Grant for New Teachers in Shortage Areas

The Teacher Career Establishment Grant helps new classroom teachers in state-designated subject shortage areas. Each recipient will be awarded up to $2,000 to help with the costs related to establishing a new career. Up to 62 grants will be awarded annually. Click here for a flyer detailing the qualification requirements as well as the list of state-designated subject shortage areas. Please distribute the flyer to new graduates and teachers who may qualify.

February World of Media Available

The February World of Media is online at http://wom.aea11.k12.ia.us. For your convenience, you can add the RSS feed to your iGoogle page. Highlights include the following:

• Videos on culture/history of Egypt and Tunisia
• Videos to support financial literacy
• Sexting
• Reading
• Math
• Science
• Car engine repair

A check of the usage stats for the last month shows that the highest readership outside the U.S. is in Netherlands, Germany, U.K., South Korea, Canada, Vietnam, France, and Russia.

Amendments to Iowa's Rules of Special Education

The following message comes to us from the desk of Thomas A. Mayes, Legal Consultant for the Bureau of Student & Family Support Services, Iowa Department of Education.

At its January meeting, Iowa’s State Board of Education adopted amendments to Iowa’s administrative rules of special education, which are effective on March 30, 2011. Those amendments:

1. Make the Department’s enforcement actions associated with LEA/AEA determinations mandatory (“shall”), rather than discretionary (“may”). This is a requirement of federal law.
2. Remove the term “preappeal,” and substitute “mediation” in its place. This is not a substantive change. The procedures associated with preappeal conferences will remain the same. The Department will still accept documents labeled as “preappeal requests.”
3. Substitute the term “intellectual disability” for “mental disability.” This non-substantive change is authorized by recent federal legislation.

Since these rules changes are not large in number, the Department will prepare an insert sheet for the current (orange-covered) rules. That insert sheet will be available on or before the effective date of the rules. Questions can be directed to Thomas A. Mayes at Thomas.Mayes@iowa.gov or (515) 242-5614.