Maxine's Message

Potpourri
There’s a lot to like about the month of May. After a long winter, spring is celebrated and cherished. The end of another year is near, and summer is on the way. It’s time to pull out the barbecue and gather with family and friends for outdoor activities, and biking once again is pleasurable.

Within the Agency, it’s time to sigh with satisfaction that negotiations have been completed, contracts are out and front line staff members have been preserved. Regional Education Center planning is underway, and technology has made it possible to do many more functions online from applying for benefits to viewing paycheck stubs to checking the status of budgets and transferring money. Work on the implementation on the Iowa Core Curriculum is well underway, professional development is positively effecting teachers and administrators daily and special education staff is developing even more skills to meet the needs of all children.

Everyone is focused on results and working hard. As Martha Stewart would say, “It’s a good thing.” In this month’s article, several “good things” happening at the Agency will be reviewed.

America’s Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA)
The money from ARRA, usually referred to as stimulus money, is welcome. After sending about 27% of the funds to Des Moines, our share is around $10 million in Part B special education funds. This is a great opportunity to develop long-term capacity using one-time funds. The Agency must pay attention to the “funding cliff” after September 2011 (the timeline for all funds to be expended), as no carryover will be allowed. The federal and state departments of education have advised us to plan carefully. The Agency must choose strategic projects that will increase capacity for the long term and impact student achievement.

Education leaders and politicians have said that this is a chance of a lifetime. They state that for many years educators have complained about a lack of funds as a barrier to dramatic improvement in student achievement. Now the funds are here, and they want to see exceptional results very quickly. There are strict accountability standards and separate quarterly reports will be required.

The Agency has a committee that is making recommendations and setting priorities for ARRA funds. After recommendations and prioritization, the committee’s report will go on to the Executive Council and then to the Board of Directors. The next meeting of the committee is today, May 4. Click here to view the membership of the ARRA committee and the groups they represent, click here for a list of the groups that have given their input on how the money should be spent and click here for a timeline of the process. If you have recommendations or suggestions, please send them to a committee member as soon as possible or to your supervisor who will send them on to the committee. Regular updates on ARRA will be in The Connection including a list of projects. To learn more about ARRA, you can go to the Department of Education's Web site at http://www.iowa.gov/educate/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1731&Itemid=1.

Cultural Competence
Cultural competence at Heartland is developing and flourishing across the Agency. Many employees are gaining a much deeper understanding of the meaning of cultural competence. At Heartland, cultural competence is the ability to work and interact effectively with people who are different from us. Everyone has an opportunity to learn and grow in his or her understanding, and many employees are taking advantage of the opportunities.

For example, it’s exciting to see employees take the risk to understand and to experience activities that demonstrate what it is like to be vision impaired or to use a wheelchair. They notice how challenging it is to open doors while pushing the wheelchair or that sinks and signs are up high. They experience how people will talk to them loudly if they use a wheelchair because some people associate deafness with using a wheelchair. They notice that people typically won't speak to the person using the chair but to the person with them because an assumption is made that the person using the wheelchair has limited intelligence. These employees have a richer understanding and a different perspective and will approach individuals with disabilities differently.

There are dozens of other examples like this one across the Agency. Some employees have served in domestic abuse shelters, deepened their understanding of living in poverty and helped with river, school and community clean up days and much more. Our employees are transitioning from a level of awareness and primarily making contributions such as in food drives (which are very good things) to a level of deeper understanding, community service and developing relationships. As cultural competence grows, people become more open to listening, understanding and learning from one another. Our lives become enriched and our agency culture reflects a stronger sense of community.

Iowa Core Curriculum
The Iowa Core Curriculum is a critical part of the curriculum, assessment and instruction foundation. The statewide implementation has formidable challenges including lack of resources, a very aggressive timeline set by the legislature, pressure from the media, lack of understanding of what the Core Curriculum is and insufficient lead time for planning. And of course it also comes with the challenges of any change process, as we hear districts saying things ranging from “We won’t do it” to “We've already done it.” The Department of Education has worked very cooperatively and collaboratively with the area education agencies with very limited resources. They have been “building the airplane” while flying it.

Heartland staff members should be commended for working through and around the challenges and leading the first year of implementing the Core Curriculum. Nearly 100 sessions have been offered for school leaders and leadership teams to increase awareness and understanding of the Core Curriculum. Our staff members have also been serving on state committees to ensure that the implementation is comprehensive and robust, developing tools to respond to district needs and requests and have added a special Core Curriculum section to our Web site. Everyone needs to understand the Core Curriculum and support and encourage this work as it is the key to increased student achievement. The hard work and dedication of Heartland staff on the Core Curriculum is very much appreciated.

Board Appreciation
Finally, May is Board Appreciation month. The members of the Heartland Board of Directors are volunteers who serve the Agency because they are passionate about education and ensuring that every student has an opportunity to learn and achieve and become a productive citizen of Iowa. They set high standards and expectations for the Agency. Their goals are to continue to increase student achievement and cultural competence, to be fiscally responsible and be good stewards of public resources, to continue to develop and expand the regional service delivery model and move toward a unified system of area education agencies.

They dedicate hundreds of hours to leading, encouraging, evaluating and supporting our work. They are an outstanding and hard working board and deserve the recognition and appreciation they will be receiving at their May meeting. We thank them for the difference they make for students, families, teachers, leaders and community members every day.

Heartland Staff Survey in Your Inbox Today

All staff members should have received an e-mail today from the Heartland Communications Department e-mail address (comms@aea11.k12.ia.us) that includes a link to the annual staff survey. All staff members are required to complete the survey, which should take 15-20 minutes to complete. All answers are completely anonymous, so please be honest in your responses. If you did not receive an e-mail about the survey, please contact Kristi Upah at ext. 14539 or at kupah@aea11.k12.ia.us.

H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) Update

The Iowa Department of Education has posted on its Website links to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to provide up-to-date information about the Novel Influenza (H1N1) Virus (Swine Flu). Due to the rapidly changing status of the Swine Flu, guidance will be updated as it becomes available, so please check the Website frequently. Click here for the information that the Agency has posted on our Web site concerning the H1N1 virus.

Technology Update

Reminder: Changes to Agency File Server
This is an important reminder regarding the Technology Update of April 5, 2009: Important Changes to the Agency File Server. While many people have transferred their files, a lot of people have not. If you have not transferred your files, read the Technology Update at the link above. If you have any questions, please contact Jim Lagnese.