Our Mission
To provide services and
leadership, in partnership with families, schools and communities, that
improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth.
Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success
Through a partnership with Iowa’s AEAs, public districts and non-public schools throughout Iowa have access to a unique product called Clarity, which provides a way to measure the results of their technology use and to receive a customized plan for improvement.
Several of our schools have used this service, and we felt it would behoove us to assess our own technology use here at Heartland AEA. On Monday, April 6, you will be asked to complete a short questionnaire that’s based on a comprehensive framework called CASE for Service Agencies. The outcomes of the questionnaire will increase our capacity to serve our districts by clearly highlighting our own strengths and needs, including helping us plan professional development and supports for agency staff. It will also enable us to be a thought leader when speaking to these districts about teaching and learning with technology.
Your participation and input is very important to us. On April 6, please keep an eye out for an email with more information.
Region 1
April 7
Lake Panorama National Conference Center (5071 Clover Ridge Road, Panora)
8:30 a.m. – All Day
Region 2
April 17
Grimes Community Complex, Banquet Hall (410 SE Main Street, Grimes)
8 a.m. – All Day
Region 3
April 17
Indianola Church of Christ (1112 E. Iowa Ave., Indianola)
8:30 a.m. – All Day
Region 4
April 16
Johnston REC, Rm. 139 (RPC Meeting only)
12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Region 5
April 17
Johnston REC, Rm. 107 A/B
8:30 a.m. – All Day
Region 6
April 15
Johnston REC, Rm. 107 A/B
8 a.m. – All Day
Region 7
April 17
Ames Office
8:30 a.m. – All Day
Region 8
April 14
Christian Conference Center (5064 Lincoln Street, Newton)
8 a.m. – All Day
Our annual benefit enrollment will be open to all full-time and 96-day employees from April 1 through April 30, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. for the 2015-16 year benefit year, which begins July 1, 2015. Find instructions on how to enroll in benefits.
Note: If you are under the Employee On-line tab and you don't see Benefit Open Enrollment over in the blue bar on the left hand side of your screen, then you need to log off of IFAS and then log back in.
Teachers, students and parents are encouraged to attend the Iowa
Financial Literacy Summit on May 5 in Des Moines. The Iowa Department of
Education is hosting this event as part of a broader effort to improve
Iowa students’ financial literacy skills. The purpose of the summit is
to raise awareness that making smart, responsible financial decisions is
an important part of a great education; to provide teaching resources
to help students meet the financial literacy component of our state
standards; and to connect Iowans with community resources and programs
that support financial literacy education. Tickets are available through
April 21.
For more information, including the summit agenda and registration information, visit the Iowa Department of Education website.
As we gear up for our
summer professional development season, we have news to share about some
changes coming to many of our courses. We know change is scary, but we
promise it won’t be too painful. In fact, we think it will be a positive
change for everyone!
Professional development courses offered
through Heartland AEA that begin on or after July 1, 2015 will give
students the opportunity for more rigorous course content and
out-of-class learning. Specifically, all classes offering Drake
University graduate credit will have new requirements. For example, a
one-credit course will require 15 hours of in-class learning plus an
additional 30 hours of out-of-class learning. This will be true for all
participants, whether they are taking the class for graduate credit or
license renewal credit. Participants will need to check their course
syllabus closely to become familiar with what the requirements will be
for each of our courses.
The following Q & A will help course participants understand these new requirements.
Why is this change happening?
This change is taking place because of two factors:
- As it applies to
Drake University courses, the Title IV Federal Financial Aid Guidelines
now require 15 instructor-led hours with an additional 30 hours of
outside work. This connects to Federal Student Loan requirements for
degree completion.
- As it applies to
license renewal courses, the statewide AEA system is working together to
develop common programs, procedures and policies across the state for
AEA license renewal programs. With the change to the Drake requirements,
and the statewide license renewal programming connections, this change
is coming about at this time.
Will graduate credit still work for salary advancement?
As
with all personnel questions, it is best to contact your
district/school’s Human Resources Department. As far as we know, these
credits will still work for advancement on the salary schedule. You may,
however, want to double check as to what grade is required (A, B, C,
D).
With these added requirements, can I use this credit toward a master’s degree?
If
the course is taken for graduate credit, and if you secure advisor
approval, these courses can be used as electives in a Drake master’s
program. Other universities may also allow these courses. We encourage
educators to check with their institution to be certain.
Why are the requirements for licensure renewal credit the same as Drake University credit?
The
statewide AEA system, with input from school administrators and
university leaders, determined that the focus of a course should be on
the learning, not on the number of hours spent on the course. If the
rigor of the course meets that of a master’s level, the learning should
also be at that level for the license renewal course. This way all
participants in a course have the same level of learning, which will
lead to more robust conversations and greater learning all around.
Why wouldn’t I just take a course at Drake?
The
costs for Drake credit through Heartland AEA are a bargain! If you were
to take a course at Drake University, you would pay $450 per credit
plus a $60 technology fee. The cost of a one-credit Drake course through
Heartland AEA is either $100 or $160 depending on the type of course.
For more information, please see this informational video.
If you have any other questions, contact Sue Schirmer, License Renewal Coordinator, at sschirmer@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14379.
Last week the Communications Department sent out the second issue of the Educator Connection newsletter. The Educator Connection is intended to keep our educators better connected to our agency and to the many programs and services we offer to educators, students and families. The newsletter is set up through the Agency's website content management system so it can be easily archived on the Heartland AEA website.
The last issue of this year will be sent in the beginning of May and will focus on the Agency’s summer professional development and resources. If you would like something included in the Educator Connection, please do the following:
- Keep articles short, no more than 500 words and typed in an interesting, jargon-free style.
- If an event is to be announced, include the who, what, when, where and why information as well as the name and contact information of a contact person.
- If possible, include a picture that characterizes the article.
- Prepare a one or two sentence abstract.
Email the Communications Department at comms@heartlandaea.org if you have a topic you would be willing to write about. Please have your content submitted to the Communications Department by the last workday of the month.
Each week during the Iowa legislative session, we will bring you an AEA Legislative Update from the AEA system’s lobbyists, Tom Lane, Matt Eide and John Pederson.
During the legislative
session, the Joint Education Allowable Growth Group (IASB, UEN, AEAs,
SAI, ISEA and RSAI) will once again be creating weekly factoids about
the need for consistent growth in the state’s annual education spending
rate. These “Facts About Education Funding” will be sent to all
legislators, Gov. Branstad and Dept. of Education Director Buck
highlighting a pertinent fact about education spending in Iowa. Each
week this link will also be shared in The Connection.
Revenues Known: Now is the Time
The IT Department is nearly finished upgrading all agency computers to Mac OS 10.9.5. With the assistance of a small group of staff members, we will begin testing the Mac OS 10.10 (Yosemite) operating system in the hopes of making this upgrade available to agency computers at a later date. Until we’ve determined any potential compatibility issues, we would like staff to refrain from downloading the Yosemite installer from the Mac App Store. We’ll share more information regarding Yosemite when the IT department determines it is ready to work with all of our Macs and our wide range of specialized software.
