Our Mission
To
improve the learning outcomes and well-being of all children and youth
by providing services and leadership in partnership with families,
schools and communities.
Our Goals
• Increase learning growth for students
• Decrease the gap in achievement
• Increase annual graduation rates
• Increase gateways to post-secondary success
Greetings on May Day!
In this note, I am reflecting on the 2017 legislative session and thinking ahead to 2018. While some gains were made in this session, there is still work to do. Unfinished business includes establishing an aligned assessment to support instructional decision making, sustaining adequate resources for schools and advancing a positive regard for education as a profession. With these thoughts in mind, I'd offer a few suggestions as we look to next year.
First, making a difference through the legislative process is a year-round endeavor. Now would be a great time to take a few minutes to write a short note to those who represent you. A few points that you may want to address include:
- Appreciation for increased PK-12 education funding: The state-supplemental aid amount (1.1%) that was approved for next year may be lower than many of us would have hoped but is still a sharp contrast to the heavy reductions most other educational entities experienced.
- Appreciation for restoring funding for children with disabilities: The AEA system regained the $3.75 million that was lost last year. This restoration amounts to an approximate 1% increase in special education revenue.
- Appreciation for increased flexibility: Local schools received options for applying ending fund balances from designated categorical funding streams for use in the general fund or where needed. There are specific guidelines involved, but generally this allows schools increased options for choosing how best to meet local needs.
Second, increasing understanding of the work of AEAs and local schools is always important.
Several actions of the 2017 legislature made it clear to me that many elected officials either do not share the belief that education is necessary for an engaged citizenry and/or are unaware of the true accomplishments and challenges of today's educators.
As you gather with friends and neighbors this summer, be bold in working in a story of how your work or that of your colleagues makes a difference. Perhaps it is from expansion of educational opportunity or support in overcoming a learning challenge or efficiency of resource use (the list of possible examples is endless!). Regardless of your job function, you have contributed to quality education in Iowa and there is a need for first-hand awareness of these examples among members of the public.
Third, and perhaps most important, Iowa has a strong education system with dedicated employees who are partnering with families everyday to prepare students for a bright future.
- Iowa still leads the nation in graduation rates (a necessary gateway for future work and career options).
- Iowa's efforts in early literacy are paying off in increased reading proficiency.
- Central Iowa routinely ranks among one of the highest in the nation in terms of quality of life and quality of the workforce (see references from the United Way website). These rankings would not occur without having a quality educational system.
In summary, the 2017 legislative session resulted in a few positive supports for education in Iowa and there are important issues to work on in preparation for the 2018 session. If we all do our part, I am confident we can build relationships now that will help sustain educational priorities moving forward.
More info: This newsletter from the Iowa Association of Schools Boards provides a robust summary of the 2017 session and education-related legislation.
With appreciation for your work,
Paula
Some of you may be aware that the Agency is currently exploring a potential change in office space within Region 1. This spring, chief administrator Paula Vincent and chief financial officer Kurt Subra have visited with the AC/GC (Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center) and Winterset superintendents to inquire about space within their school buildings for AEA staff. From those discussions, the Agency and Winterset Schools have reached an agreement on a co-location at Winterset Middle School, and the Agency is actively pursuing a potential co-location space within the AC/GC secondary center.
The Agency routinely reviews options available as part of the requirement that AEAs are to give preference to office locations that are in partnership with other education entities. Currently, we share space with DMACC (Carroll and Newton), Southeast Polk and Ankeny.
Staff that may be involved in these changes have been notified and will receive additional information with details about support available for assistance with any office moves. If you have any questions/suggestions, contact your supervisor, Kurt Subra or Paula Vincent.
Over
the past several years our country has seen an increase in school and
workplace violence. As our agency learns more from the experts who have
studied these events, the Agency’s Emergency Response & Safety Team
has made several recommendations that have been enacted across the
Agency to help keep us safe in the case of an emergency.
