Superintendents: December HAA Meeting Agenda

Click here for the agenda of the Heartland Administrators' Association (HAA) meeting which will be held on Tuesday, December 1 at the West Des Moines Learning Resource Center from 9:00-11:50 a.m.

Holiday Office & Van Route Schedule

All Heartland AEA offices will be closed on November 26 and 27, December 24, 25 and 31 and January 1. Also, please take note of the following schedule as you plan to send and receive items through our van mail.

• November 25-27 2009 No Van Delivery
  
• December 21-22, 2009 Regular Van Delivery
• December 23-31 2009 & January 1, 2010 No Van Delivery
  
• January 4, 2010 Regular Van Delivery Resumes

News from the Heartland AEA Iowa Core Curriculum Team

Registration information for January/February and for April Iowa Core Curriculum Leadership Training, Year Two, is available on the Heartland Iowa Core Curriculum link on the Heartland Web site at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/ICC. Registration is a must to ensure sufficient space and materials will be available.

Below are responses to your most recently submitted questions.

Question: Implementation plan---How far out should districts project? 1 year? multiple years?
Answer: Every outcome, for every content area at each grade span, needs to be addressed in the implementation plan by the legislative deadlines. Districts/schools need to establish the timeline for implementing all the actions of their plans and that timeline will vary from one year to several years in the future, based on district/school priorities and needs.

Question: How is the implementation plan going to affect teaching and learning?
Answer: It is the actions a district/school outlines in its implementation plan that will address the expectations of all six outcomes. If districts/schools develop an implementation plan based on the results of their self-studies, their work is likely to be connected to classroom practices through outcomes 4 and 6 in particular. These actions will impact teaching and learning.

Read more questions and answers at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/ICC. Additional questions may be addressed to Linda S. Biermann Hoobin, Heartland AEA Teaching and Learning Consultant for the Iowa Core Curriculum, at lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us

Iowa School Climate Survey Now Available

The 2009 Iowa School Climate Survey is now available. This biennial survey from the Iowa Pride Network measures the levels of racism, homophobia and sexism in Iowa schools. The 2009 survey is the first since the legislature passed the 2007 Iowa Safe Schools Law. Click here if you are interested in reading the results of the survey.

Headcount Still Needed for ICLC Participants

Please send the number of participants you will be registering for the Iowa Culture and Language Conference (ICLC) and Pre-conference to Pat Latham at platham@aea11.k12.ia.us by Tuesday, November 30, 2009. For more information on the ICLC and on how to get reimbursement for attending, click here.

Celebrating American Education Week, November 15-21

This year, American Education Week will be observed during the week of November 15-21. We at Heartland AEA are pleased to partner with you in providing excellent educational opportunities and services for children and youth, families, schools and communities in the area.

During American Education Week, we are able to reflect on our mission to strengthen student achievement for all students. We are proud of the successes that together we have achieved but are mindful of the work that still needs to be done. We look forward to working with each of you to make learning in Iowa even stronger in the coming years. Please feel encouraged to contact me, your Partnership Director or the Heartland Communications Department with any concerns or suggestions for service Heartland AEA might provide to your district.

Enjoy your coming week of recognition for the work you do in education and the contributions being made to improve student achievement.

Sheila King
Interim Chief Administrator

2009-2010 Heartland AEA Directory Now Available

Click here to download the 2009-2010 Heartland AEA directory. It was indicated last year that the Agency would no longer print bound copies of the directory and that is the case this year.

The directory is also available as a PDF download from our Web site at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us. The directory is currently available on the right hand side of the page under the “Featured Content” tab.

Also keep in mind that Heartland has an online staff directory for you to access at your convenience. This electronic directory contains the most up-to-date information about Heartland staff members. To access this directory, visit the Heartland Web site and click on the “Staff Directory” link on the left hand side of the page. You can search for Heartland staff members by last name, position or by the school districts they serve.

Thank you for your understanding as we try to be more environmentally friendly and budget conscious by not printing our directory.

River of Words® International Poetry and Art Competition Entries Due December 1

Every year, River of Words® (ROW) conducts an international environmental poetry and art competition for youth aged 5 to 19 in grades K-12, in affiliation with The Library of Congress Center for the Book. This free contest is designed to help youth explore the natural environment and cultural history of the place they live, and to express what they discover through poetry and art. Iowa entries not chosen as finalists or grand prize winners in the international contest are returned to IOWATER, where they are judged in a statewide River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art competition.

