create error messages in SRI and districts will utilize the normal process for clearing error messages with their state SRI contact.
This will not be an issue moving forward as data will be available in plenty of time to exit within the pre-established window. Be watching for ELPA21 updates regarding changes for the 2017 Test Administration.
Teachers who are new to using INSIDE THE USA, which are National Geographic materials for English Learners, are invited to join a free webinar to learn more about the program, the purpose of each component, instructional paths and assessment tools. Webinars are scheduled Jan. 26 or Jan. 31 at 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. RSVP to Marsha Krabbenhoft at Marsha.Krabbenhoft@cengage.com with your selected webinar date and a confirmation with webinar details will be sent to 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.
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.
Instructional Practices Inventory 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.
Are you confused about the requirements for HF2392? Who needs to be included in the district team? What is their purpose? How do we collect and report?
In this one-day workshop, participants will review the code requirements along with best practice for career guidance so that district teams can begin the work of planning. This will follow a workshop model with some discussion and instruction followed by implementation and planning by the team. Bring a laptop and any pertinent data or information needed for planning.
A collaborative group of your district team is encouraged to attend this workshop model day. As a reminder, the district team must include:
- Administrator
- School Counselor
- CTE Teacher
- Teacher
- Work-Based Learning Coordinator (if you have one)
Attend one of the workshops in February:
Feb. 16, 2017
Register here
Feb. 22, 2017
Register here
Both workshops will be held at Heartland AEA, Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive in Johnston, IA, from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. For additional questions, contact Sue Schirmer at sschirmer@heartlandaea.org.
DMACC Ames and Ankeny Campuses have the following surplus items available. If interested, contact Julie Klocke with DMACC Purchasing at jaklocke1@dmacc.edu.
110 stackable black chairs at DMACC Hunziker Academy in Ames
19 10-key calculators at the DMACC Ankeny Campus
The Iowa Department of Education continues to improve the Iowa School Report Card, with updated data and two new features that reflect a more complete picture of student progress in public schools. The Iowa School Report Card, which is available at www.educateiowa.gov/schoolreportcard, includes information on student proficiency rates in math and reading, student academic growth, narrowing achievement gaps among students, college and career readiness, student attendance, graduation rates and staff retention. Based on each school’s performance over a two-year period, the report card assigns one of six ratings: Exceptional, High-Performing, Commendable, Acceptable, Needs Improvement, and Priority. For more information, read the full press release here.