As
our agency continues to make improvements in our agency’s safety and
security, we are taking the step to offer ALICE online training to all
staff. By the end of the 2017 calendar year, all Heartland AEA staff
members are asked to take the hour-long online training to become
familiar with the ALICE program and the techniques it teaches in
response to an armed intruder event. Even if you completed the
in-person training, you are asked to complete the online training, as
there are a few items of new learning not included in the live training.
ALICE Overview
ALICE stands for:
- Alert:
Get the word out! “Armed Intruder in building” instead of “Code Red,”
or “Bring the purple folder to the office.” Use clear, concise language
to convey the type and location of the event.
- Lockdown: Good starting point. We will continue to lockdown in secure areas.
- Inform: Communication keeps the intruder off balance and allows for good decision-making.
- Counter: Apply skills to distract, confuse and gain control.
- Evacuate:
Reduce the number of potential targets for the intruder and reduce
chances of victims resulting from friendly fire when help arrives.
In
short, using the ALICE method will give you more tools to use in the
event of an armed intruder/active shooter. We want to provide you with
the knowledge that if faced with a life or death situation there are
methods that can be applied to enhance your chance of survival.
Again, you are asked to complete the ALICE online training by the end of the 2017 calendar year. To access the training:
- Visit the AEA PD Online Moodle site.
- Login with your Google username and password by clicking on the Google logo if you’ve never been to the site before.
- If
you've taken an online course from AEA PD Online in the past two years,
login with the username and password you created to take the course.
- Once
in the site, find the banner named "Individual AEAs and Partners" and
look for the Heartland AEA logo. Click on the logo, and you'll be taken
to a page where the ALICE logo is shown.
- Click on the ALICE logo to be taken to a screen where you can then click the "Enroll me" button to be enrolled in the training.
- If you need any assistance with accessing the site, contact Shelley Christensen, Registrar/Licensure Assistant, at ext. 14668.
If you have any questions about the training or the ALICE program in general, contact Dustin Gean, Operations Manager, Emergency Response & Safety Team Lead and Certified ALICE Trainer.
A state team charged with reviewing a draft of proposed statewide standards for social studies today released its final report, which recommends that the draft standards become Iowa’s new social studies standards. The Social Studies Standards Review Team’s report, as well as the draft social studies standards, will go to the State Board of Education for consideration next month.
The draft standards outline what students should know and be able to do in social studies from kindergarten through 12th grade. They were developed in 2016 by an Iowa writing team and modified by the Social Studies Standards Review Team based on broad public input.
The new draft social studies standards:
- Go beyond content that students should master, emphasizing the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that students need to be successful in postsecondary education and training and to compete for today’s most rewarding jobs.
- Weave in Iowa history and financial literacy, which are not reflected in the current social studies standards.
- Outline what students should know and be able to do at each grade level from kindergarten through eighth grade, rather than being organized by spans of grades. In grades 9 through 12, the draft standards are organized by content area within social studies.
The draft represents the first statewide effort to update Iowa’s social studies standards, which were adopted in 2008. A recent survey showed many Iowa teachers want clearer, more specific expectations than those outlined in the current social studies standards. The Social Studies Standards Review Team collected public feedback on the draft standards this year through an online survey, public forums and teacher focus groups.
Modifications made by the review team were based largely on providing clarity. For example, when public input indicated confusion about the inclusion of financial literacy in the draft social studies standards, the review team decided to clearly mark civic and financial literacy standards so that teachers would know these standards also show up in Iowa’s standards for 21st century skills (employability skills, civic literacy, financial literacy, health literacy, and technology literacy).
The team’s final report also included recommendations to ensure successful implementation of social studies standards, such as establishing a social studies position at each of Iowa’s area education agencies, providing teachers with ongoing access to professional development in social studies, and increasing statewide accountability for social studies education.
The review was part of an ongoing state process for reviewing Iowa’s academic standards, which also cover science, mathematics, literacy and 21st century skills. The process was prompted by Gov. Branstad’s Executive Order 83, which called for a regular, transparent review of Iowa’s academic standards to identify areas for improvement.