The IOWATER Volunteer Water Monitoring Program of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources coordinates the River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art competition. Over 530 students from Iowa entered the 2009 contest, either through their schools, community art centers, local libraries or on their own. Because of the large number of quality Iowa entries, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art generously offered to host a juried River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art Exhibit for the second year in a row. Thirty-seven works of poetry and art were selected to be included in this exhibit, held August 1-23, 2009. Following its run in Cedar Rapids, both the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque and the State Capitol Building in Des Moines signed on to host this traveling exhibit, which has been selected to be part of the Lt. Governor’s IOWA ARTIST SHOWCASE.

If your students would be interested in entering the contest for 2010, entries must be sent to the following by December 1:

River of Words, PO Box 4000-J
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA
Phone: 510-548-POEM (7636)
Fax: 510-548-2095

ROW returns Iowa's entries to IOWATER in April for state competition and Iowa’s state winners are chosen in May.

For more information and entry forms, visit www.iowater.net and click on River of Words, or contact:

Pat Lohmann
IOWA River of Words Coordinator Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources
109 Trowbridge Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1319
Phone: (319) 335-1593
FAX: (319) 335-2754
email: Pat.Lohmann@dnr.iowa.gov

Again, the deadline for entries for the 2010 academic year is Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Entries received after December 1 are entered into next year's contest.

Headcount Needed for ICLC Participants

As was mentioned in last week's Administrator Connection, the annual Iowa Culture and Language Conference (ICLC) will be held on February 9-10, 2010 (with Pre-conference on February 8) at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines, Iowa.

For budgeting purposes, please send the number of participants you will be registering for the ICLC and Pre-conference to Pat Latham at platham@aea11.k12.ia.us no later than November 30, 2009.

Title III will only fund the Early Bird Rates to your district if done before December 11, 2009. You may register each participant through the Northwest AEA Web site at http://www.nwaea.k12.ia.us/en/upcoming_events/iowa_culture_language_conference/. The following are conditions Title III will fund:

Pre-conference registration based on ELL enrollment

1. Schools without English language learners will receive reimbursement for one participant to attend a Pre-conference session (up to $100 registration fee, only).
2. Schools with one or more English language learners receive reimbursement (up to $100 registration fee, only) for each of three participants to attend the Pre-conference sessions.

Iowa Culture and Language Conference Registration and Sub-pay based on ELL enrollment

1. Districts with 75 ELLs and up will be reimbursed for 10 participants.
2. Districts with 15 to 74 ELLs will be reimbursed for 3 participants.
3. Districts with 10 to 14 ELLs will be reimbursed for 2 participants.
4. Districts with 9 and below ELLs will be reimbursed for 1 participant.

Participants must have full attendance at the Pre-conference or ICLC to qualify for Title III reimbursement and sign in at the Heartland AEA table which will be located by the registration booth, lower lobby of the Polk County Convention Center.

Signed hard copies of Title III claim forms for both the Pre-conference and ICLC (one form for the Pre-conference, another for ICLC) must be submitted no later than February 26, 2010 to Jeri Messenger at 6500 Corporate Drive, Johnston, IA 50131.

Seats are going fast! Sheltered Instruction for Teachers of ELLs

Also mentioned in last week's Administrator Connection was an invitation to "Introduction To Sheltered Instruction for Teachers of ELLs”. To view that article, click here. Out of the 60 available openings for the class, 30 have already been filled! Make sure your educators who work with K-12 English language learners don't miss out on this opportunity!

Dates: January 9 & 16, 2010 (100% attendance is required for credit.)
Times: 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Location: Stoney Creek Inn
Address: 5291 NW 84th St., Johnston
Instructors: Shelley Fairbairn and Stephaney Jones-Vo
Activity number: ES004299991001

Participants can register through the Heartland Professional Development catalog at https://prodev.aea11.k12.ia.us/4DCGI/YYYYYYYYYYYYYYSRCH.

November Iowa Core Curriculum Update

Registration information for Day Two and for Day Three Leadership Training is now posted on the Heartland AEA Web site. On the right side of the home page, click on Heartland’s Iowa Core link. Scroll to the bottom of that page and click on Year 2-Days 2 and 3 Registration Flyer. Registration is a must to ensure space and materials for each participant. Each session requires registration.

Other news: The PowerPoint presentation from October’s training is available on the Web site under Year Two Resources by Topic. The team has addressed over 100 questions in a question and answer document that is also found on the Heartland Web site.

For questions or further information, contact Linda Biermann Hoobin, Teaching and Learning Consultant for the Iowa Core Curriculum, at lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us.