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
As was stated in the March 30 Connection, we would like all Agency staff members to complete this questionnaire to learn more about our organization’s technology use. The outcomes of the questionnaire will increase our capacity to serve our member districts by clearly highlighting our own strengths and needs. It will also enable us to be a thought leader when speaking to these districts about teaching and learning with technology. Please complete the questionnaire by April 17.
Thanks for your participation and input!
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
Iowa’s four-year
graduation rate has climbed statewide for the fourth year in a row while
dropout rates continue to fall, according to figures released this week
by the Iowa Department of Education.
The data show 90.5 percent of students in Iowa’s Class of 2014 graduated within four years.
“Iowans
should be proud that our students are graduating high school at some of
the highest rates in the country,” Iowa Department of Education
Director Brad Buck said. “While this is great news, we also must
continue to look beyond the high school diploma and ensure all students
are prepared for college and career training. This is essential for
success in an economy where Iowa workers compete with others from across
the world.”
The statewide graduation rate has increased 2.2
percent over a four-year period, from 88.3 percent for the Class of 2011
to 90.5 percent for the Class of 2014. (See chart below.)
Graduation
rates increased for all but two subgroups of students in the Class of
2014, with significant increases among students whose first language is
not English (7.4 percent), students with disabilities (3.6 percent),
students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (3.6 percent),
and Hispanic students (2.2 percent).
Read more on the Iowa Department of Education website.
The April 2015 issue of the School Leader Update
is available from the Iowa Department of Education. Read about Director
Brad Buck’s new journey. Shan Sievert gives you a legislative update
(hint: progress is being made). And attorney Nicole Proesch writes about
everything from prom to privacy.
The April 2015 issue of the Each and Every Child newsletter
is available from the Iowa Department of Education. This issue
examines classroom behavior. The DE headed to Iowa City to see how a
very disruptive classroom was literally transformed in a matter of
months. The data points don’t lie – what they are doing in Iowa City
works. In addition, read about a Bettendorf girl who was featured in a
national advertising campaign.
Our annual benefit enrollment is now open to all full-time and 96-day employees from through April 30, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. for the 2015-16 year benefit year, which begins July 1, 2015. Full-time employees may enroll in health and dental insurance and medical flex spending plans, while part-time staff (96-day) may only be enroll in medical flex spending. (Note: This enrollment period is not for enrollment in the dependent care plan, which is done in November.) We will need your enrollment selections even if you choose not to make any changes to your benefits for next year. This is the time that you can add and/or drop family members to your health and dental plans without a life event or change of status.
Enrollment can be completed through the Employee Online tab on the Employee Dashboard. If you are having trouble enrolling, log out of Employee Online and then log in before you start the enrollment process. This helpful tip and more can be found in the enrollment instructions attachment, which now includes how to print off your benefit statement!
VOYA Life Insurance Enrollment 
During our annual benefit enrollment, employees who didn’t opt for additional life insurance coverage through VOYA can also enroll. Please complete the enrollment form and submit it to Juliette Houseman. Existing employees who are enrolling for the first time will be required to fill out an Evidence of Insurability form. Existing employees who are already enrolled but who want to increase their coverage may also do so at this time. Existing employees may increase their coverage, but if they choose to increase it over $10,000, they will be required to fill out an Evidence of Insurability form. Enrollment will be during April but will be effective on July 1, 2015.
If you have any questions, contact Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist, at jhouseman@heartlandaea.org or ext. 14315.
Area Education Agency 267 (AEA 267) is pleased to announce that Sam Miller, currently superintendent at Solon Community School District, has been selected as the agency’s new chief administrator. Miller will succeed Dr. Roark Horn, who is leaving the agency to become Executive Director of School Administrators of Iowa (SAI), beginning July 1. Horn has led the agency since 2010. The board will officially motion to hire Miller at their regular meeting on Monday, April 6.
In his new position, Miller will oversee over 600 full and part-time staff members who provide special education and school improvement services along with technology support for over 65,000 students and 5,000 educators throughout 18-counties of north central and northeastern Iowa.
“We are extremely proud to offer the position to someone with the breadth and depth of experiences that Mr. Miller has,” said Dr. Debra Rich, AEA 267 board president. “Sam’s track record of exemplary leadership, along with his value for relationships and collaboration with stakeholders, are a perfect fit for AEA 267.”
Miller has previously held positions as Superintendent and Middle/High School Principal at Davis County Community School District in Bloomfield, Iowa; Vice Principal/Athletic Director at Knoxville High School, in Knoxville Iowa and Special Education Teacher at the Ottumwa Community School District. He has been with the Solon Community School District since 2010.
Miller earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in K-12 Physical Education from the University of Iowa; a Master of Arts degree in Special Education from Morningside College; a Master of Science degree in Educational Administration from Drake University; and an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership from Drake University. Miller is in the process of earning a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Northcentral University.
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.
Assessment, Compliance and Learning
There have been several
requests across the state seeking registration information for the
Journey to Excellence Mentor Facilitator Training. This training is for
those individuals who organize and facilitate the Mentor & Induction
program either at their AEA or district staff that currently hold those
positions or aspire to do so. This year’s training is funded through
the AEA TLC funds and ISEA NEA grant funds. Learn more below about the
training and where to register.
The Journey to Excellence program
offers many strong areas of focus: 1) it clearly focuses on effective
teaching using the Iowa Teaching Standards as defined in A Framework for
Understanding the Iowa Teaching Standards and Criteria, 2) it prepares
experienced educators to serve as mentors and 3) it provides learning
opportunities for mentors to use with beginning educators.
Furthermore,
a focus is directed to understand the relationship between the Iowa
Teaching Standards and comprehensive evaluation. This relationship helps
establish a “firewall” between mentor and evaluator by acknowledging
the confidential relationship between the beginning educator and the
mentor.
Compared to other programs, the benefits are twofold:
for the beginning educator, a qualified teacher is created; for the
mentor, a teacher leader is created.
Journey to Excellence Mentor Facilitator Training
Dates: June 23-June 27, 2015 (webinar support dates will be held throughout the school year for implementation assistance)
Location: Stoney Creek Conference Center (5291 Stoney Creek Ct, Johnston)
Registration: http://www.cvent.com/d/qrq0rr
During our annual benefit enrollment, employees who didn’t opt for additional life insurance coverage through VOYA can also enroll. Please complete the enrollment form and submit it to Juliette Houseman. Existing employees who are enrolling for the first time will be required to fill out an Evidence of Insurability form. Existing employees who are already enrolled but who want to increase their coverage may also do so at this time. Existing employees may increase their coverage, but if they choose to increase it over $10,000, they will be required to fill out an Evidence of Insurability form. Enrollment will be during April but will be effective on July 1, 2015. 
