Requested Action: Input Needed for Heartland AEA Service Decision-Making

As you know, Heartland AEA will be facing challenges with our budget in the coming school years as will all school districts in Iowa. When making decisions about programs and services and the implications for our budget, it is essential for us to have input from districts. At the Superintendent Advisory Committee (SAC) this week, the SAC decided to use a portion of the March Heartland Administrators Association meeting to give superintendents an opportunity to provide input for Heartland AEA decision-making about programs and services. The SAC also suggested that each superintendent gather data from their administrative team prior to this meeting. Partnership Directors will be contacting superintendents to provide instructions for data collection and to offer to assist with facilitation. The Curriculum Network will engage in a similar activity at their March meeting. We are very grateful for the time that local administrators spend in providing us this vital input. If you have questions, please contact your Partnership Director.

Vincent Selected as Next Chief Administrator of Heartland AEA

Heartland AEA is pleased to announce that Dr. Paula Vincent has been hired as the Agency’s new chief administrator. She will succeed Sheila King, who has been Heartland AEA’s interim chief administrator since July 1, 2009.

Vincent is currently the superintendent of the Clear Creek Amana Community School District in east central Iowa. She was previously the associate superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District, a director of special education at Grant Wood AEA and a classroom teacher in suburban Kansas City and rural Iowa. She is a member of the board of trustees at McPherson College, in McPherson, Kansas, and also serves on the board of directors of the Grant Wood Regional Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Dr. Vincent is known for her work in personalizing learning for each child, use of innovative systems to support teacher learning and incorporating the principles of interactive design and quality improvement into the daily work of schools. She received an undergraduate degree at McPherson College and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.

We look forward to Dr. Vincent's arrival at Heartland AEA.

Informational Meeting for Newly Awarded E2T2 Grant

Heartland AEA has been awarded a new E2T2 grant for 2009–2012 called, Aligning Math/Science Instruction to the Iowa Core Curriculum. The focus of the new grant will be 8th–12th grade teachers and administrators who support mathematics, science, technology and students with differing learning needs. Much of the workshop delivery will be during summers and thorough electronic options during the school year.

An informational meeting for school/district administrators, technology coordinators and math and/or science lead teachers will be held on February 22 from 8:30–11:30 a.m. in Rooms 3 & 4 at the Johnston Office. The meeting will also be available via webinar.

At this meeting we will explain the direction of the new project, demonstrate some of the tools and software we hope to incorporate, define timelines and share possible options for purchase or reimbursement for teachers (schools/districts) that are part of the project. Cohort A will begin Spring 2010 and Cohort B will begin Spring 2011.

Click here for an abstract for the new grant project. If you have any questions, please contact Kim Thuente at (515) 270–0405 ext. 14372 or kthuente@aea11.k12.ia.us.