HEART Database Checkoff List

Here are a few important pieces of information about the HEART database. These apply to every district using HEART. Please read and pass on to the correct people in your district for action.

• Send a K-12 barcode file to heart@aea11.k12.ia.us ASAP to update students to their new grade and building and to inactivate students who have moved away. This should be done at the start of each school year. Some displays will not work correctly without this information.

• Review the access and security settings for your users each year. Inactivate users who have left the district and modify other settings as needed.

• HEART training sessions for the year were posted over the summer. The next administrator and behavior training sessions are scheduled for September 3, 2009. Go to the July archive of the Administrator Connection or click here for details and registration information.

• A new version of HEART is up and running. Most of the changes are behind the scenes to accommodate the new ethnicity coding requirements. The changes visible on the Web are mostly minor tweaks to eliminate bugs and improve ease of use. Please let us know if you encounter any problems.

• There is a new administrator’s manual available for download from the Heartland Web site or by clicking here. Please download this version and trash your old administrator manual. The user manual is under revision and will be posted when finished.

As always, your questions and suggestions are welcomed. Please address HEART questions to Connor Hood at chood@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Heartland AEA's Annual Progress Report Now Available

Heartland AEA's Annual Progress Report (APR) for the 2007-08 school year is now available. You can access the APR at the following:
https://www.edinfo.state.ia.us/web/aea_apr_summary_staticweb.asp

You can also access the Agency's APR via our Web site by selecting "Heartland Information" on the navigation on the left-hand side of the page and going to "Annual Progress Report."

Please direct any questions or comments about the report to Kristi Upah, Assistant Director of Internal Accountability, at (800) 362-2720 or kupah@aea11.k12.ia.us.

Last Call for Counselor Academy I

Don't let your district/school miss out on the last opportunity to participate in Counselor Academy I (CAI). This four-day professional development opportunity tailored for school counselors helps them write and refine their K-12 articulated, sequential school counseling program as required by Iowa Code. Help and guidance is provided to collect artifacts to ease schools through the new requirements for school counseling programs as related to the Iowa Department of Education site visits. There are two other professional development opportunities that are offered as follow-ups to CAI which are the following:

• Counselor Academy II, which focuses on using data to drive the school counseling program
• Counselor Academy III, which focuses on curriculum, instruction and assessment with regard to the school counseling program

To register for one of the counselor academies, please go to: http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/prodev/counseling/
For more information about the counselor academies or other counselor support resources, please contact Sue Schirmer at sschirmer@aea11.k12.ia.us or (515) 270-0405 ext. 14379.