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
Agency has generated and released to staff its Heartland AEA COVID-19 Return-to-Workplace Guide, following board approval on Aug. 4. The guide contains information related to health and safety, protocols when returning to workplaces, office procedures, COVID-19 exposure notification, remote workplace, mental health resources, frequently asked questions, and the process for requesting COVID-19-related leave. Staff also participated in an all-agency webinar on Aug. 6 to hear Chief Administrator Jon Sheldahl review the guide. If you have any questions, contact the Heartland AEA regional director who serves your district.
Heartland AEA will be covering the cost for districts to use Pear Deck during the 2020-21 school year. Pear Deck is a communication platform that lets teachers create interactive assessments and presentations that students can follow from their personal devices. To receive Pear Deck at no cost for the 2020-21 academic year, register here no later than Aug. 10. You can access additional information here. If you have any questions, contact Sheila King, Heartland AEA Chief Information Officer, at sking@heartlandaea.org.
Iowa’s Area Education Agencies have collaborated to generate multiple professional development opportunities and resources that support appropriate instructional pedagogy for teaching in the online environment. The deliverables include varied formats for independent earning, district facilitated learning or learning in collaboration with an AEA partner, including:
- Competency Scale
- Menu of PD Opportunities
- Learning Opportunity Database
- Supporting Online Learning Webinars
- District IT Webinars
- Modern Teacher Pricing
Please share this document with your school nurse
The purpose of this document is to guide school nurses when planning for return to school for students with disabilities and special healthcare needs (D/SHN) as defined by Section 504 or Individual Education Program (IEP) teams. School nurses understand the susceptibility of these students to environmental factors. While research is still emerging, results from early studies suggest that students with D/SHN have a higher prevalence of comorbidities associated with less favorable outcomes after infection with COVID-19, including higher fatality rates at younger ages compared to typically developing peers (Turk et al., 2020).
Special acknowledgement to MaryAnn Tapper Strawhacker, MPH, BSN, RN, SEN (Heartland AEA Special Education Nurse), for her contributions as an author of this article.
Check out the three new courses we are offering this fall and our Heart of Innovation Webinar Series speakers for 2020-21!
New Courses for Fall
- Using Google Classroom Effectively
- Seesaw in the Classroom Basics
- Going Digital 2.0
Please check out our latest Heartland AEA Tech Newsletter that has our current course offerings and our updated Virtual/Hybrid Learning Guide.
