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
The Heartland Administrators’ Association (HAA) will meet on Oct. 2 at DMACC in Ankeny. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. with partner updates. At 9:00 a.m. guest speaker and education technology guru Brad Waid will present a workshop entitled, “Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality.” This session is designed for superintendents; all other educators are invited to an afternoon session with Waid on the same topic. HAA Meeting Date: Oct. 2 Location: DMACC Ankeny: Student Center, Bldg 5, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny Time: 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Partner Updates 9:00 - Noon Workshop with Brad Waid HAA Oct. Agenda
EdTech guru Brad Waid is coming to Iowa on Oct. 2 to present the latest on emerging technology and the impact it’s having now in our schools, the impact it will have in the future and questions we need to be asking ourselves now. Your teacher leaders, administrators, technology coordinators and all educators are invited! Brad will be one-on-one with superintendents in the morning session and with all educators in the afternoon session. Registration links for both sessions are below. *Good news! We’re rolling back the afternoon registration fee to $0! Come and enjoy a great day of learning!* Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality Oct. 2, 2018 DMACC, Student Center, Bldg 5 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny Registration: Superintendent Session 8:30 a.m. - 9 Updates from Partners 9:00 - Noon Workshop with Brad Waid Register Now All Educators Session 1 - 4 p.m. Workshop with Brad Waid Register Now
Educators, families and residents within the Heartland AEA service area are invited to share personal experiences on children’s mental health services at a listening post to be held on Oct. 8, from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. at Heartland AEA at 6500 Corporate Drive in Johnston. Listening posts are being hosted at locations across Iowa on behalf of the Children’s System State Board established by Gov. Kim Reynolds in April. The board will review the information gathered from these listening posts as part of its charge to review existing resources and develop a strategic plan with specific recommendations to implement a better approach to help children with mental health issues. The report is due to the governor on Nov. 15. Two additional opportunities have been created for individuals who are unable to attend the Oct. 8 event: Join an Online Listening Post An online listening post has been scheduled for Oct. 4 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. To join from your computer, click on this link: https://zoom.us/j/290354386. To join via phone, dial (646) 876-9923 and enter meeting code: 290-354-386. Complete an Online Survey A survey is available for those unable to attend a listening post. That survey can be accessed at this link: https://goo.gl/V25AeU. The deadline to complete the survey is Oct. 12. Questions can be directed to Jeff Herzberg, Children’s System Board Member and Chief Administrator at Prairie Lakes AEA at jherzberg@plaea.org or (515) 570-2601.
Jan Chappuis Standards-Based Learning Nov. 29, 2018 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny Register at this link by Oct. 15 Teachers, curriculum directors and instructional coaches will have the opportunity to learn from Jan Chappuis, one of the nation’s leaders in Standards-based Learning. Jan’s expertise could help in all areas of instruction from formative assessment instruction to standards based practices. In this session, Jan will:
Focus on all aspects of curriculum: the intended, the enacted, and the assessed
Address the work of identifying and unpacking standards of learning to create learning targets.
