Take the Next Steps in Supporting Postsecondary Transition for the 2021 Graduating Class

AEA PREP is providing the additional resources for supporting the successful postsecondary transition for the class of 2021. You may recall, the first step provided direction on developing your Postsecondary Response Team. Steps two and three will center around collecting and analyzing data, step four will provide potential resources, and the last step is to provide ongoing follow-up. Visit the AEA PREP Supporting the Class of 2021 for more information.

5 Steps To Support the Successful Postsecondary Transition for the Class of 2021

AEA PREP is sharing an important resource for counselors working with high school students. This document highlights the five steps taken to support the successful postsecondary transition for the class of 2021 and this video provides direction on the first step of developing your Postsecondary Response Team. AEA PREP will be providing additional resources for the other four steps over the next few weeks.

Supporting the Class of 2020's Postsecondary Transition

Did you know that almost 60% of seniors in the Class of 2020 are reconsidering their postsecondary school choice due to COVID-19 closures? That’s over 20,000 Iowa high school seniors. Do you know how many of your students are reconsidering their plans?

While many of you are already connecting with your graduating seniors, AEA PREP is sharing this resource to assist you in organizing and focusing your response to the needs of your seniors as we close out the 2020 school year.

The attached document provides step-by-step strategies to ensure the Class of 2020 successfully pursues their postsecondary plans and includes resources to collect data or use existing data from your seniors to organize follow-up supports. These are Iowa-specific resources, adapted from this National College Attainment Network (NCAN) document.

This work should be done in collaboration with a team of educators consisting of school personnel with additional capacity or existing relationships with students who can share in this work. Additionally, the information collected in this process will help your school complete the post-graduation plans required for state reporting (SRI).

If you have questions about this message or the attachment, please send messages to questions@aeaprep.org.

District Teams Are Invited to Apply by May 31 to Attend National Postsecondary Strategy Institute

AEA PREP is excited to host a 2-day workshop for district teams in partnership with the National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (NPSI) from Chicago, to be held at Des Moines Area Community College on Sept. 23-24, 2019. The goal of this workshop is to help school districts develop their internal capacity to support every student toward attaining a successful postsecondary pathway. This will be done through a hands-on, action-oriented workshop focused on the integration of three critical components: a district postsecondary framework and strategy; a data strategy; and engagement of school counselors as leaders. Up to 27 district teams (approximately three per AEA) will be selected from across the state following the application period that is open May 3-31.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

NPSI - Iowa program overview and application instructions

NPSI - Iowa Online application link

NPSI is led by Greg Darneider, Joyce Brown, Ph.D. and Kelly Sparks. Darneider served as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education on the College Access Initiative, serving under President Obama's 2020 Goal and was the U.S. Department of Education representative on First Lady Michelle Obama's Reach Higher Initiative. Dr. Brown is president of Joyce V. Brown Consulting, a group of expert practitioner counselor leaders who specialize in training and coaching counselors and non-profit organizations working on the front lines of schools. Dr. Brown also provided technical support and served as a consultant to Reach Higher. Ms. Sparks is CEO of Maple Grove Objective, which helps organizations strategically use data to improve outcomes for youth and communities. She has over 20 years of experience in education, and is a national expert and innovator in data strategy.

Iowa’s AEAs are Enhancing and Expanding Resources and Services Provided to all Iowa School Districts

FastBridge Learning 2018-19
Through an agreement with FastBridge Learning, districts will now be able to access the full FastBridge suite of resources for mathematics and behavior assessment, reporting and analysis, and will include additional aspects of literacy that were not available through the current module. Districts that sign up for 2018-19, will have access to the system for spring screening in 2018 for free. The next step is to develop a training plan for the AEA system.

AEA Prep
Iowa’s AEAs have created​ a ​statewide partnership ​and ​resource ​center ​to ​improve ​postsecondary ​readiness ​and ​education ​attainment. ​This ​newly ​established ​entity ​is AEA ​PREP ​(Postsecondary ​Readiness ​& ​Equity ​Partnership), ​and ​will ​focus ​on ​building ​equitable capacity ​throughout ​Iowa, across the AEAs ​and ​​schools. ​AEA ​PREP ​operates ​out ​of Mississippi ​Bend ​A​E​A ​in ​Bettendorf and is being coordinated by David Ford.

2018 Legislative Advocacy Event
Mark your calendar for the Joint AEA Legislative Advocacy Event to be held on Jan. 30-31, 2018 at Prairie Meadows. The inaugural event hosted by Iowa’s AEAs in 2017 drew over 200 school administrators from across Iowa. The 2018 event begins with an update from members of the education lobby and preparation for conversations with legislators that will take place the following morning. Registration and more details are at this link.

For more information about these three initiatives, refer to this AEA System Communication that was presented to superintendents across Iowa during the past week.