Recommendations stemming from the review process are directed to the State Board of Education, which has the legal authority to determine the content of Iowa’s academic standards. The board’s next meeting is May 11.
For more information about the Social Studies Standards Review Team and its recommendations, visit the Iowa Department of Education’s website. For more information about Iowa’s academic standards, visit the Iowa Core website.
Heartland
AEA is partnering with an advisory company, IS Loan Solutions, to help
district and AEA employees improve their student loan situations and
overall financial well-being. If you have student loans, (regardless of
position) you are encouraged to find out if this voluntary benefit can
help you. You may qualify for loan forgiveness and refinancing to help
lower or even eliminate loan payments. IS Loan Solutions has helped
others reduce their monthly payments on average by 81%.
Go to the IS Loan Solutions registration website and enter registration code AEA11 for more information.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) may be able to:
- Immediately lower monthly student loan payment
s
- Reduce student loan obligation
- Significantly lower costs to earn additional degrees
PSLF also provides a personalized 10-year loan forgiveness plan outlining projected tax-free savings.
Contact IS Loan Solutions at (866) 831-5564 or visit their website
for more information and success stories.
If you registered with IS
Loan Solutions in the past and were told you would not benefit from
PSLF, login to your MyISLS portal, and you will be directed to the refinancing option.
The 2017-18 calendar has been added to the Employee Dashboard for all staff who need to complete a work calendar. The link to this function is found in the Calendar Online Forms folder on the Leave Online tab. You may need to logout and log back in to your Dashboard before you start the calendar process.
The calendar presented will be the default calendar based on the individual staff member’s pay assignment. This will look very similar to the Online Calendar View function. However, functionality is built into the interface to allow the personalization of the calendar to reflect the staff member’s schedule. This is done by simply clicking on the day in question. Each time a day is clicked it will change to one of the following:
• Blue X – represents a non-working day
• Green / – represents a half working day
• White Space – represents a full working day
• A yellow H represents unpaid holidays, and a yellow H followed by an asterisk (*) represents paid holidays. Sundays and holidays cannot be changed.
At the top of the screen two numbers will be presented. The number on the left is the number of working days based on the days selected as such—in other words, the total of the white spaces (full days) and green slashes (half days). The second number is the number of days expected to work based on the pay assignment. These two numbers must match when the calendar is submitted.
When the
calendar is submitted, it will be routed to the staff member’s
supervisor just as a leave request would be. And, just as a leave
request, the supervisor will review and can approve or reject the
calendar. Applicable emails are sent to the staff member and his/her
need-to-know person as well.
A help doc named “Calendar Online Entry Documentation” is available on the Help tab. This document describes in detail all functions of the interface.
Once approved, the 2017-18 calendar can be viewed by the staff member, the supervisor and the need-to-know person. Also, all subsequent changes to the 2017-18 calendar must be submitted via the Calendar Exchange Online request system after July 1, 2016.
The working days calendars are due before you leave for the summer or June 13, whichever comes first.
If you have any questions, contact Whitney Anderson, Human Resources Generalist, at ext. 14432.
We hope you’ve all been following the Shaping Heartland AEA pilot program and Facebook page the last four weeks! Many of you, with help from the Tuel Shed Training staff, are working hard on your health and fitness goals through online video workouts and nutritional guidance each day. Don’t be afraid to jump on the Facebook page and try a workout or two yourselves!
We are excited to announce that this week, the halfway point of the pilot program, we are going to do a drawing to give away a Fitbit Flex to ANY Heartland AEA employee, not just the pilot participants! To get your name entered into the drawing, you need to:
- Participate in the workout each day, and on the Shaping Heartland AEA Facebook page, comment on the video to say that you completed the workout.
- Check-in to the Facebook page sometime during the day.
That’s it! If you complete those two tasks Monday through Friday, your name will be entered into the drawing! And remember, you can count this as a challenge for the Wellness Program as well. You need to have two challenge completed along with the other areas to earn your wellness money. Complete a challenge and a chance to earn a Fitbit at the same time!
