May 2012 Impacting Lives Newsletter

Go to http://aeas4iowa.wordpress.com/ to read the latest edition of "Impacting Lives." The blog newsletter is a statewide effort to communicate AEA success stories and services across the state.

This issue includes:

• AEA Instrumental in Helping First-Year Teacher Meet Preschool Program Standards
• Pleasantville Teen Anticipates Transition to College Thanks in Part to Support from AEA
• Competency-Based Education Catches On at Prairie Lakes AEA
• Northwest AEA/Akron-Westfield Team Keeps Pushing for Student
• AEA Saves Educators Time and Money through the Use of Technology
• ‘Amazing' Results Make Literacy Kits Popular
• Inclusive PE Program Benefits Norwalk Students

2012-13 Student Planners Available through Heartland AEA

We are excited to announce affordable, durable school planners for the 2012-13 school year! Help your elementary, middle and high school students be more organized and better prepared with their own planner.

We have two available sizes (5.5x8.5 or 8.5x11). Choose your preferred cover, intro pages, planner pages, note pages and calendars from our set styles for basic planners. Optional pages can be added for an additional fee (student handbook, activities calendars, etc.). Order quantities must be a minimum of 50 planners.

Click here to see the standard styles you can choose from and the order form. Please complete and return the order form to Heartland AEA at graphics@aea11.k12.ia.us by May 31, 2012 so that we have ample time to process your order and have it ready by fall.

Standard Planner Prices

5.5 x 8.5 - $1.25 per planner

8.5 x 11 - $2.35 per planner

For more information or to personalize your school's planners, contact our graphic designers at graphics@aea11.k12.ia.us or (515) 270-9030.

April 2012 Educator Connection Newsletter Now Available

Click here to download the April 2012 issue of the Educator Connection. This issue was e-mailed to all area educators earlier this week and contains information about iPad training and resources, new web-based professional development functions, special education opportunities and much more!

Reminder: Transition Times Workshop to Focus on Technology for Students

Heartland AEA's Parent & Educator Connection will hold a Transition Times workshop on April 10 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. in Johnston with ICN sites in Ames and Carroll. The workshop will cover various technology and adaptive equipment that is available to students to lead more independent lives. Please pass on the attached flyer to students age 14 and older, families and teachers who may be interested in attending.

Information About Heartland AEA Technology Support

Heartland AEA offers a wide range of technology services to school districts. Many of these are highlighted in this summary of a recent visit to one of our schools.

• Our network specialist conducted a network audit and made recommendations about what upgrades were needed (and what costs would be involved) in preparation for an 1:1 project. Also discussed was Heartland’s Internet filtering solution (iBoss), which is available free to our schools.

• Our technology director and the building principal discussed in detail some possible funding streams (such as Title II funds and Microsoft settlement funds) that could be used for technology improvements and professional development.

• Further discussions were held related to possible curricular changes and professional development that Heartland could offer in the area of technology integration. Earlier in the year, our tech consultants were at the school to assist in making the transition to Google apps.

• The school has recently installed interactive white boards in all of their classrooms, but was having difficulty getting their wireless tablets to connect to the boards. Heartland staff were able to successfully troubleshoot this problem.

If your district is interested in what technology services Heartland AEA offers, contact Lance Wilhelm, Director of Technology, at lwilhelm@aea11.k12.ia.us to learn more.

Impacting Lives Newsletter Shares How Iowa's AEAs Make a Difference

April is National Autism Awareness Month. All of Iowa's Area Education Agencies employ certified staff members who specialize in supporting children and students with autism spectrum disorders, their families and the classroom teachers who work with them. This edition of Impacting Lives provides examples of AEA expertise for supporting autism as well as other topics that include Iowa AEA Online, curriculum instruction and technology support. Find the Impacting Lives blog at http://aeas4iowa.wordpress.com/.

This issue includes:

• AEA 'Angel' Gave Hope to Family Living with Autism
• Oscar's Story: Supporting a Child with Autism
• Northwest AEA Employees Present Research at International Autism Conference
• Learning with the Resources of Iowa AEA Online
• AEA Social Workers Serve as Link Between Families and Schools
• My Ears Help Me Read: The Important Role of AEA Audiology Staff
• Training Aims to Increase Teachers’ Skills in Literacy Instruction
• How Putting Laptops in Student Hands is Changing Education Today
• Grant Wood AEA Launches iPad Project
• Capturing Student Interest through the Use of Virtual Reality

Check Out Our New Timeline!