Help teachers know how to identify those learning targets into categories such as knowledge, reasoning, skills or products
Lead learning on what a balanced assessment system looks like, and what it takes to create that system within the instructional cycle
Address the need to plan for accommodations and modifications for exceptional learners such as special education students, ELL and gifted/advanced learners
Nine EdCamp-style workshopswill be held throughout the 2018-19 school year to provide additional learning, collaboration and conversation for those interested in Standards-Based Learning (SBL) Including Grading and Reporting. The workshops coincide with specific strands of the Standards-Based Learning Framework developed by Heartland AEA. You can attend whatever sessions are of interest to you; you do not need to attend all nine. Come learn with us! Standards-Based Learning Framework Fridays First Friday of the month from October 2018 to May 2019 Next Session: Oct. 5 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. Visit our website to learn more and register
I announced last week that the Department has changed the notification date for ESSA levels of support from Oct. 15 to sometime between Dec. 3-14. Because of this change in the timeline for notification to schools, the school improvement schedule this year will also be adjusted. I’m pleased to tell you that most of the schedule will remain intact. The staff at the Department and all of our AEA colleagues have worked hard to ensure as little disruption to schools as possible. The newly revised ESSA School Improvement One-Page Timeline is accessible HERE. The full ESSA School Improvement Timeline - with links to webinars and presentation slides - is at the same link as before and has been revised to match the one-page timeline. Here are the critical points you need to know about the updated timeline: The Department and AEA staff chose to leave the schedule of professional learning intact because we feel this is the right work regardless of federal compliance requirements. We want to value the hard work of schools that have been on this journey of continuous improvement long before ESSA was a consideration by continuing to offer high quality professional learning in collaboration with the AEA system. This will be done largely on the same schedule we had communicated prior to the ESSA notification change. The Administrator Information Sessions previously scheduled for the month of October have been canceled. We will instead hold a series of webinars during the month of October to keep administrators and other staff up-to-date on ESSA. The dates, times and topics will be posted to the ESSA School Improvement Timeline as soon as they are available. All webinars will be recorded and posted to the same document. In addition, we will reschedule Administrator Sessions between Dec. 10 and Jan. 11. Department staff will be at one session in each AEA to go over the ESSA designations, report card, and any questions you may have. Any changes to the AEA registration system for all professional learning opportunities will be finalized by Oct. 10. Only small changes will be made in individual agencies after this date. While we will not be offering Intervention System professional learning during the regular school year, as planned, we will make it the focus of our Summer Institute. The Institute is required for schools receiving comprehensive assistance, recommended for those receiving targeted assistance, and open to all other schools, as well. The dates freed up by moving the Intervention System professional learning will be repurposed to offer the necessary ESSA components for schools, such as Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation (SAMI) and Action Planning. Schools will not be able to do the ESSA data review until after designations are announced. Even so, we will provide you with a list of other data sources that may be useful as you engage in the self-assessment in the fall. We will add additional dates to our fall professional learning calendar for 2019 for Universal Tier Tools and Intervention System. Site visits for schools receiving comprehensive assistance will not take place now until the spring semester of 2020. We will conduct two pilot sites in fall 2019. If you have questions about these changes prior to the October webinar series please contact Barbara Ohlund at barbara.ohlund@iowa.gov.
Professional development opportunities for technology readiness will be offered in early October. The dates and locations are provided below. All districts are strongly encouraged to send representatives. Registration can be found at the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) portal. The ISASP Accessibility and Accommodations Manual is under review by the Iowa Department of Education and Iowa Testing Programs. The manual will be available in late October. ISASP per test costs for both public and nonpublic students are available as a bulletin on the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) portal. Green Hills AEA - Oct. 1 24997 Hwy 92, Council Bluffs 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Northwest AEA - Oct. 1 1520 Morningside Ave, Sioux City 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Heartland AEA - Oct. 26500 Corporate Drive, Johnston 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Keystone AEA - Oct. 2 1400 Second St NW, Elkader 8:00 a.m. - Noon Grant Wood AEA - Oct. 3 4401 6th St SW, Cedar Rapids 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Central Rivers AEA - Oct. 4 9184 265th Street, Clear Lake 8:00 a.m. - Noon Heartland AEA - Oct. 8 511 S 17th Street, Ames 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Central Rivers AEA - Oct. 91521 Technology Pkwy, Cedar Falls 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Green Hills AEA - Oct. 9 257 Swan Street, Creston 8:00 a.m. - Noon Great Prairie AEA - Oct. 10 2814 N Court Street, Ottumwa 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Prairie Lakes AEA - Oct. 10500 NE 6th St, Pocahontas 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Mississippi Bend AEA - Oct. 12 729 21st Street, Bettendorf 8:00 a.m. - Noon and 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Friday, September 21, 2018
