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 Vans Will Deliver to Your District During Summer Months

Heartland AEA vans will deliver twice a week to each district administration building and schools with summer school during the summer months, as well as once a week to public libraries. If you have summer school or professional development programs and you would like regularly scheduled deliveries to additional buildings, please email Colleen Miller at colleen_miller@heartlandaea.org. 

Schedule:

• Regular delivery ends June 19. Drivers will stop at each school even if school has ended.
• Summer delivery begins June 20.
• Last summer delivery is August 9.
• Regular fall delivery begins August 13.

Admins: Share This Annual Survey of Iowa School Library Programs With Your Teacher Librarians; Survey Closes June 8

The annual Survey of Iowa School Library Programs requests information about many aspects of the school library program: staff and staff activities; library usage; program management and technology; budget and expenditures; and collections. In addition to providing school library data comparable across the state, survey results will assist schools in decision-making and goal setting within each school and district.

Each school’s Teacher Librarian should complete and submit a survey for each physical school library by June 8, 2018. If there is not a teacher librarian, please ensure that another staff person completes the survey. It will take approximately one hour to gather and compile the data necessary to complete the survey, then another 15 minutes to enter the responses into the online survey.

If you have your responses from last year, it will be easier! If you don't have the data from last year, you can look it up in this spreadsheet: Iowa School Library Survey 2016-17 Raw Data.

Survey Process

1. Download and print the Survey Prep document. This checklist suggests the data you need to gather before beginning the survey.
2. Download and print the Survey Form document (10 pages). This is the print version of the online survey, including all of the survey questions.
3. Start with the Survey Prep document. It suggests documents to gather and organize, data to collect, and some questions to reflect on. Then, with the documents and data at hand record the answers to the questions on the Survey Form.
4. After completing the Survey Form, you are ready to go to the Online Survey and enter your responses there. You will need to enter a password to access the survey. The password is: sls2018 (as in school library survey two thousand eighteen)

If you have technical questions or difficulties with the online form, ckeller@hanoverresearch.com.

We’re Giving Away Books! For FREE!

We're having a book give away at Heartland AEA this summer! You can choose from over 2,000 gently used professional and PK-12 books … for FREE! Our kickoff is June 18-19 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Heartland AEA, 6500 Corporate Drive in Johnston. After that, books will be available in our library at that same location all summer until they’re gone. So come see us and pick up some awesome books for your classroom.

The 14th Annual Our Kids Summer Institute for Educators and Administrators of English Learners is Coming Next Month!

“Speaking for All Learners” will be held on June 12-13, 2018 at North Polk High School. PK-12 educators will have the opportunity to network with other educational professionals, discover new strategies for working with English language learners in Iowa and meet national and local experts to enrich practices for increasing EL achievement.
Conference topics include:

• Strategies for addressing barriers to academic and language learning for English Learners in the classroom
• Best practices for supporting early childhood language acquisition for preschool English Learners
• Instructional leadership strategies for English language learning programs
• Connecting and collaborating with other educators responsible for the success of English Learners
• And many more learning opportunities and topics from experts in educating English Learners!

Featured Speakers
Ayanna Cooper, Ed.D
ELL specialist with extensive and diverse experience teaching educators how to enhance instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

David Edward Garcia
Grew up on the Mexican border in Texas, two worlds-linguistically and culturally. Successful speaker of five languages, teacher, entrepreneur, comedian.

Anita Pandey, Ph.D.Professor of Linguistics and Coordinator of Professional Development and Communication at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Ryan Wise, Ed.D.
Director of the Iowa Department of education

Plus, our amazing local experts and students!

Information and Registration

Learn more at the conference website and register at this link by June 5.

Incentive
Heartland AEA Title III will refund the cost of registration ($150), plus provide an honorarium of $200 to off-contract public and non-public educators for full attendance and participation. This funding is not available to public or non-public districts served by the Des Moines Public Schools.

New Education Opportunity Coming in June for School-Based Mental Health Practitioners

Please share this opportunity with the school-based mental health practitioners who are working in your buildings, in order to support greater understanding, collaboration and alignment between educational services and therapy.

Heartland AEA is excited to offer a FREE CEU course for School-Based Mental Health Providers around ABA and the link to school based services. The course focuses on Applied Behavioral Analysis core concepts and key strategies used in schools and the connection to students who may also have school based therapy services.

CEU certificates will be issued at the end of the course for 3.0 CEUs for LISW, LMSW, LMFT and LMHC.

Target audiences include School-Based Mental Health providers, therapists, Social Workers and child/adolescent mental health providers.

Applied Behavior Analysis and School-Based Mental Health Services
June 2, 2018
8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Heartland AEA, Johnston Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston

Registration
Register at this link

What Are Key Items Needed for Standards-Based Learning Implementation? Find Out on June 14!

Carol Commodore, Ed.D. will address key items that speak to the need for a full, robust systems approach to implementing standards-based learning, including grading and reporting. She will lead learning on possible components such as having a guiding team or task force of some kind, mapping out a communication plan, and building consensus. 

Strand of Standards-Based Learning Framework: Internal/External Capacity Building 
Date: June 14, 2018 
Time: 8:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. 
Location: FFA Enrichment Center, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy, Ankeny, IA 

Registration 
Registration fee $60 
Register at this link 

Target Audience
District Leaders, Teachers, Building Leadership Teams, Instructional Coaches 

Presenter
Dr. Carol Commodore is the founding member of Leadership, Learning and Assessment, LLC. Carol is also one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Assessment Consortium and an independent consultant with Pearson's Assessment Training Institute of Portland, Oregon. She was a classroom teacher for over 20 years and was a district-level administrator for eleven years. Carol’s research interests focus on the impact of assessment and instruction on learners and their learning. She strives to provide meaningful ways to assist educators in their reflective practice and in the acquisition of tools that will bring insight and joy to them and their students in the educational process. 

