The following message comes to us from the desk of Thomas A. Mayes, Legal Consultant for the Bureau of Student & Family Support Services, Iowa Department of Education.
At its January meeting, Iowa’s State Board of Education adopted amendments to Iowa’s administrative rules of special education, which are effective on March 30, 2011. Those amendments:
- Make the Department’s enforcement actions associated with LEA/AEA determinations mandatory (“shall”), rather than discretionary (“may”). This is a requirement of federal law.
- Remove the term “preappeal,” and substitute “mediation” in its place. This is not a substantive change. The procedures associated with preappeal conferences will remain the same. The Department will still accept documents labeled as “preappeal requests.”
- Substitute the term “intellectual disability” for “mental disability.” This non-substantive change is authorized by recent federal legislation.
Since these rules changes are not large in number, the Department will prepare an insert sheet for the current (orange-covered) rules. That insert sheet will be available on or before the effective date of the rules. Questions can be directed to Thomas A. Mayes at Thomas.Mayes@iowa.gov or (515) 242-5614.
The Iowa College Student Aid Commission (Iowa College Aid) would like to announce an exciting new online financial literacy platform that will complement current curriculum. Iowa College Aid has partnered with EverFi, Inc., the industry leader in web-based financial literacy programs, to bring financial education to every high school in Iowa. The Iowa Financial Literacy Program is the latest enhancement to the statewide community web portal, www.IHaveAPlanIowa.gov.
The EverFi program is an award-winning 3D learning platform that teaches students over 600 core concepts of financial literacy. The six-hour, performance-based course is both interactive and engaging to students and aligns with the Iowa Core. The program allows students to work at their own speed while teachers have the ability to track their progress on an individual basis. The curriculum, which is best suited for students in the 11th or 12th grade, is a great capstone for a comprehensive K-12 program in financial literacy as outlined in the essential concepts and skills in Iowa Core. Although participation is voluntary, we urge you to take full advantage of this resource in your school.
Iowa College Aid and EverFi will be hosting four training webinars on February 8th, 9th, and 10th to demonstrate how teachers can begin using the Iowa Financial Literacy Program in the classroom. Register for one of the webinars by going to the following website:http://www.iowacollegeaid.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=266
For more information, please contact Iowa College Aid at (877) 272-4456 or visit their financial literacy information page.
Principals Center Summer Institute: June 22-23
Lynn Erickson (back by popular demand) will be the speaker for the 2011 Principals Center Summer Institute which will be held June 22-23 at the West Des Moines Sheraton. The focus for the institute will be to discuss the principal's role in understanding and providing leadership for deep learning. Participants will also refine their Individual Administrator Professional Development Plans. Dr. Erickson will be joined on the second day with the 2010 National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown Wessling.Registration is $170 (which includes meals) and can be done at http://www.sai-iowa.org/ilapcreg/. For more information, click here.SAI Annual Conference: August 3-4
SAI’s Annual Conference will be held August 3-4, 2011 with a pre-conference on August 2. The pre-conference is intended for school administrators with teams of teachers and will focus on thinking to deeper levels, developing guiding questions and designing units of instruction for deep learning. More information about the conference and pre-conference will come later this spring.
The Urbandale Community School District will host the Langford Four-Day Quality Learning Seminar from June 13-16, 2011 in the Media Center at Urbandale High School. This intensive seminar will introduce you to Quality Learning principles, history, tools and applications to learning. Gain the vision, purpose and direction for quality implementation in your organization. For more information, click here to download a brochure for the event or visit the following website: http://www.langfordlearning.com/events/2011-urbandale-iowa-4-day-quality-learning-seminar/
A new reality is beginning to sweep across Iowa and the nation. There's a growing understanding that big changes are going to be needed in education for Iowa students to be successful learners, earners and citizens in the 21st Century.
"It's not just the rest of the nation that Iowa's kids have to compete with now. It's the rest of the world," said Iowa's incoming Director of Education, Jason Glass, when Governor Terry Branstad introduced him to the state recently.
To keep Iowa's education stakeholders up-to-date with this new reality, a new website is here to help. It's Iowa Future at http://iowafuture.org. You can also follow Iowa Future on Twitter at http://twitter.com/iowafuture.
Iowa Future is promoting the need for innovation — a willingness to abandon some of the ways of the past and try new things to provide a 21st Century education Iowa students need.The site is a forum for sharing ideas from across the state and nation, and highlighting work underway to prepare students for the future — the Iowa Future. The website will provide videos, discussion guides, presentation templates, testimonials, links to great resources and more. In addition visitors can offer fresh ideas of their own.
Five state education groups are collaborators on the site: Iowa Area Education Agencies, Iowa Association of School Boards, Iowa Department of Education, Iowa State Education Association and School Administrators of Iowa. The work is supported by a grant from The Wallace Foundation.
Heartland AEA will be hosting a Section 504/ADAA 2008 workshop for public school districts on March 21, 2011 at the Johnston Regional Education Center (6500 Corporate Drive). The session, which will be held from 1:00-3:30 p.m., will combine the legal interpretation of Section 504/ADAA 2008 with practical application that outlines implementation steps. Participants will also be introduced to a variety of AEA resources designed to support districts as they implement Section 504.
District administrators, guidance counselors, school nurses and others who routinely identify or evaluate students for 504 eligibility are greatly encouraged to attend. Participants can register through the Heartland Professional Development catalog. The activity number for this professional development opportunity is DL005992111101.
Download a Word Doc or PDF version of the February Heartland Administrators Association meeting agenda. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 1 at the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center from 9:00-11:50 a.m.
During the first hour of professional learning we will begin a series of conversations using portions of the book, District Leadership That Works by Marzano and Waters. We will have copies of the book available for anyone who needs one. If you have your own copy of this book, please bring it.
The February Curriculum Network meeting will be held on Friday, February 4 at Zion Lutheran Church in Des Moines. There will be four breakout topics during the meeting. The agenda can be accessed athttp://curriculumnet.pbworks.com/w/page/35519019/February-2010-agenda
The Iowa Educators Consortium (IEC) is proud to announce that 2011 includes new contracts from a wide variety of vendors. New vendors/contracts for 2011 include:- Janitorial Supplies – Martin Brothers, Paper Corp./First Choice Distribution, Staples
- Office Supplies – Point Nationwide, Staples
- Classroom Supplies – School Specialty, Quill
- Website Content Management – Edline, Global Reach, SchoolinSites, SOCS
- Modular Buildings – Modern Building Systems, Williams Scotsman
- Utility Vehicles – Polaris
- Clay – Continental Clay
Just like all company partners, each vendor listed above has their own online IEC profile detailing who they are, what they do and the type of contract/discount that’s available. Visit the IEC website at www.iec-ia.org, and check out the savings your school could utilize!
Click here to download a pdf of the final report about Iowa's Area Education Agencies (AEAs) presented by the Iowa Department of Education AEA Task Force. It presents the Task Force's review of the present mission, structure, governance and funding of the area education agency system to determine if the current model is applicable to the challenges and requirement of 21st century learning.
National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), will be celebrated from February 7-11, 2011, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of professional school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. For more information and ideas on how to celebrate your counseling staff during National School Counseling Week, please visit the ASCA’s website at http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?pl=325&sl=127&contentid=271
