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
Iowa’s AEAs will host the Legislative Advocacy Event on Feb. 4-5, 2019 at Prairie Meadows. This event will take the place of the regularly scheduled Heartland Administrators’ Association (HAA) February meeting.
This year’s event begins with an update from members of the education lobby and preparation for the morning conversations with legislators. We will meet at the capitol the next morning to talk with legislators. We all know this will be a challenging session for state funding. Please make it a priority to join us in Des Moines. Making your voice heard has never been more important. Registration and more details available at: https://www.smore.com/h04a9.
Recently, the Iowa Department of Education released the AEA PREP Dashboards providing a portrait of how prepared Iowa high school graduates are for success in postsecondary education and training. The dashboards are intended to help guide school and district school improvement efforts using statewide, AEA, district and building level data. Schools can use their local information to benchmark and monitor progress toward locally defined goals as they relate to postsecondary readiness and success, including enrollment, persistence and completion of postsecondary programs. The AEA PREP Dashboards are highly interactive in nature and allow schools to examine the postsecondary success of their students through a variety of postsecondary readiness and demographic filters. The dashboards are housed within EdInsight; if you desire access to these dashboards and currently do not have an EdInsight (also known as an “A & A” account), please see these instructions for creating a user account and/or requesting access. If you recall, TJ Jumper and Sue Schirmer presented on these dashboards at our September Superintendent's meeting.
What data are included/what data are excluded
Data included: PREP Dashboards include postsecondary readiness and demographic data provided by Iowa school districts through State Reporting in Iowa (SRI). In addition, postsecondary enrollment and award data are provided through three sources: Iowa Board of Regents (for public Regent universities in Iowa); Iowa Division of Community Colleges & Workforce Preparation (for public community colleges in Iowa); and the National Student Clearinghouse (for in-state private colleges and universities and all out-of-state colleges and universities).
Data excluded: Postsecondary enrollment data is considered directory-level data and thus does not include any postsecondary performance data, including but not limited to college GPA, college credit accrual, financial aid information, or other course-specific performance data.
How to use or interpret PREP Dashboards
Specifically, AEA PREP Dashboards are intended to help guide districts in establishing and monitoring postsecondary readiness goals aligned with both the Iowa College and Career Readiness definition and overall school improvement efforts. The information contained in the dashboards can be used to identify programmatic areas of success in relation to increasing postsecondary enrollment and award/completion. These reports are intended to support the entire school improvement process in conjunction with the other data sources already in use (i.e. ESSA reporting, school report cards and DA/Healthy Indicators). Please note: AEA PREP Dashboards are intended for in-district use only and are not intended for public distribution due to their inclusion of small cell size data.
For more information from Heartland AEA, please contact Sue Schirmer, Professional Learning & Leadership Consultant (sschirmer@heartlandaea.org) or TJ Jumper, Regional Director (tjumper@heartlandaea.org).
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 don’t need to attend all nine. Come learn with us!
Standards-Based Learning Framework Fridays
First Friday of the month from Oct. 2018 to May 2019
Next Session: Dec. 7, 2018
12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Visit our website to learn more and register
This is a reminder that Shannon Suldo, Ph.D., will be here on Nov. 6 to deliver a free workshop to educators. If you have questions about student behavior outcomes, this session might be a support that could enhance energy in buildings with some new approaches to behavioral interventions in the classroom.
This workshop will also look at specific strategies at the Tier 1 level for promoting all children’s happiness through schoolwide and classwide strategies that target improvements in the factors correlated with children’s subjective well-being, including positive teacher-student relationships evident in schools with a healthy climate, as well as students’ personal levels of gratitude, optimism and use of character strengths. Participants will also become familiar with tools to assess positive psychology constructs, including how to incorporate such measures in universal screenings and progress monitoring.
Shannon Suldo, Ph.D., is a professor in the School Psychology Program at the University of South Florida. She is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Florida and provides school-based mental health services to youth in the Tampa area.
Registration
Nov. 6, 2018
DMACC, Student Center, Bldg. 5, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny
1:00-4:00 p.m.
Register at this link: https://goo.gl/Nvp8w6
The 2018 Global Education Institute for Teachers will be held on the University of Iowa campus on Dec. 8-9, 2018. The institute is sponsored by the Stanley Foundation and UI International Programs. K-12 teachers of all disciplines are invited to attend this year’s institute, a two-day, one license renewal credit experience taught by University of Iowa professors Greg Hamot and Jason Harshman.
FREE tuition! The first 20 teachers to register who live outside a 25-mile radius of Iowa City will also receive FREE housing at the Iowa House Hotel. Registration deadline is Nov. 12, 2018. More information may be found on the institute website. To register, contact Amy Green at amy-green-1@uiowa.edu or (319) 335-1433.
