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
In celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday
Heartland AEA offices will be closed Nov. 28 and 29, 2019. Van delivery schedule will be as follows:
- Regular van delivery: Nov. 25-26
- No van delivery: Nov. 27-29
- Regular delivery resumes: Dec. 2
In celebration of Winter Break
Heartland AEA offices will be closed to the public Dec. 25, 2019 - Jan. 1, 2020. Van delivery schedule will be as follows:
- Regular van delivery: Dec. 23-24
- No van delivery: Dec. 25 -Jan. 1
- Regular van delivery resumes: Jan. 2
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. These hands-on workshops are an opportunity for leaders from each district to prepare their individual budgets in one highly productive day.
ISFIS Budget Workshop at Heartland AEA
Jan. 29, 2020
9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Heartland AEA, 6500 Corporate Drive in Johnston
Cost to attend is $250 per district.
Register online at www.iowaschoolfinance.com/Budget_workshops.
For more information, contact Jen Albers at (515) 251-5970 ext 4.
Get your teams registered for additional learning opportunities in Standards-Based Learning with Tom Schimmer!
Schimmer returns to Heartland AEA in December to take participants into a deep dive into SBL Belief System and Implementation Considerations. This is a great opportunity to work through a game plan to shift beliefs around grading at your school!
Schimmer is author of:
- Standards-Based Learning in Action: Moving from Theory to Practice (A Guide to Implementing Standards-Based Grading, Instruction, and Learning)
- Grading from the Inside Out: Bringing Accuracy to Student Assessment Through a Standards-Based Mindset.
Strand of SBL Framework: Belief System and Implementation Considerations
Dec. 3, 2019
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
FFA Enrichment Center, DMACC Ankeny Campus, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy., Ankeny
Registration link: http://bit.ly/33XkM8S
Similar to what is required for ISASP, results of the 2018-19 Dynamic Learning Maps test for students assessed through Alternate Assessment need to be sent to parents and also maintained in the cumulative folder. Special education teachers have access to the reports through the KITE teacher portal. District assessment administrators should advise teachers of students tested through Alternate Assessment of the procedure to follow to share and maintain individual student DLM test performance results.
The Outstanding Educators’ Academy of the Iowa Department of Education in partnership with the Iowa State Education Association, Simpson College and its Department of Education is hosting the 5th Annual Emerging Educators Academy on Jan. 30, 2020 at Simpson College in Indianola, IA.
The conference is for all Pre-Service and 1st through 3rd year teachers as well as their mentors.Participants will have the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with outstanding Iowa educators, professional leaders, and Department of Education consultants to focus on recruiting and retaining effective educators.
This year educators will explore "Perspectives in our Practice” and breakout sessions will focus on building classroom community, mental health and loving teaching. Participants will also spend time with both student and teacher panels exploring different perspectives in teaching. There will be several special keynote addresses as well as time for teams to discuss learning and plans for success in their schools. Teams of beginning teachers and mentors are encouraged to attend together. The intent of this conference is to provide support and encouragement to all educators.
Registration is limited to 150 people. The link to conference information and registration can be found by clicking HERE.
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
Shannon Suldo, Ph.D., will guide participants in gaining an understanding of the importance of promoting student’s complete mental health within a Multi-Tiered framework. This learning session will focus on interconnecting school mental health, social emotional learning and positive behavioral supports and interventions in an effort to promote student’s well-being through school wide and class wide prevention efforts.
Dr. Suldo is Professor in the School Psychology Program at the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on youth happiness, and she has completed numerous studies to understand factors that explain differences in students’ levels of happiness.
AGENDA - Dec. 10, 2019
9 - 10 a.m. Regular Heartland Administrators' Association Business Meeting and Partner Updates
10 - 11:30 a.m. Superintendent Session with Shannon Suldo, Ph.D.
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. Lunch on your own
12:30 - 4 p.m. Afternoon Session for All Educators
REGISTRATION
Register at no cost at this link with course #180605. Select a section to attend.
LOCATION
Des Moines Area Community College Student Center, Bldg 5 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny
Get your teams registered for additional learning opportunities in Standards-Based Learning with Tom Schimmer. Skinner returns to Heartland AEA in December to take participants into a deep dive into SBL Belief System and Implementation Considerations. This is a great opportunity to work through a game plan to shift beliefs around grading at your school!