Heartland AEA's Facebook page has changed to a "Timeline" layout. Take a look at here, and let us know what you think! Don't forget to share our page with your friends.

Let Us Know What You Think!

This is a gentle reminder that the AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey will remain open until Friday, April 6, 2012. The survey provides us with your insight on how to improve our services to your school(s), staff and students.

We will send an e-mail reminder to all educators at the end of March to insure that all district staff have a chance to participate. Since the survey is anonymous, we have no way of knowing who has contributed and who has not. You and each of your staff members are only asked to fill out the survey once. After you complete the survey, you may disregard the reminder notices.

The survey can be accessed at http://survey.aea267.k12.ia.us/survey/7145/ba57/.

Please encourage all of your staff to participate. If you have already completed the survey, we thank you for your support!

Last Chance to Save on Microsoft Products for Personal Use

Note: This applies ONLY to Microsoft Office for home and personal use. Current school pricing is NOT changing.

The Iowa Educators Consortium (IEC), in partnership with Microsoft and JourneyEd, has provided K-12 students, faculty and staff with personal discounts on Microsoft Office and Windows software. (Example: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, retail $499, IEC price $89.95). These discounts have been significantly less than what you’d find in retail stores.

Microsoft will be discontinuing the current program effective March 23, 2012. It will be replaced with more expensive home versions of Office software.

Order today to ensure you get the best price possible. Orders can be placed online by going to http://www.JourneyEd.com/Select.

AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey to Launch Next Monday

It’s that time of year again when we ask that you fill out the AEA Customer Satisfaction survey. Next Monday, March 5 you and your staff will receive an email asking to complete the 2011-12 AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey. The Subject line of the email will read “Requested Action: AEA Customer Satisfaction Survey.” The survey will be available March 5 through April 6, 2012.

The survey provides us with your insight on how to improve our services to your school(s) and students. The more feedback we receive, the more comfortable we will feel making program decisions that benefit all schools in the Heartland area.

We will send a reminder in late March to insure that all district staff members have a chance to participate. Since the survey is anonymous, we have no way of knowing who has contributed and who has not. You are only asked to fill out the survey once. After you complete the survey, you may disregard the reminder notices.

Please remind all your staff to participate. We look forward to your input!

Requested Item: School/District Academic Composite Calendar

Each year, Heartland AEA makes a composite calendar with all our schools'/districts' start dates, teacher workdays/in-services, early dismissals, holidays/no school days, etc. We create this composite by gathering districts' and non-public schools' calendars. We make the composite to help our regional directors, practitioners, library staff and van delivery staff be more aware of what's happening in your district and how best to serve you. When your 2012-2013 academic calendar is approved, please send it to Claire Sowder at csowder@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Iowa's AEAs are "Impacting Lives"

Through their many years of service, Iowa’s Area Education Agencies have impacted the lives of many Iowa children, youth and educators. Individuals have shared how Iowa’s AEAs have supported them in the latest edition of Impacting Lives, a blog newsletter that shares AEA stories across the state. Find the Impacting Lives blog at http://aeas4iowa.wordpress.com/.

• Providing Resources to Brighten Children's Futures: Caroline’s Story
• Supporting 1:1 Schools in Northeast Iowa
• Early Intervention Brings Boy’s Speech Up to Speed
• Collaborating to Build Social Skills
• 21st Century Learners Conference: Great Day of Learning for Green Hills Area Educators
• Swift Interventions Unleash Boy's Potential
• Assistive Technology Works for Student with Autism
• Braille Contests Offer Unique Experiences for Visually Impaired Students
• Closing the Achievement Gap for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
• Iowa’s AEAs – Partners in Education!

HEART and Using the New Iowa Assessments

After some delays, reports and data files for the new Iowa Assessments are starting to be delivered to schools. Naturally, there is some urgency to view the data in HEART and to start using the new reports from the Iowa Testing Program. Here is how the Agency is approaching these issues.

