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
Hello Heartland AEA staff and welcome back to those of you who had some time off!
Earlier this month, I attended a leadership conference put on by the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA) and had the opportunity to listen to some CEOs speak about the lessons they've learned while building successful, growing companies. They spoke about the many qualities that are vital to a successful company, and I'm proud to say that most of those organizational qualities deemed to be important are the same ones we continually focus on at Heartland AEA. For example, they all spoke of the importance of building culture and maintaining positive relationships. Our mission, values and work at Heartland AEA all speak to the importance we place on being proactive, developing caring relationships and collaborating with others.
Our Denison Culture Survey metrics over the past six years have shown steady growth in the cultural health of our agency. In fact, our Denison data is derived from a comparison of our organization to roughly 1,500 other companies, from all areas of business, and we score well into the top quartile in every quadrant of the circumplex. Many of our cultural characteristics rank above the 90th percentile when compared to these other companies. This is something worth celebrating and is a testament to every person who works at Heartland AEA. So, I want to thank every one of you for doing your part to make this a positive and collaborative place to work. We aren't perfect, and we still have a ways to go, but I firmly believe that we are working together to build an organization that values collaboration and relationships.
It's reassuring to know we are doing many things well, but I also learned other things from these presentations--things that were very simple upon reflection--but that I really hadn't understood prior. I learned that successful companies keep an unrelenting focus on customer service. They are intentional and systematic about keeping up with the current needs of their customers as well as working to understand their future needs (but that's a topic for another time). Successful companies always base their services on what the customer needs first, and as a result, the nature of their services frequently evolve or change. Successful service companies ask questions of their customers such as, "What is it you are trying to accomplish and are having trouble doing?" I wrote that question down and keep coming back to it because it's so much better than the question I have grown to rely on in recent years when trying to ascertain customer needs: "How can I help you?"
It's probably important to better define what I mean by the term "customer." A customer is anyone we serve. Sometimes our customer is a teacher, parent, student or school administrator. Other times, however, we serve our co-workers or fellow team members. Remember, it's as important to serve each other as it is to serve our local districts and families. I believe that whenever we interact with anyone we are serving, we should first think about their aspirations and their pain points. "What is it you are trying to accomplish and having trouble doing?" That's the question that says, "I want to help you with your work." Because we have so many talented experts in our agency, it's easy to fall into the "here's what I can do for you" trap. We all do it. We want to talk about our work, about what we can do. That tendency comes from a good place. We've worked hard to build our expertise and to develop quality services. The problem with leading with our expertise instead of asking and listening is two-fold. When we lead immediately with our own expertise instead of with a willingness to listen, we rob ourselves of not only an opportunity to learn more about our customer's problem, but also an opportunity to build a stronger relationship with that customer.
So this year, I challenge us to really, intentionally re-commit ourselves to service first and expertise second. And while we are on the topic of asking questions and listening to the answers, let's ask ourselves some important questions such as, "Am I listening to and serving my colleagues?" And perhaps most importantly, "Am I doing this work because I want to be a servant or because I want to be an expert?" As I told our new staff, if you weren't an expert, you wouldn't be working here--but make sure you know why you do the work. Seek to be a servant first and an expert second. I've seen people start out in education with little to no expertise, but with the heart of a servant, end up changing the world. I've also seen some very smart experts make a much more marginal impact. This message is intended for all of us and is a reminder, not a criticism. The truth is we all vacillate between the role of expert and that of servant. I think I needed a reminder of that, so I thought I would remind you, too. As we kick off the 2018-19 school year, let's go serve.
- Jon
Our “feel good” staff newsletter, HeartBeat, will begin publishing for the new school year the first week of September! Submit your good news, staff shout outs, volunteer photos, wellness photos and any fun, positive content to the Communications Department. We publish HeartBeat on the first Friday of the month, September through June. We look forward to hearing from you!
The Iowa Department of Education released the first installment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) guidance that it will provide this year. This guidance will be provided in a number of installments during the 2018-19 school year and will be timed to align with actions that districts will be completing throughout the year (e.g., consolidated applications, preparation for implementing Targeted and Comprehensive Supports, etc.).
The Department will use a consistent template for its guidance, which will include a short executive summary as well as a more extended document that will dive into detail. Each ESSA guidance document will be emailed directly to districts from the Department and can also be found on the Department’s website at Consolidated ESSA Title Guidance.