Schimmer is author of:
- Standards-Based Learning in Action: Moving from Theory to Practice (A Guide to Implementing Standards-Based Grading, Instruction, and Learning)
- Grading from the Inside Out: Bringing Accuracy to Student Assessment Through a Standards-Based Mindset
Strand of SBL Framework: Belief System and Implementation Considerations
Dec. 3, 2019
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
FFA Enrichment Center, DMACC Ankeny Campus, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy., Ankeny
Registration link: http://bit.ly/33XkM8S
Iowa's AEAs are developing a website to support mental health in Iowa children ages 0-21, to be launched on July 1, 2020. This site is designed to be a one-stop shop for students, educators, caregivers, families and community partners to find mental health resources to assist all communities in the state of Iowa. We need feedback from educators. Please share this with your colleagues and take a moment to complete the Iowa AEAs Mental Health website survey by Nov. 19.
This class is designed to help educators find ways to integrate collaboration into their classrooms. It includes a webinar with nationally-known blogger Eric Curts (Ctrl Alt Achieve) as well as blog posts and podcasts from other educational leaders. This is the third course in Heartland AEA’s webinar series, designed to assist teachers in developing innovative methods of using technology to foster the 4C’s (Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication).
If you would enjoy working in a collaborative network of teaching and discover ways of using technology purposefully, this is the class for you!
Begins online Dec. 19. Register at this link: http://bit.ly/34savSh
Wait! There's More!
Check out ed tech face-to-face workshops, online courses and webinars coming up in the next couple of months in the latest Heartland AEA Instructional Technology Newsletter. Here are some highlights:
- Computer Science Workshop - No cost event! A day designed for school leaders to get the lowdown on Iowa's computer science standards, K-12 frameworks, district-level resources and upcoming opportunities! Dec. 6, 2019 from 12:30 - 3 p.m. at Heartland AEA in Johnston. Sign up here!
- Take advantage of our Girls Who Code partnership and launch a FREE Club! We are partnering with Girls Who Code to bring free computer science opportunities to students across our community and would love for your school to host a Club! Girls Who Code Clubs are FREE programs for 3-5 or 6-12 grade students to join collaborate with supportive peers and role models and use computer science to change the world. To learn more about Girls Who Code programs, you can sign up for a Girls Who Code Webinar here.
The Outstanding Educators’ Academy of the Iowa Department of Education in partnership with the Iowa State Education Association, Simpson College and its Department of Education is hosting the 5th Annual Emerging Educators Academy on Jan. 30, 2020 at Simpson College in Indianola, IA.
The conference is for all Pre-Service and 1st through 3rd year teachers as well as their mentors. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with outstanding Iowa educators, professional leaders, and Department of Education consultants to focus on recruiting and retaining effective educators.
This year educators will explore "Perspectives in our Practice” and breakout sessions will focus on building classroom community, mental health and loving teaching. Participants will also spend time with both student and teacher panels exploring different perspectives in teaching. There will be several special keynote addresses as well as time for teams to discuss learning and plans for success in their schools. Teams of beginning teachers and mentors are encouraged to attend together. The intent of this conference is to provide support and encouragement to all educators.
Registration is limited to 150 people. The link to conference information and registration can be found by clicking HERE.
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
Shannon Suldo, Ph.D., will guide participants in gaining an understanding of the importance of promoting student’s complete mental health within a Multi-Tiered framework. This learning session will focus on interconnecting school mental health, social emotional learning and positive behavioral supports and interventions in an effort to promote student’s well-being through school wide and class wide prevention efforts.
Dr. Suldo is Professor in the School Psychology Program at the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on youth happiness, and she has completed numerous studies to understand factors that explain differences in students’ levels of happiness.
AGENDA - Dec. 10, 2019
9 - 10 a.m. Regular Heartland Administrators' Association Business Meeting and Partner Updates
10 - 11:30 a.m. Superintendent Session with Shannon Suldo, Ph.D.
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. Lunch on your own
12:30 - 4 p.m. Afternoon Session for All Educators
REGISTRATION
Register at no cost at this link with course #180605. Select a section to attend.