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
The Heartland Administrators’ Association (HAA) will meet on Oct. 2 at DMACC in Ankeny. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m. with partner updates. At 9:00 a.m. guest speaker and education technology guru Brad Waid will present a workshop entitled, “Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality.” This session is designed for superintendents; all other educators are invited to an afternoon session with Waid on the same topic. HAA Meeting Date: Oct. 2 Location: DMACC Ankeny: Student Center, Bldg 5, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny Time: 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Partner Updates 9:00 - Noon Workshop with Brad Wai Agenda:HAA Oct. Agenda
EdTech guru Brad Waid is coming to Iowa on Oct. 2 to present the latest on emerging technology and the impact it’s having now in our schools, the impact it will have in the future and questions we need to be asking ourselves now. Your teacher leaders, administrators, technology coordinators and all educators are invited! Brad will be one-on-one with superintendents in the morning session and with all educators in the afternoon session. Registration links for both sessions are below. *Good news! We’re rolling back the afternoon registration fee to $0! Come and enjoy a great day of learning!* Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality Oct. 2, 2018 DMACC, Student Center, Bldg 5 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny Registration: Superintendent Session 8:30 a.m. - 9 Updates from Partners 9:00 - Noon Workshop with Brad Waid Register Now All Educators Session 1 - 4 p.m. Workshop with Brad Waid Register Now
Year 2 Putting the Iowa Core Social Studies Standards Together sessions are being offered by Heartland AEA during the 2018-19 school year. This two-day workshop will review and build upon Year 1 of the social studies standards professional development. Learning will focus on putting the standards together into coherent inquiry-based unit plans. Participants will learn about good unit design, how to unpack and bundle standards and build more in-depth knowledge on the use of compelling and supporting questions while creating coherence throughout a unit to implement the standards. Elementary Sessions Nov. 5 & 12, 2018 - Adel Register Now Feb. 25 & March 4, 2019 - Johnston Register Now June 10 & 11, 2019 - Johnston Register Now Secondary Sessions Sept. 26 & 27, 2018 - Adel Register Now Feb. 27 & March 6, 2019 - Johnston Register Now June 17 & 18, 2019 - Johnston Register Now
Jan Chappuis Standards-Based Learning Nov. 29, 2018 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Parkway, Ankeny Register at this link by Oct. 15 Teachers, curriculum directors and instructional coaches will have the opportunity to learn from Jan Chappuis, one of the nation’s leaders in Standards-based Learning. Jan’s expertise could help in all areas of instruction from formative assessment instruction to standards based practices. In this session, Jan will:
Focus on all aspects of curriculum: the intended, the enacted, and the assessed
Address the work of identifying and unpacking standards of learning to create learning targets.
Help teachers know how to identify those learning targets into categories such as knowledge, reasoning, skills or products
Lead learning on what a balanced assessment system looks like, and what it takes to create that system within the instructional cycle
Address the need to plan for accommodations and modifications for exceptional learners such as special education students, ELL and gifted/advanced learners
Nine EdCamp-style workshops will be held throughout the 2018-19 school year to provide additional learning, collaboration and conversation for those interested in Standards-Based Learning (SBL) Including Grading and Reporting. The workshops coincide with specific strands of the Standards-Based Learning Framework developed by Heartland AEA. You can attend whatever sessions are of interest to you; you do not need to attend all nine. Come learn with us! Standards-Based Learning Framework Fridays First Friday of the month from October 2018 to May 2019 Next Session: Oct. 5 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. Visit our website to learn more and register
Halvorson Trane, one of Iowa’s longest-established HVAC companies, is offering three, $500 grants to K-12 Iowa schools to fund energy education projects on school grounds (projects can be inside or out). See the Halvorson Trane website for more information about the grants and view last year’s winners. Apply by Oct. 26, 2018.
Friday, September 14, 2018
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
Find out when Brad Waid kicks off the new Heartland AEA Leadership Series on Oct. 2 with workshops for superintendents in the morning and all educators in the afternoon. Brad will speak about emerging technology and the impact it’s having now in our schools, the impact it will have in the future and questions we need to be asking ourselves now. Come join us for a great afternoon of learning! Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality Oct. 2, 2018 DMACC, Student Center, Bldg 5 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny Registration: Superintendent Session 9 a.m. - Noon Register Now All Educators Session 1 - 4 p.m. Register Now The Heartland AEA Leadership Series is presented by some of today’s most intriguing, innovative and influential leaders from around the country who will share their background, insight and knowledge with you. Speakers will candidly share their experiences, discuss challenges that have impacted their work and provide a unique opportunity for you to learn from their hands-on experiences.
