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
School districts in the Heartland AEA service area are asked to submit CTE expenses and receipts for reimbursement to the AEA by June 1. You may reference this earlier CTE memo for information about the claim process and find CTE district allocations in this spreadsheet. The CTE reimbursement form can be accessed here and sent to:
Heartland AEA
Accounts Payable
6500 Corporate Drive
Johnston, IA 50131
If you have any questions, contact T.J. Jumper, Regional Director, at tjumper@heartlandaea.org or (515) 270-9030 ext. 12308 or Brian Whalen, Business Manager, at bwhalen@heartlandaea.org or (515) 270-9030 ext. 14005.
Heartland AEA vans will deliver once a week to each district administration building and schools with summer school during the summer months. 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 13. Drivers will stop at each school even if school has ended.
- Summer delivery begins June 14.
- Last summer delivery is August 10.
- Regular fall delivery begins August 14.
As many of you are winding down your year’s work and planning to be away over the summer months, remember you can always keep up-to-date with Agency and statewide happenings through our social media! Be sure to “follow” and “like” (and Share!) the following sites to stay updated with the latest news and information.
Facebook
Twitter
Registration is open for the 13th Annual Our Kids Summer Institute for educators and administrators of English Learners, June 13-14, 2017 at Waukee High School in Waukee. 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.
Featured speakers include:
- Trudy Arriaga, Ed.D. - Administrator leader and advocate for ELs, first female superintendent of Ventura Unified School District where she began as a bilingual paraeducator
- Fern Westernoff, Ph.D. - Speech language pathologist who earned her doctorate in ELL and merged two areas of expertise to inform her work in Toronto, the world’s largest K-12 EL population
- Amy Hewett-Olatunde, Ed.D. - Minnesota’s 2015 Teacher of the Year
- Major Sean Quinlan - Retired Major United States Marine Corp, ROTC Instructor at Des Moines’ North High School and former football coach featured with his team on ESPN during the 2017 Super Bowl and,
- Our amazing students!
Sessions will focus on:
- Serving English Learners with Disabilities
- Newcomer Considerations
- Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
- ELs and Literacy Support
- Enhancing EL Instruction through Home Language Connections
- High Yield Strategies for ELs
- Successful District Programs
- First-person student voices
Registration
Registration is $150 and includes lunch, snacks, Go To Strategies, OELA Newcomer Toolkit and OELA English Learner Toolkit. Seating is limited to the first 500 registrants on a first-come, first-served basis. Bring a team! We hope to see you there!
Register by June 4 at this link
Note for Teachers and Administrators in the Heartland AEA area: Title III will refund the cost of registration ($150), plus an honorarium of $200 (totaling $350) to off-contract individuals for full attendance and participation. Claim forms will be available at the event.
Note for districts implementing Corrective Action Plans (CAP) for English Learners: Districts are required to send a team in accordance with the Technical Assistance Requirement under Title III. Contact your AEA Title III Consultant for additional information and financial support.
The University of Iowa Baker Teacher Leader Center & Heartland AEA have developed a professional learning opportunity in response to a growing need by in-service teachers and teacher leaders to receive additional preparation in serving an increasing EL population.
The In-service Teacher Leadership of English Learners Program is open to 40 interested in-service teachers or teacher leaders (non-ESOL endorsed and might not prefer the full ESL endorsement) who are currently serving ELs in their classrooms, while potentially feeling underprepared to meet the linguistic, cultural and academic needs of their students.
The program uses a blended approach of six face-to-face workshops, field experiences and additional learning opportunities. The first workshop begins on Sept. 7, 2017 and the program ends at the Our Kids Summer Institute in mid-June 2018. Participants successfully completing the program will receive the following benefits/incentives:
- Five licensure renewal credits
- A credential verifying enhanced EL expertise
- Reimbursement of all program, online and conference registration and textbook expenses, plus a $400 individual honorarium
For detailed program information and to register online, visit the University of Iowa Baker Teacher Leader Center.
Any questions contact Heartland AEA ESL/Diversity Consultants Janet E. Hiatt, Ph.D., at jhiatt@heartlandaea.org or Stephaney Jones-Vo, M.A. (TESL), at sjonesvo@heartlandaea.org.
The ELPA21 Online Reporting System (ORS) is now live with 2016-17 scores. Training for using ORS is also now live on AEA PD Online and needs to be accessed prior to accessing ORS within the portal. While there are not a significant number of changes to ORS from the 2016 version, the training is very important in order to understand the improvements within the system that are aimed to make the report printing and comprehensibility even better than last year.
To locate the training, log on to AEA PD Online and search the catalog for the module title ELPA21 Online Reporting System (ORS) for 2016-2017 Assessment Results.
Thank you to everyone for all of your hard work on ELPA21 and another successful test administration. Iowa tested over 98% of English Learners during the 2017 ELPA21 window.
Benton Community School District is hosting its 3rd annual EdCamp, June 15, in Van Horne, Iowa. Registration is limited to the first 175 participants and the cost is free.
The event has a teacher leadership focus, however, the experience is not only limited to educators who are in teacher leadership positions. Dr. Ryan Wise, Director of the Iowa Department of Education, will again be welcoming attendees at the event and participating in the day's learning.
If you’ve never been part of an EdCamp session, get ready to discuss, think and problem solve! The agenda is built in the morning and participants spend the rest of the day talking, sharing and learning. Come prepared to participate! For more information, contact Jo Prusha, Director of Curriculum and Instructional Services, Benton Community Schools at jprusha@benton.k12.ia.us or (319) 228-8701 ext. 408.
#BCedcamp
Date: June 15
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.mm.
Location: Benton Community High School, 600 1st Avenue, Van Horne, IA
Register at this link
District school staff within the Heartland AEA service who work primarily with youth age 12-18 are invited to attend this course. Through the Youth Mental Health First Aid curriculum, participants will learn about the prevalence of various mental health disorders impacting youth, and how to recognize the warning signs or mental health problems that my impact a youth’s mental health and resiliency. Participants will become certified Youth Mental Health First Aiders.
Youth Mental Health First Aid
Date: June 13, 2017
Time: 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Location: Heartland AEA Regional Education Center, 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston
Register at this link
