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
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.
The Heartland AEA Library & Digital Resources newsletter is now available. Make sure to follow the newsletter and share it with your colleagues! In this issue...
- 2020-21 IASL Award Book Order Form
- Fake Photos Tool
- EBSCO Password Change
- Winter Posters
- TeachingBooks.net
- Books to Film Coming in 2020
- Pebble Go Bingo Cards
- “Creative Commons for Educators and Librarians”—Free Book
Be sure to register for the 2020 Legislative Education Advocacy Event on Feb. 10-11, sponsored by Iowa's Area Education Agencies. This event will bring together school administrators from across Iowa to learn the most up-to-date legislative insight, and meet with legislators face-to-face at the Capitol. Check out the event plans and register at this link: https://www.smore.com/qe4y5.
Do you know someone who has made outstanding contributions to education and Iowa’s Area Education Agencies (AEAs)? Please take a few minutes to nominate this person for recognition!
Iowa’s AEAs bestow three awards annually to outstanding candidates for their contributions to education and the work of Iowa’s AEAs. To submit a nomination, complete this application by Feb. 14, 2020. Anyone is welcome to submit a nomination.
Awards will be presented during the annual Iowa’s AEAs Boards of Directors’ Conference and the ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. on March 26, 2020 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Johnston.
The three awards and criteria can be found in this document. Each nomination should include examples of why your nominee should receive the award.
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 you 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.
Brewer has over 20 years of experience serving as a classroom teacher, administrator, international education director and an educational consultant in the United States and abroad. He is high octane in his approach to children, teachers and his community. He is currently a principal in Prince William County, one of the largest divisions in the country, helping in best practices and advances in the implementation and use of technology.
Be Relentless with Hamish Brewer
March 3, 2020
Des Moines Area Community College, Student Center, 2006 S. Ankeny Blvd. Ankeny, IA
9:00-10:00 a.m. Keynote Message
10:00-10:30 a.m. Q&A
10:30-11:00 a.m. Book Signing with Hamish Brewer** (Books will not be available for purchase at the event. See note below)
Registration
Register for this event at bit.ly/2VLliHt using Course #180607
This is a no cost event! Bring your administrative team! If you missed him at IASB, see him here!
**SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT BOOK SIGNING: Mr. Brewer will be personally autographing his book, Relentless: Changing Lives by Disrupting the Educational Norm. Be sure to purchase the book in advance, bring it with you, meet the author and get your copy signed! Books will not be available for purchase at the event.
Join this special event with Anthony Muhammad, Ph.D., to explore the dynamics of school culture from a sociological, psychological, anthropological, political, historical and economic lens, using the Transforming School Culture framework. The framework helps educators and simplifies the work of transforming school culture by understanding patterns of behavior that either support or undermine the development of school culture.
Dr. Muhammad is recognized as one of the field’s leading experts in the areas of school culture and organizational climate. He has served as a middle school teacher, assistant principal, middle school principal and high school principal.
Transforming School Culture: Understanding and Overcoming Resistance to Necessary Change Featuring Anthony Muhammad, Ph.D.
April 23, 2020
8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Hilton Garden Inn
8600 Northpark Drive Johnston, IA
Registration
Register by April 20, 2020 at this link: http://bit.ly/2MEyMyA using course #181933
$50 per person. Lunch included.
Registration is limited to 125. There is no waiting list for this event.
All educators are invited!
Courses begin this month!
The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Program, developed by the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), is a one-day training that provides an opportunity for educators to obtain initial certification in CPI's "Nonviolent Crisis Intervention" program or renewal certification for individuals who are not eligible for the recertification training. Participants will receive an introduction to crisis prevention focusing on non-physical strategies, including non-verbal, para-verbal and verbal techniques that can be used to assist in de-escalating behavior.
Initial Training
Registration Link
Use course #180648 and select a section. January courses are coming right up!
Intended Audience: District staff in the Heartland AEA service area who work with individuals 3-21 years who engage in problem behaviors that have the potential to result in injury to self or others.
Refresher Training
Registration Link
Use course #180315 and select a section. January courses are coming right up!
Intended Audience: District staff in the Heartland AEA service area who have completed the CPI: Nonviolent Crisis Intervention 1-day-training within the past year and need to receive recertification.
For more information or questions, contact the Heartland AEA Regional Director who serves your district.
Recently, there have been reports of continued slowness, login problems, error messages and other issues associated with the web IEP system. As of late we have been made aware of IEP archiving errors. Due to this, school districts and AEA staff may find an IEP that has not archived as a complete document. We have received information from Central Processing Center stating they are actively seeking to correct these issues. We have been informed archiving errors should be corrected in the near future. Also, additional programmers have been hired to improve the functioning of the current system. We recognize your frustrations and appreciate your continued patience while they work to address these statewide concerns.
Recently, a range of questions and requests regarding sensory processing and other sensory terminology have been brought to the attention of educational-based occupational therapists from school staff, outside agencies, medical practitioners and families. Therefore, a work team from the Iowa’s AEAs Occupational Therapist Statewide Leadership group met to review research and clarify sensory terminology and to develop a position paper on the use of sensory practices in the educational setting.
The position paper, Sensory Terminology and Evidence-Based Practices for the Educational Occupational Therapist, applies to school-age (three to 21) special education services supported by AEA occupational therapists, special education staff, school administration, other educators and families. The purpose of the paper, based on the review of research, is to clarify the role of the educational occupational therapist as well as sensory terminology, definitions and conclusions for services provided in the educational setting.
Special acknowledgment goes to the Iowa’s AEAs Occupational Therapist Work Team who developed the paper:
- Lou Cortner, OT/L, Northwest AEA
- Marty Hudson, OTR/L, Great Prairie AEA
- Monica Packard, MS, OTR/L, Grant Wood AEA
The Work Team processes included an extensive review of literature, development of multiple drafts and formal review by all Iowa AEA special education directors, Dr. Barb Guy (Special Education Director/Iowa Department of Education) and Thomas Mayes (Attorney/Iowa Department of Education).