Any questions regarding ESSA should be directed to Dave Tilly at the Department.
Please note that most of the Teacher Quality (TQ) courses and study groups are set-up in the new AEA Professional Learning Registration System that won’t officially launch at Heartland AEA until October. Instructions for accessing the new system are included at the end of this article. We will all need to extend grace during this process as the Professional Development Office works with us on this new system.
Registration
Registration for Teacher Quality (TQ) courses and study groups begins Aug. 20 and ends Sept. 14, 2018. The list of courses and study groups being offered is now available. TQ courses and study groups are offered as an optional format for professional learning for our Certified staff. TQ courses meet for 15 hours off contract time, and participants are eligible for a stipend upon completion of the course. All Certified staff members are eligible to register for these opportunities.
Heartland AEA has a strong commitment to time spent in service to our partners. With this commitment in mind, beginning in 2018-19, TQ courses will be offered at times when service to children, educators and families when service is least impacted. TQ courses and study groups will be offered between Oct. 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 outside of contract hours Monday through Friday or on weekends, except for a few exceptions.
A popular option offered in 2017-18 will again be offered in 2018-19—the ability for you to develop your own study group proposals. Study groups must have at least four participants, and one participant must agree to be the study group facilitator. The content must align with Heartland AEA’s four goals and/or support a specific job-alike function.
Anyone who wants to form a study group needs to fill out this this form to indicate their interest in forming a study group. If you want to request the syllabus from a study group offered last year, here is the list of study groups offered in 2017-18. Study group proposals can be turned in Aug. 20 – Sept. 14, 2018. The Professional Development Office will work with interested participants in writing their study group proposal and support them in entering the proposal in the new registration system. Study groups can begin Oct. 1. This allows time for books to be ordered if there is a need.
Those who complete a TQ course or study group and meet eligibility requirements will be provided a stipend. The amount of the stipend is established after registration closes, as the stipend is determined by the number of participants. For reference, during the 2017-18 school year, eligible participants received $655 for completing a course/study group, and facilitators received a $705 stipend for facilitating a course/study group.
TQ Timeline for 2018-19
TQ registration open: Aug. 20 - Sept. 14, 2018
TQ proposals for study groups due: Sept. 14, 2018
TQ courses and study groups held: Oct. 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019
FAQ Document
Here is a frequently asked questions document that will help answer questions about Teacher Quality.
Questions
If you have any questions about TQ pay or guidelines, contact Kevin Fangman, Chief Academic Officer. If you have questions about courses or study groups, contact Brandie Gean, Licensure and Conference Center Manager.
Using the AEA Professional Learning Registration System
- On the Google Sheet listing the TQ courses, click on Course Title of the course you would like to register for.
- Next, login to the AEA Professional Learning Registration System using the same username and password you use to login to the AEA Learning System (the site you use to take mandatory and non-mandatory trainings such as Mandatory Reporter, Bloodborne Pathogens, etc.).
- Once logged in, you will be able to read the overall description of the course by clicking on Read More. (For additional information about the course, click on the title of the course. To register, you will need to click on the Sections tab and follow the instructions below.)
To Register for the Course
- Click the Register button. If you don't see the Register button, scroll to the right to locate it.
- On the Confirm Course Selection page, click Accept that you have read the disclaimer.
- Next, choose your credit type and click Next.
- You will receive a confirmation email after you register.
If you need assistance registering, contact the Heartland AEA Professional Development Office at ext. 14701.
Note: If you would like to use the course for salary advancement, or if graduate credit is available, you will receive instructions on how to pay for the credit when those options are available.
The Internal Technology Department has enabled the new and improved Gmail interface for you to begin using. Google has updated several of the email features you already use and added new tools and apps to help you work more efficiently. You can take the new interface for a spin now by following the instructions below. If you wait, know that the Gmail interface will be automatically enabled for Heartland AEA staff on Sept. 18, 2018.
To enable the new Gmail interface:
1. Sign into your Heartland AEA Gmail account.
2. Select the “Gear” icon to display your settings.
3. Select the “Try the new Area Education Agency 11 Mail” option.
This short slide presentation shows you some of the features that are new to Gmail with this latest update.
If you have any questions, contact:
Marquis Jones, Technology Support Specialist
Tim Weets, Network Specialist
