Last week we provided information about meetings that will be held in each region to provide information and support to general education teachers and principals about Child Find. Since the topics are all targeted toward general education, we do not want special education AEA practitioners to attend at this time. Professional Learning & Leadership Consultants and Partnership Directors are welcome to attend.
Schedule for September 17 Regional Professional Development and Office Meetings
In order to accommodate common messages being delivered through Webinar, the agenda for the meetings on the 17th will be as follows:
8:00 a.m. Start time
8:20 a.m. Webinar begins with Child Find Update
9:20 a.m. Learning Team Update (Webinar)
9:50 a.m. Agency-Wide Data Update (Webinar)
10:20 a.m. Break
10:35 a.m. Office Meetings
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30-4:00 p.m. Learning Team Meetings (At locations to be determined by each learning team. This could be at the office meeting site, regional office, school building or off-site location of the team's choice.)
Locations of each meeting are as follows:
Regions 1 & 2 - TBA
Regions 3 & 4 - Grace Lutheran Church, Adel
Regions 5 & 7 - Ames AEA Office
Region 6 - Best Western, Ames
Region 8 - Woodside AEA Office
Region 9 - Johnston AEA Office
Region 10 - Johnston AEA Office
Region 11 - Indianola AEA Office
Regions 12 & 14 - Third Reformed Church, Pella
Region 13 - Lutheran Church of the Cross, Altoona
Staff members should attend the morning meeting with their region and join their learning team at its chosen location. If you have team members who need travel time, please adjust your start time.
Please note that the Central Office meeting will be held on September 21 and the Operations meeting will be held on September 22.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Online Purchase Request System Update
The new online purchase requisition system is up and running. When a supply or service is requisitioned on your behalf, you must approve the requisition on your Dashboard Tasklist before the purchase requisition can be processed. For example, if you need to register for a conference and your regional secretary creates a purchase requisition for your registration, you will need to go to your Tasklist on your IFAS Dashboard and approve the purchase requisition before it can flow on to the other approvers and eventually become a purchase order. The purpose of this approval is for you to verify "Yes, this is the good or service I need to obtain."
Tasklists have been added to everyone’s Dashboard. To approve a purchase requisition, go to your Dashboard and find your Tasklist. If there is a purchase requisition awaiting your approval, you will see "PR Online" in your Tasklist. Click on the "PR Online" to go to the approval page. On the left will be a list of purchase requisitions awaiting your approval. On the right will be detailed information about the first PR in the list. To see details for a different purchase requisition, click on the PR number and detailed information will change to that PR.
When you are ready to approve or reject a PR, click in the check box to the left of the PR number in the left-hand list. This will notify IFAS you are ready to act on that PR. Then click the green check to approve the PR or click the red X to reject the PR. A screen will appear where you can write comments giving the reason for the rejection. If approving the PR, you can leave the comments blank. Then click submit below the comments box. Your purchase requisition is now speeding on its way to the appropriate management staff member for approval. Eventually it will end up in the Business Office where it is turned into a purchase order.
If you have asked for a good or service, such as an interpreter, reference books, registrations or fluency timers, you need to watch your Dashboard so you can approve the purchase requisition. If the purchase requisition is on your Tasklist for more than 24 hours, you will be notified by e-mail to check your Tasklist.
Tasklists have been added to everyone’s Dashboard. To approve a purchase requisition, go to your Dashboard and find your Tasklist. If there is a purchase requisition awaiting your approval, you will see "PR Online" in your Tasklist. Click on the "PR Online" to go to the approval page. On the left will be a list of purchase requisitions awaiting your approval. On the right will be detailed information about the first PR in the list. To see details for a different purchase requisition, click on the PR number and detailed information will change to that PR.
When you are ready to approve or reject a PR, click in the check box to the left of the PR number in the left-hand list. This will notify IFAS you are ready to act on that PR. Then click the green check to approve the PR or click the red X to reject the PR. A screen will appear where you can write comments giving the reason for the rejection. If approving the PR, you can leave the comments blank. Then click submit below the comments box. Your purchase requisition is now speeding on its way to the appropriate management staff member for approval. Eventually it will end up in the Business Office where it is turned into a purchase order.