LOCATION
Des Moines Area Community College Student Center, Bldg 5 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd, Ankeny
Iowa's AEAs are developing a website to support mental health in Iowa children ages 0-21, to be launched on July 1, 2020. This site is designed to be a one-stop shop for students, educators, caregivers, families and community partners to find mental health resources to assist all communities in the state of Iowa. We need feedback from educators. We are looking for the needs of Iowans that can best be addressed through an online website. Please share this with your colleagues and take a moment to complete the Iowa AEAs Mental Health website survey by Nov. 19.
Heartland AEA will print single page, 2-sided, color ISASP Student Reports for $0.11 a page. Districts should follow their normal protocol for submitting print requests in Creative Services Online.
The person submitting the file should leave "Save To My Files" unchecked when they submit the print request. This protects students' personally identifiable information.
The Library & Digital Resources newsletter is now available. Make sure to follow the newsletter and share it with your colleagues!
In this issue…
- Websites with lesson plans
- PBS Learning Media and lesson plans
- Licensing and images
- New ebooks and digital audiobooks
- Vaping resources
- Copyright and book covers
- Importance of notes (and AEA Scout)
- School library grants
- Order (instructional) posters online
- Secondary Science DVDs
This is a great opportunity to work through a game plan to shift beliefs around grading at your school!
Get your teams registered for additional learning opportunities in Standards-Based Learning with Tom Schimmer. Skinner returns to Heartland AEA in December to take participants into a deep dive into SBL Belief System and Implementation Considerations.
Strand of SBL Framework: Belief System and Implementation Considerations
Dec. 3, 2019
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
FFA Enrichment Center, DMACC Ankeny Campus, 1055 SW Prairie Trail Pkwy., Ankeny
Registration link: http://bit.ly/33XkM8S (Course #181895)
If critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and adaptability, collaboration, complex communication and productivity and accountability are some of the knowledge, skills and dispositions you desire for your students, then you would benefit from a way to design Universal Constructs into curriculum, instruction and assessment.
Using Universal Constructs to Design for Future-Ready Success
Dec. 5, 2019 and Jan. 13, 2020
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Heartland AEA, Johnston Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA
- Introduction to Universal Constructs and learning progressions
- Connect the Universal Constructs to current district and state initiatives
- Determine the instructional strategies that will be used to elicit student understanding of the Constructs
- Modify lessons and/or assessments to incorporate the Universal Constructs
Register at this link: http://bit.ly/2W9k4CT (Course #181827)
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 2019-20 meeting dates!
- Nov. 21, 2019
- Dec. 19, 2019
- Jan. 16, 2020
- Feb. 20, 2020
- March 12, 2020 (due to Spring Break)
- April 16, 2020
- May 21, 2020
Conversation & Coffee meets the third Thursday of each month from 9:30 - 11 a.m. at the 100th Street Corner Café in Urbandale.
RSVP appreciated but not necessary: Kari Paulsen, Family & Educator Coordinator, Heartland AEA, at kpaulsen@heartlandaea.org or (515) 270-9030 ext. 14493.
This class is designed to help educators find ways to integrate collaboration into their classrooms. It includes a webinar, hosted in Zoom, with nationally-known blogger Eric Curts whose blog, Ctrl Alt Achieve, as well as blog posts and podcasts from other educational leaders, will be the focus of the course. This is the third course in Heartland AEA’s webinar series, designed to assist teachers in developing innovative methods of using technology to foster the 4C’s (Collaboration, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication). This course is a hybrid course; all activities are offered online asynchronously with optional face-to-face opportunities. If you would enjoy working in a collaborative network of teaching and discover ways of using technology purposefully, this is the class for you!
Begins online Dec. 19
Register at this link: http://bit.ly/34savSh
The Nov. 2019 BoEE Quarterly Newsletter is now available. In this issue:
- Renewal tips
- Preservice Substitute Authorization
- December graduates
- Hints for school administrators
- Holidays
- New location
- Ethics – Social Media
- Recent cases
The Nov. 2019 School Leader Update from the Iowa Department of Education is now available.
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
Attention superintendents, we would like you or a designee to complete this brief survey by end of day today, Nov. 1. We are gathering data from all of the districts in our service area to see what data points are collected and measured during your school improvement process. The survey should only take you about five minutes to complete. Thank you for your time!
Nov. 5, 2019
Regular meeting
Heartland AEA, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA
Rooms 107A/B
9 - 11:30 a.m.