Unfortunately, it will take some time to rewrite the upload, import, storage and reporting features in HEART to handle the new data. The preliminary design ideas have been worked out based on the limited information previously available. Now that we have sample data files, the programming work can begin. Please be aware that it will take at least one to two months to take care of all of the new programming.

Based on what we know so far about the new data, a few changes in HEART are likely. There does not appear to be established proficiency cut points for any tests other than reading, mathematics, written expression, science and social studies for grades 3-11. Without cut points, proficiency graphs cannot be generated for any other tests of the Iowa Assessments or any grades outside of 3-11. Also, we do not have access to the necessary statistical data to build new growth charts which means these graphs will be unusable with the new Iowa Assessment data.

Finally, the individual student report and multi-test display will need some reworking to handle multiple score types in a way that helps prevent misinterpretation of the data. Thank you for your patience with the delays while we make all of the necessary changes.

If you have any further questions about HEART and the transition to the Iowa Assessments, please contact Connor Hood at chood@aea11.k12.ia.us.

As you work with the new Iowa Assessments reports, please remember that Heartland AEA has several resources available to help. There are videos from Iowa Testing Program workshops, handouts, PowerPoint presentations and the support of our Assessment Consultants. Check with your regional director for more details.

Check Out the New & Improved Iowa Educators Consortium Website

In a recent customer experience survey, it was obvious that many Iowa Educators Consortium (IEC) clients found the website difficult to navigate and hard to use. As a result, over the past few months IEC staff has been diligently working to create a more user-friendly site to help customers find the information they need when making a purchasing decision.

The IEC is excited to announce the launch of its new and improved website based on customer feedback. The address is the same (www.iec-ia.org) but the site looks completely different.

Some of the improvements include:

• Top bar navigation that follows your path, page by page
• Detailed category descriptions so you know what type of products are in each category
• Fewer category headings
• A more efficient search box tool to help you find specific products
• At-a-glance list of vendors to make it easier to find your favorite company
• Vendor spotlight feature to provide you with more information on a specific vendor

While the website has changed, the IEC’s focus has not. It still remains dedicated to providing the best products at the best prices for Iowa schools, AEAs, libraries and government offices.

New Educational Resources and Opportunities via Google

Google has recently launched a new website for Education, a "one-stop" shop of sorts. Check it out at http://www.google.com/edu/index.html. The website has lots of information that is applicable to education.

Google in Education for Primary and Secondary schools provides information on some of the programs for education that Google is involved in, such as the Google Doodle contests, the Google Science Fair and the Google Teacher Academy. Read more about these opportunities in Google’s new booklet available at http://goo.gl/UARHc.

Doodle 4 Google Competition
Google has also announced details for the Doodle 4 Google Competition. The competition invites K-12 students to express the theme--“If I could travel in time, I’d visit...”--as creatively as possible using Google’s logo as their canvas. This year’s winner, along with having his or her doodle featured on the Google homepage for a day, will take home a $30,000 college scholarship and a $50,000 technology grant for their school. And as an added bonus, the winning Doodle will be featured on a special edition of Crayola’s 64 box!

All submissions must be postmarked by March 20, 2012 and received by March 23.
Check out www.google.com/doodle4google for more details about the Doodle 4 Google competition.

February Educator Connection Newsletter

Click here for the latest issue of the Educator Connection newsletter. It was e-mailed last week to all educators in the Heartland area and is intended to keep our educators better connected to our agency and to the many programs and services we offer to educators, students and families. If you have any comments or suggestions for articles you’d like to see, please e-mail them to the Heartland AEA Communications Department at comms@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Reminder: Heartland AEA Regional Meeting for NCLB Waiver, Feb. 7

The Department has scheduled a series of meetings across the state to present details about Iowa’s waiver request and give Iowans a chance to weigh in. The format for these meetings is a combination of video, discussion and question and answer.

The Heartland AEA regional meeting will be held Tuesday, February 7, 2012. The meeting will be streamed from the Heartland Regional Education Center at 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston. Satellite sites include Ames High School, Dallas Center-Grimes High School, Newton High School and Knoxville High School.
The Department has scheduled meeting times for the following target audiences:

Superintendents
9:00-10:45 a.m.