If you have asked for a good or service, such as an interpreter, reference books, registrations or fluency timers, you need to watch your Dashboard so you can approve the purchase requisition. If the purchase requisition is on your Tasklist for more than 24 hours, you will be notified by e-mail to check your Tasklist.
September 2009 Board of Directors Meeting Agenda
Click here to download the agenda for the September 8, 2009 Heartland Board of Directors meeting.
Iowa Core Curriculum Update
Periodically, the Heartland Iowa Core Curriculum Team will post some frequently asked questions in The Connection. The responses are based on the most current information available at the time. The questions in this edition are related to implementation planning.
1. What does it mean to “fully implement” the Iowa Core Curriculum?
Full implementation is accomplished when the school or district is able to provide evidence that an on-going process is in place to ensure that each and every student is learning the Essential Concepts and Skill Sets of the Iowa Core Curriculum. A school that has fully implemented the Iowa Core Curriculum is engaged in an on-going process of data gathering and analysis, decision making, identifying actions and assessing impact around alignment and professional development focused on content, instruction and assessment. The school is fully engaged in continuous improvement processes that specifically target improved student learning and performance.
2. What will an implementation plan look like?
A district/school’s implementation plan will resemble an action plan.
It should address these components:
a. Outcome~from self study
b. Targets/actions~from self study
c. Activities and resources to accomplish the target
d. Evidence of progress
e. Timeline
f. If needed, other district/school decided components (e.g., persons responsible, budget, etc.)
An example of an implementation plan will be shared with teams during the October Leadership Year Two Day One Training Sessions. A template for an implementation plan can be found at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/icc/resources.html, under Self-Study and Implementation, then Implementation Planning Worksheet.
The contact person for Heartland’s Iowa Core Curriculum team is Linda Biermann Hoobin, who can be reached at lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us.
1. What does it mean to “fully implement” the Iowa Core Curriculum?
Full implementation is accomplished when the school or district is able to provide evidence that an on-going process is in place to ensure that each and every student is learning the Essential Concepts and Skill Sets of the Iowa Core Curriculum. A school that has fully implemented the Iowa Core Curriculum is engaged in an on-going process of data gathering and analysis, decision making, identifying actions and assessing impact around alignment and professional development focused on content, instruction and assessment. The school is fully engaged in continuous improvement processes that specifically target improved student learning and performance.
2. What will an implementation plan look like?
A district/school’s implementation plan will resemble an action plan.
It should address these components:
a. Outcome~from self study
b. Targets/actions~from self study
c. Activities and resources to accomplish the target
d. Evidence of progress
e. Timeline
f. If needed, other district/school decided components (e.g., persons responsible, budget, etc.)
An example of an implementation plan will be shared with teams during the October Leadership Year Two Day One Training Sessions. A template for an implementation plan can be found at http://www.aea11.k12.ia.us/icc/resources.html, under Self-Study and Implementation, then Implementation Planning Worksheet.
The contact person for Heartland’s Iowa Core Curriculum team is Linda Biermann Hoobin, who can be reached at lhoobin@aea11.k12.ia.us.
Updated 2009-2010 Van Route Numbers
Click here to download an updated list of van routes numbers for the 2009-2010 school year. Route numbers are still subject to change, so please reference PeopleBox Online to find the most up-to-date route numbers.
2009-2010 Cultural Competence Lunch & Learn Schedule
The Agency will again offer staff members the opportunity to attend Lunch & Learn sessions focusing on diversity and giving staff members a chance to enhance their cultural competence skills. Click here to download the schedule, which includes registration information.
September 2009 Dept. of Education School Leader Update
Click here to download the September 2009 School Leader Update from the Iowa Department of Education. The monthly School Leader Update will now be available in The Connection.
IPTV to Air Two Shows Featuring Principals
Iowa Public Television will air two shows in September focusing on the principalship. On Sept. 10 at 8 p.m., Iowa Journal will feature interviews with Iowa principals about the redefinition of their roles to ones of instructional leadership. The Principal Story, debuting nationally Sept. 15 at 9:30 p.m., will reveal the struggles leaders face as they keep their focus on improving teaching and learning amid the competing demands of managing staff and engaging students and communities.
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