Date Changes for ESL Advisory/Networking Meetings

All Heartland AEA area districts are invited to send a representative(s) to quarterly ESL Advisory/Networking meetings. Participants identify professional development needs and provide input on Title III support for the school year. They also find out firsthand about mini grant opportunities for implementation in their districts.

Meetings are held from 4:00-5:00 p.m. at the Heartland AEA Johnston Regional Education Center (6500 Corporate Drive). The 2016-17 schedule is the following:

2016 Dates:
Sept. 27
Dec. 15 *New Date*

2017 Dates:
Feb. 21
May 9 *New Date*

Critical ELPA Data Update From DE

**This communication provided by Dr. Jobi B. Lawrence, Director, Title III, Iowa Department of Education, (515) 281-3805.

We know that the timeline for getting abbreviated ELPA21 scores has created a very fast-paced process for districts to work with parents on parental notification and meaningful data driven conversations regarding LIEP program waivers. We also know that data files that were sent to Superintendents may have some missing data due to student transfers, testing issues in the spring, etc. We are working with individual districts to help them locate missing data and districts are working together to transfer data for students that have moved within the state. These issues are a normal part of transitioning between assessment systems, and we don’t anticipate these issues in future ELPA21 administrations.

All of these scenarios may create a delay in reporting “final” accurate information for a small number of ELs in our system related to SRI reporting. We have met with the legal team at the Department and collaborated with the SRI team as well to provide the following supportive guidance:

• Districts need to report the students based on the data they have on Oct. 1, 2016 (if they are missing ELPA data, the student remains coded with a status of “1” in the system unless they have a parent waiver on file in which case they can be coded with a status of “2” pending data that may permit exiting).
• When we locate the data for students who may be missing in a district file we will work with that district to clean up their SRI reporting after the certification deadline passes.
• If districts have students who were waived last year and they are working on meeting with parents to secure the waiver for this year, the student must be coded “1” until the waiver is signed. Our Legal Counsel concurred. Again, understanding that we will work with the districts that have waiver dates to make adjustments after they receive the parent signatures. This will be a “corrective” process on our end in collaboration with LEAs.

We are working hard to provide the best transition possible from IELDA to ELPA21 and we greatly appreciate everyone’s continued patience as we work towards improving our assessment system for ELs.

Calling All Science Teachers! Iowa Science Standards Module 2 Workshops Coming to a Town Near You

The two-day Iowa Science Standards Module 2 workshops are a continuation of the work that was begun last year with the Iowa Core Science Standards Overview (Module 1). Participation in Module 1 (or something equivalent) is a prerequisite for Module 2. The focus this year will be on unpacking the standards and developing coherent science lessons/units. This will include identifying "the right" (scientific) phenomena to use in a lesson/unit, using portions of the EQuIP Rubric to measure the alignment to the NGSS and overall quality of lessons/units and bundling standards in a lesson/unit. All workshops are scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Educators have the option of taking the Iowa Science Standards Module 1 from AEA PD Online. This can be used as a review or as new learning for those who were unable to take the PD last year. If you choose to take the online Module 1, we encourage you to take this session as a group, so you have meaningful group conversations. To access Module 1 Online visit the AEA PD Online website, click on the "Catalog" button and search for "science standards." Participants will need to login (or create a login) in order to take this online module.

All Module 2 workshops and registration links can be found on this page of our website.