Save the Dates! 
For these additional Heartland AEA-hosted Standards-Based Learning Opportunities:

Strand of SBL Framework: Belief System and Implementation Considerations 
Presenter: Tom Schimmer, Sept. 27, 2018 

Strand of SBL Framework: Standards-Based Learning 
Presenter: Jan Chappuis, Nov. 29, 2018 

Strand of SBL Framework: Learning Targets, Scales & Rubrics 
Presenter: Tammy Heflebower, Ed.D., Feb. 28, 2019 

Strand of SBL Framework: TBD 
Presenter: Myron Dueck, June 11, 2019

Steve Constantino Returns to Iowa to Present “Engaging Every Family to Support Student Achievement”

Are your students’ families really involved in their education? At this FREE event on June 18, participants will will learn the importance of family engagement in the academic lives and success of learners and discover how to create a culture that is conducive to engaging every family in the school and classroom.

Engaging Every Family to Support Student Achievement
June 18, 2018
8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Johnston Middle School Auditorium
6501 NW 62nd Ave., Johnston, IA

Register at this link by June 8

For more information, contact Terry Mendell, Heartland AEA Family & Educator Lead Coordinator, at (515) 270-0405 ext. 17135 or tmendell@heartlandaea.org.

Invited Audience: school administrators, teacher leaders, general and special education teachers

Presenter: Steve Constantino, Ed.D.
As a high school principal in 1995, Steve Constantino, Ed.D. became aware of research about the effects of family engagement on student learning and was convinced that this was the missing ingredient in helping all children learn. Using his high school as a laboratory, Dr. Constantino began to read more and more research and more importantly, figure out ways to apply it to his school.

Steve’s work has gained national prominence as he’s traveled the United States speaking and working with all types of educators, school board members and businesses to promote sound practices in family engagement that result in increased academic achievement for all students.

Today, he is the Acting State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Commonwealth of Virginia and is an adjunct professor at the School of Education, College of William and Mary where he teaches courses in the Executive Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership.

Peter Dewitt Will Lead an Iowa Evaluator License Renewal Course, Beginning June 28

Heartland AEA is pleased to once again offer an additional course option for administrators and/or evaluators who want to renew their evaluator license. The Collaborative Leadership Institute is a two credit hour course that will be held on June 28-29, Oct. 12 and Dec. 13, 2018 at Heartland AEA in Adel.

Heartland AEA and Corwin partnered in the design of the Evaluator Approval Training pilot last year with the assistance of Peter Dewitt, Ed.D., and his work on Collaborative Leadership, which is grounded in the Visible Learning research of education expert John Hattie, on the most influential and impactful leadership practices shown to accelerate student learning.

In the Institute, Dr. Dewitt will unpack six leadership factors of Collaborative Leadership, painting a powerful scheme to meet stakeholders where they are, motivate stakeholders to strive for improvement and model how to do it.

Registration
Register at this link
The course is open to anyone in Iowa. Seating is limited to 50 people.

Questions
For any other questions, contact Jim Verlengia, Ed.D., Director of Leadership Supports with Heartland AEA at jverlengia@heartlandaea.org or (515) 270-0405 ext. 14388.

This Learning Opportunity Will Help Enhance the Development of FBA/BIPs to Improve Outcomes for Students

If you are responsible for conducting functional behavior assessments and developing behavior intervention plans and have received prior training in applied behavior analysis and/or functional behavior assessment, this learning opportunity is for you!

This course will focus on the design and development of quality functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and subsequent behavior intervention plans (BIP) to address the needs of children and youth who display inappropriate or challenging behaviors. Participants will use a best practices FBA/BIP rubric to evaluate and design behavior definitions and hypothesis statements as part of the FBA process. They will also use the rubric to evaluate and design components of BIPs. Participants will also get hands-on practice collecting data on problem behavior, selecting an appropriate replacement behavior, and selecting antecedent and consequence strategies matched to function.

Target Audiences: Early childhood consultants, school psychologists, school social workers, special education consultants, special education teachers, behavior interventionists

Best Practices in Developing FBA/BIPs that Improve Outcomes for Students
July 17-18
8:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Heartland AEA, Johnston Regional Education Center
Register at this link

Learn From Influential Leaders in the Heartland AEA Leadership Series

The Heartland AEA 2018-19 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.

Registration is now open for the five-session series that begins this fall. Some sessions are designated for superintendents and some are open to any educator.

Sept. 4, 2018
Kevin Honeycutt - Midnight Run

Oct. 2, 2018
Brad Waid - Transforming the Classroom through Augmented Reality

Nov. 6, 2018
Shannon Suldo, Ph.D. - Positive Psychology Interventions in Schools

Jan. 8, 2019
Anthony Muhammad, Ph.D. - Transforming School Culture through PLCs

March 5, 2019
Trevor Ragan - Teaching a Growth Mindset to Achieve Success for All Learners

Leadership Series Location
DMACC
Student Center, Bldg 5
2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny

Registration
Review all the session options and registration links in this flyer.

Questions?
Contact Jim Verlengia, Ed.D., Director of Leadership Supports at jverlengia@heartlandaea.org or (515) 270-0405 ext. 14388.