Administrators & Board Members
11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Students
1:30-2:45 p.m.

Teachers
4:00-5:45 p.m.

Parents & Other Community Members
6:00-7:45 p.m.

Videos and handouts for the meeting are available at http://educateiowa.gov/.

Iowa Dept. of Ed to Visit Feb. 7 to Seek Public Input on NCLB Waiver Request

The Iowa Department of Education will give Iowans a chance to weigh in on a plan to request a waiver from requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act during a statewide series of public meetings from January 31 to February 9.

The regional meeting for the Heartland AEA area has been scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2012. The meeting will be streamed from the Heartland ICN Room at 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston. Satellite sites include: Ames High School, Dallas Center-Grimes High School, Newton High School and Knoxville High School. The Department has scheduled meeting times for the following target audiences:

Superintendents
9:00-10:45 a.m.

Administrators and board members
11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Students
1:30-2:45 p.m.

Teachers
4:00-5:45 p.m.

Parents & Other Community Members
6:00-7:45 p.m.

The Department will present details about Iowa’s waiver request and plans to develop a new accountability system that puts student achievement first but also focuses on student growth and assessments that align with the Iowa Core standards.

In September, the U.S. Department of Education invited states to apply for flexibility from specific requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive state-developed plans.

Iowa’s application will be submitted by February 21.

States must address the following principles in their waiver applications: College and career-ready expectations for all students; state-developed systems for differentiated recognition, accountability and support; and support for effective instruction and leadership, including new guidelines for local teacher and principal evaluation and support systems.

In a new video, Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass addresses the purpose of Iowa’s waiver request.

Iowans who are unable to attend the public meetings can submit comments in writing to wilma.gajdel@iowa.gov until 4:00 p.m. on February 1.

For more information, go to www.educateiowa.gov.

Public Input Sought for State’s No Child Left Behind Waiver Request

The Iowa Department of Education will give Iowans a chance to weigh in on a plan to request a waiver from requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act during a statewide series of public meetings from January 31 to February 9.

Department leaders will visit all nine Area Education Agencies in Iowa. Click here for a complete schedule of meeting dates, times and locations. (Heartland AEA information is highlighted.) The Department will visit Heartland AEA on Tuesday, February 7.

The Department will present details about Iowa’s waiver request and plans to develop a new accountability system that puts student achievement first but also focuses on student growth and assessments that align with the Iowa Core standards.

In September, the U.S. Department of Education invited states to apply for flexibility from specific requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act in exchange for rigorous and comprehensive state-developed plans.

Iowa’s application will be submitted by February 21.

States must address the following principles in their waiver applications: College and career-ready expectations for all students; state-developed systems for differentiated recognition, accountability and support; and support for effective instruction and leadership, including new guidelines for local teacher and principal evaluation and support systems.

In a new video, Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass addresses the purpose of Iowa’s waiver request.

Iowans who are unable to attend the public meetings can submit comments in writing to wilma.gajdel@iowa.gov until 4:00 p.m. on February 1.

For more information, go to www.educateiowa.gov.

Last Chance to Save Big on Microsoft Products!

For several years the Iowa Educators Consortium (IEC), in partnership with Microsoft and JourneyEd, has provided teachers, students, faculty and staff with discounts on Microsoft Office and Windows software for home use. (Example: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, retail $499, IEC price $89.95). These discounts have been significantly less than what you’d find in retail stores.

The IEC has recently been notified that Microsoft will be discontinuing this program effective March 2012.

If you anticipate needing Microsoft software for your home/personal computer, order today to insure you get the best price possible. Orders can be placed online by going to www.JourneyEd.com/Select.

Please inform teachers, students, faculty and staff that they have a limited time to take advantage of these prices. Note: All students can request this pricing, so parents of kindergartners could even order at these prices.

JourneyEd will continue to provide education pricing on many other software titles and computer products; however, we do not anticipate that pricing on Microsoft products will ever be this low again.

For more information, contact:

Marcy Rodriguez
Academic Superstore
marodriguez@digitalriver.com
(866) 559-0302

Amy Bohn
JourneyEd.com
abohn@digitalriver.com
(800) 876-3507 ext 37426