This video, produced by the Communications Directors from Iowa’s AEAs, describes a number of the ways AEAs provide support to new teachers (and veterans teachers) around the state. It’s hard to know everything that’s available – please share this video with new teachers you know to help them better understand the many services that are available to them.
Strand of SBL Framework: Standards-Based Learning Nov. 29, 2018 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Register at this link Jan Chappuis will focus on all aspects of curriculum: the intended, the enacted, and the assessed. She will address the work of identifying and unpacking standards of learning to create learning targets. Jan will help teachers know how to identify those learning targets into categories such as knowledge, reasoning, skills or products. She will lead learning on what a balanced assessment system looks like, and what it takes to create that system within the instructional cycle. Last, Jan will address the need to plan for accommodations and modifications for exceptional learners such as special education students, ELL and gifted/advanced learners. Participants must be registered by Oct. 15 since this is a national speaker. So get registered now!
Nine EdCamp-style workshops will be held throughout the 2018-19 school year to provide additional learning, collaboration and conversation for those interested in Standards-Based Learning (SBL) Including Grading and Reporting. The workshops coincide with specific strands of the Standards-Based Learning Framework developed by Heartland AEA. You can attend whatever sessions are of interest to you; you do not need to attend all nine. Come learn with us! Standards-Based Learning Framework Fridays First Friday of the month from October 2018 to May 2019 Next Session: Oct. 5 12:30 - 3:30 p.m. Visit our website to learn more and register
Parents and caregivers of students with special needs: join us for “Conversation & Coffee,” our monthly morning coffee group! Learn about community resources and upcoming events and network with parents who have similar experiences and challenges. Mark your calendar for these 2018-19 meeting dates!
The vision of the Drake University Continual Improvement Network is to transform education in Iowa in order to restore joy in learning, teaching and leading in Iowa’s schools. The network provides opportunities to learn and work together to solve real problems of practice through the process of systemic continual improvement. The network will meet four times throughout the school year and for one full day in the summer, providing opportunities to learn and work together to solve real “Problems of Practice” (POP) through the process of systemic continual improvement. Collegial relationships will be forged as the network brings leaders together from across the state to learn and work interdependently. License renewal credit is available (Course Title: Profound Learning and Improvement II Activity #: AD023799961901) Network Dates Sept. 19 & Nov. 14, 2018; Feb. 20 & April 24, 2019 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Levitt Hall, Drake University and June 12, 2019 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Levitt Hall, Drake University Interested? Contact: Dr. Doug Stilwell Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership Drake University doug.stilwell@drake.edu 515-271-1993 (Office) 515-418-5363 (Cell) Who is a school leader? Anyone who leads a system (classroom, program, department, school, district, etc). *These experiences can count toward clinical hours for Drake EDL students.
The Iowa Department of Education is offering training on creating high quality Emergency Operations Plans for public and non-public school districts at Heartland AEA on Sept. 24. Also titled, “School Active Shooter Plan Workshop,” this all-day workshop is designed to help schools develop high quality plans that cover active shooter and natural disaster events. This was passed into law in Senate File 2364 requiring all K-12 schools in Iowa to write plans that help prepare for these events. This workshop will cover the following:
The new legislation, what it requires, when it is due
Schools will identify who at each school is going to develop these plans
The specific planning elements required
How to form a planning team, inviting stakeholders to help
REMS/TA: Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools/Technical Assistance: plan format, resources for schools, Run/Hide/Fight
Explore the PTER Preparedness Cycle: Plan, Train, Exercise, Repeat
Share the monthly follow-on schedule to help attendees stay on track and have a plan by June 30, 2019
Register at this link for the Sept. 24 training at Heartland AEA: https://goo.gl/NnnTT4 For questions, contact David Johnston, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, at (515) 725-3295 or david.johnston@iowa.gov.