We hope EVERYONE participates in these workouts this week. Whether you are in the pilot program or not, join us in the process of getting healthy!
Water, water, everywhere! Get ready to get your drink on May 8-19!
How to Participate in the Water Challenge
You will record your daily ounces of water by your participant number that will be assigned to you when you register. Deadline to register is May 8 at 2:00 p.m. After you register, Katie Streff will send you a Google form where you will record your daily entries.
In order to be in the drawing for a Fitbit flex, you must record at least 75 oz. daily. You are not required to drink this amount to participate in the challenge in order to earn your points.
How much water should you drink?
Daily recommended water amount: drink 1/2 ounce for every 1 pound of your weight, every day. That’s .033 liters per 1 kg you weight.
Examples:
Half of 150 lbs. = 75, so 75 oz./day
Half of 250 lbs. = 125, so 125 oz./day
Half of 68 kg x .033 = about 2 liters/day
Half of 90 kg x .033 = about 3 liters/day
Why am I doing this?
Resetting your body is all about undoing years of bad habits and less than perfect health choices. As you’ve heard a thousand times, drinking lots of water is critical. As part of the Wellness Challenge, you can earn your points while flushing your system and creating more energy!
What's the big deal about water?
The Earth is 70% water. Your body is 80% water. It stands to reason that water is some pretty important stuff – right? Water is the body’s transportation medium. It’s how it moves EVERYTHING around to different parts of your body. Water is used to move nutrients to the 100 trillion cells in your body. Water is used to move waste and toxins from your cells to your kidneys, to leave your body. Water is used to wash fat from your body. These things have to get out somehow—they don’t just evaporate away! So water moves good things around your body, and water moves waste, toxins and fat out.
Whether your goal is to quit smoking, lose weight, improve your sleep, eat a healthier diet or adopt exercises like mindfulness to reduce stress, LifeWorks has resources to help you develop healthy habits.
- Listen to our new podcast, Five Ways to Boost Your Mental Energy, featuring Emma Seppala, Ph.D., a leading expert on the science of health, happiness and success, and author of The Happiness Track. She shares research-based tips on how to manage your energy and improve your well-being.
- Check out our new Weight Loss Toolkit. You'll find resources designed to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight—including calculators, apps, recipes, tips and more.
- Find out what you can to do improve your sleep habits in our Sleep Health Toolkit.
- Make your health and well-being a daily priority. To get started, read articles like: Five Reasons to Quit Smoking in Your 20s, How to Be Active Without Joining a Gym, Taking Care of Yourself, Tips on Leading a Longer and Healthier Life, and Walking for Exercise.
Could you use support with managing stress or adopting healthier habits? Remember that you can always contact one of our expert consultants for resources, guidance and support. We’ll help you take care of yourself.
Website: heartlandaea.lifeworks.com
Username: heartlandaea
Password: lifeworks
Are you an AEA staff member serving students with autism in less restrictive environments? Then the web-based course “Online Effective Programming for Integrated Students on the Autism Spectrum” may be for you!
This self-paced course will cover a variety of topics, including:
- Characteristics of autism
- Effective classroom supports
- Evidence-based strategies for addressing concerns in the areas of communication, behavior and social skills
- Professional collaboration as a vital component to serving students on the autism spectrum
Effective Programming for Integrated Students on the Autism Spectrum
June 12-Aug. 11, 2017
Online
Registration
The Agency is upgrading all of its Mac computers to Apple’s current operating system, macOS 10.12. Having all staff using the same operating system will enhance our security and simplify the process of providing support.
On April 19, you received an email with detailed instructions about how to perform the upgrade.
Included in the email is a short video we encourage you to watch prior to doing the upgrade so you know what to expect. You will also want to do a Time Machine backup on your external hard drive just prior to performing the upgrade.
The Internal Technology Department asks that you complete the upgrade to OS 10.12 by May 12, before the rush of the end of the school year.
If you have any questions, contact the Internal Technology Team.