Agenda includes:
Director Ryan Wise from the Iowa Department of Education and a Legislative Education Panel:
- Margaret Buckton, Iowa School Finance Information Services
- Matt Eide, Iowa’s AEAs
- Phil Jeneray, Iowa Association of School Boards
- Tom Lane, Iowa’s AEAs
- Kate Walton, Iowa’s AEAs
- Dave Wilkerson, School Administrators of Iowa
Sometimes you have to hear the things you don’t want to hear in order to move forward, to be better and to get results. Hamish Brewer will take you on a hard-hitting journey that will challenge to rethink your practices, to disrupt the norm and change the game. Find out if you have or are willing to go one more round, if you’re willing to advocate for every single person and child. Find out if you’re willing to take your school or organization to the next level.
Watch his Tedx: How radical love transformed a school
Be Relentless
With Hamish Brewer
When
March 3, 2010
9 - 11 a.m. Keynote, Q&A and Book Signing
Location
Des Moines Area Community College, Student Center, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd. Ankeny, IA
Registration
Register at no cost at this link: bit.ly/2VLliHt
*Bonus* The first 25 people who register receive Mr. Brewer’s book, Relentless: Changing Lives by Disrupting the Educational Norm.
Heartland AEA will print single page, 2-sided, color ISASP Student Reports for $0.11 a page. Districts should follow their normal protocol for submitting print requests in Creative Services Online.
The person submitting the file should leave "Save To My Files" unchecked when they submit the print request. This protects students' personally identifiable information.
The Library & Digital Resources newsletter is now available. Make sure to follow the newsletter and share it with your colleagues!
In this issue...
- Ebooks in college libraries
- Reading and relationships
- Teacher Librarian standards online learning
- AEA Scout updates
- Voting and elections ebooks
- Animals DVDs, K-3
- Iowa posters and bookmarks
- Professional reading for TLs
- Social media and ethics, Nov. 5
The Nov. 2019 Iowa AEA System Update for Superintendents includes information about AEA Scout, TLC fund balances, the new AEA Purchasing Marketplace, teacher librarian collaborations, legislative advocacy event, and meeting the requirements of recent mental health legislation.
Get your teams registered for additional learning opportunities in Standards-Based Learning with Tom Schimmer and Tammy Heflbower. These two dynamos return in December and February to take participants into a deep dive into SBL Belief System and Implementation Considerations and Learning Targets, Scales & Rubrics.
Tom Schimmer
Strand of SBL Framework: Belief System and Implementation Considerations
Dec. 3, 2019
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Registration link: http://bit.ly/33XkM8S
Tammy Heflebower, Ed.D.
Strand of SBL Framework: Learning Targets, Scales & Rubrics
Feb. 27, 2020
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Registration link: http://bit.ly/2pd2GAT
If critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and adaptability, collaboration, complex communication and productivity and accountability are some of the knowledge, skills and dispositions you desire for your students, then you would benefit from a way to design Universal Constructs into curriculum, instruction and assessment.
Using Universal Constructs to Design for Future-Ready Success
Dec. 5, 2019 and Jan. 13, 2020
8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Heartland AEA, Johnston Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA
- Introduction to Universal Constructs and learning progressions
- Connect the Universal Constructs to current district and state initiatives
- Determine the instructional strategies that will be used to elicit student understanding of the Constructs
- Modify lessons and/or assessments to incorporate the Universal Constructs
Register at this link: http://bit.ly/2W9k4CT
The Iowa Council of Administrators of Special Education (iCASE) is presenting three great learning opportunities for administrators who are looking for more information about special education issues. The iCASE Webinar Series will be held from Nov. - April and provides information about school finance, advocacy, legal issues, mediation and more. View the series information here and register at this link: http://bit.ly/31XuoPp.
As a part of the Heartland AEA Instructional Technology consultants’ planned year of professional learning webinars, networking, coaching and collaboration, you won’t want to miss the Nov. 7 webinars, Communicating Student Learning and Guiding Informed Action with Jennifer Williams, Ed.D., and Monica Burns, Ed.D.
Register for the webinars at this link: http://bit.ly/35Xc8sO
Wait! There’s Smore: Check out the Instructional Technology newsletter to see upcoming offerings, view past trainings and make plans for the school year!
Save the Date! Heart of Innovation, June 10, 2020
Featuring John Spencer, former middle school teacher and current college professor and the author of books centered on creativity, student-centered learning and innovation.