Friday, September 7, 2018
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
Click here to download the 2018-19 Heartland AEA Superintendent Directory. A limited supply of these directories were printed and distributed at Tuesday’s HAA meeting. If you weren’t able to attend the meeting and would like a copy, please contact Jenny Ugolini, Board Secretary/Executive Assistant, at jugolini@heartlandaea.org.
Brad Waid kicks off the new Heartland AEA Leadership Series on Oct. 2 with workshops for superintendents in the morning and all educators in the afternoon. Brad will speak about emerging technology and the impact it is having now in our schools, the impact it will have in the future and questions we need to be asking ourselves now. Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality With Brad Waid Oct. 2, 2018 DMACC, Student Center, Bldg 5 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny Registration: Superintendent Session 9:00 a.m. - Noon Register at this link All Educators Session 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Register at this link The Heartland AEA Leadership Series is presented by some of today’s most intriguing, innovative and influential leaders from around the country who will share their background, insight and knowledge with you. Speakers will candidly share their experiences, discuss challenges that have impacted their work and provide a unique opportunity for you to learn from their hands-on experiences. Check out the complete series information and register yourself, your admin teams and your teachers at this link: http://ow.ly/GmuC30lpQba.
The Iowa legislature has tasked the AEAs to convene a work group that is made up of representation from the Iowa Department of Education, Community Colleges and school districts. This group is examining K-12 online learning opportunities to make recommendations to the legislature on Oct. 15 for:
Identifying the current offerings for and needs of districts
Identifying areas for efficiencies via partnerships between the aforementioned stakeholder groups
Identifying measures for quality assurance
To take advantage of this opportunity, the work group has created a short needs-assessment survey about the current needs districts have regarding K-12 online learning opportunities. We encourage anyone involved with programmatic decisions regarding online learning to complete the survey. This might include superintendents, building principals, curriculum and technology directors, school counselors, and many other staff members. Each district is different. The survey can be found at http://survey.aealearningonline.org and will be open until the end of day TODAY! Please forward this information to other individuals within the district so that we may hear from everyone. Your input will have a direct effect on legislative recommendations, as well as future actions from the statewide system. For questions about the survey or the current work group, contact Evan Abbey, Program Director for AEA Learning Online, at eabbey@aealearningonline.org or (800) 255-0405 ext. 14511.
Want to learn more about AEA Purchasing? Need help navigating our website? Join our “Get to Know Us!” webinar on Oct. 2 from 10-11:00 a.m. via Zoom. RSVP to laurie@aeapurchasing.org.
Are you seeking clarity on how to be more efficient and effective in building a system of supports for all students and staff? The Academy is designed to provide leadership teams with the knowledge and resources to improve academic and behavior outcomes for ALL students. You will develop a common understanding of the Five Essential Components of a Multi-tiered System of Supports. In an era of accountability, Iowa schools need a school improvement framework to guide this work. Teams will focus on developing action plans to fully implement MTSS at the building level. Ongoing supports will be provided. An Academy for Middle Schools and High Schools: Multi-Tiered System of Supports Dates: Oct. 9 and Oct. 22, 2018 Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Location: Grand View University Student Center, 2811 East 14th Street, Des Moines Registration:Register at this link Target Audience: middle and high school leadership teams to include administrators, content teachers, teachers who support systems work (TLC, Counselor, At-Risk, ALT)
These two-day sessions are a continuation of the work done the last three years with the Iowa Core Science Standards Overview (Module 1), the Classroom Transitions, Shifts and Practices (Module 2) and Gathering & Using Evidence of Student Learning (Module 3). Participation in Modules 1-3 or equivalent online participation in Modules 1-3 is recommended but not a prerequisite for Module 4. The Module 4 focus will be on “Science and Literacy.” All workshops are scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration for each of the Module 4 sessions is found on the Science Standards Professional Development page of our website.
