Friday, March 27, 2009

Let's Have the Highest Response Rate in the State!

Yesterday a letter was sent from our chief administrator, Maxine Kilcrease, urging schools in our area to complete the Iowa AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey. The window for completing the survey will close on Thursday, April 9, 2009. Please go to the following link and take a few minutes to share your thoughts about Heartland's services. Remember to remind all of your staff to participate as well.

You can reach the survey by clicking the following link: http://survey.aea267.k12.ia.us/survey/5520/1706/

Thank you very much for all those who have already participated!

Superintendents: Agenda for April's Heartland Administrators Association Meeting

Click here for the agenda of the April 7th Heartland Administrators Association meeting.

Heartland AEA to Co-Host 1 to 1 Learning Seminar with Apple

Heartland will be co-hosting a 1 to 1 Learning Seminar with Apple on April 17, 2009. This seminar is your opportunity to hear how schools are achieving academic excellence by putting technology in their students' hands. Heartland will be sharing current 1 to 1 research and resources for districts. Apple will presenting on their partnerships with Iowa schools and the planning process that goes into implementing a 1 to 1 program.

Click here for
an informational invitation flyer with directions for registration. It is recommended (but not required) that interested districts send a team composed of representatives from IT, administration, teaching and integration.

What You’ll Learn

The agenda focuses on the key success factors for 1 to 1 learning: visionary leadership, curriculum design, professional development, infrastructure, assessment, community involvement and funding. We’ll discuss these success factors with educators who are currently implementing successful 1 to 1 learning programs. We’ll also demonstrate
resources available for teachers and digital tools today's students use to create knowledge-learning skills.

When and where
Friday, April 17, 2009
Breakfast and registration – 8:00 a.m.

Seminar – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Heartland AEA, Room 3 & 4


There is no cost for this seminar
.

Heartland AEA Online Instruction Courses

Online instruction is playing a bigger role in professional development and K-12 instruction every year. Heartland is seeking to build online teaching capacity by developing quality instructors for both the AEA and local districts. To do so, Heartland will be offering a sequence of courses to help would-be online instructors become proficient and comfortable teaching online. All courses are taught online and are available for Drake graduate credit.
  • Technology for Online Instruction: Moodle and Adobe Connect Pro (2 credits - May 11th-June 14th) Activity Number: TE081599990901
  • Developing Professional Learning Networks (1 credit - June 8th-17th) Activity Number: TE081799991001
  • Introduction to Online Teaching and Learning (2 credits - July 6th-August 9th) Activity Number: TE081699991001
  • Web 2.0 Tools for the 21st Century Classroom (2 credits - June 15th-July 24th) Activity Number: TE082599991001
More courses will be added this fall. For registration and a complete course description, please visit the Heartland Professional Development Catalog, linked from our home page or click here. For specific questions, contact Evan Abbey at eabbey@aea11.k12.ia.us or 515-270-0405 ext. 14511.

District Negotiation Settlements

Below are the latest reports on negotiation settlements.

Corning: 3.9%
Forest City: 4% (2 year agreement)
I-35: 3.98%

South Tama: 4.44%
Turkey Valley: 4.11%

Schleswig: 3.92%

MOC: 3.25%

Albert City-Truesdale: 3.25%
Alburnett: 2.17%

Bedford: 3.25%

Dows: 4.99%
Allamakee: 3.59%

Elk Horn-Kimballton: 2.55%

Garner-Hayfield: 3.74%

Odebolt-Arthur: 2.26%

South O’Brien: 3.8%
Stanton: 3.69%

West Marshall: 3.32%

MULTI-YEAR CONTRACTS

Charles City: 4.6% 2nd of 2 years
Dallas Center-Grimes: 6%+ 65% of new money 2nd of 3 years
Emmetsburg: 4.3% 2nd of 2 years

Harlan: 4.99% 2nd of 2 years

Laurens-Marathon: 3.99% 2nd of 2 years
North Fayette: 4.3% 2nd of 2 years
Oelwein: 5.2% 2nd of 2 years
Southeast Webster Grand: 4.5% 2nd of 2 years
Sumner: 4.05% 2nd of
2 years
West Central: 4% 2nd of
2 years

Heartland AEA Thanks School Building Support Staff

We’d like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all school building support staff who have graciously taken the time to help us get our PeopleBox contacts database up-to-date. Thanks to them, it is easier to reach the right people for the right purposes. Keeping this information accurate is foundational for Heartland’s communications efforts. If your building has not yet responded to our requests for updates or if there have been recent changes to your staff roster, please contact the Heartland Communications department at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.