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

Welcome to the 2019-20 School Year!

Welcome to a new school year!

All of our new staff and many of our mentors and leaders have been hard at work for a few weeks and have helped us have a great kick-off to another year of service to families, schools and communities. Most area schools welcome students later this week, and I know this is a busy time for all of us. 

So, before we dive headlong into a new year, please allow me to pass along a few words of appreciation and encouragement. The single most important thing I can do this time of year is to simply remind you that our work is critically important to kids, teachers, families and our society as a whole. The whirlwind comes fast and hard every August, but I would encourage each of us to take a few minutes before we dive in and just reflect on what it is that we really do and how important the outcomes of our work is to the people we serve.

The second thing I would remind us of is that you are doing high-quality work, often under difficult circumstances. Our efforts can be taken for granted and even go unnoticed. I believe this happens because our team executes its daily work with consistency and quality. That never goes unnoticed by me or our leadership team. Our leadership team met for a full day a couple weeks ago, and one of our biggest celebrations was the fact that we have great people working in our agency -- people who are making a difference and are committed to service. 

Finally, I want to say a few words about one of agency core values -- a value we really try to live by -- caring. Of our three core values -- caring, proactive and collaborative -- I believe caring is the most foundational and most important. You, our staff, clearly care about the people we serve and the services we provide. But there is another dimension to caring that we too often overlook, and I would encourage all of us to make it a priority this year. 

First, we need to care for ourselves, both physically and emotionally. For those of you who haven’t done so, I encourage you to fully investigate the many wellness opportunities offered at Heartland AEA. I think you will find that these opportunities, if taken advantage of, will improve the quality of your personal and professional lives. I encourage you to take time to regularly reflect on your value to the students, families and educators we serve.

Secondly, after you take care of yourself, please take time to care for your colleagues and co-workers. No matter their role, they are working hard just like you. Let’s be intentional about encouraging and thanking some people we might have taken for granted in the past. They deserve our appreciation and thanks. 

And speaking of thanks, thank you for being part of our Heartland AEA team and for the many things you do that might not always get noticed. You are appreciated! 

Here's to a great year! 

Jon

It’s That Time of Year….A Reminder About How to Order Agency Business Cards

If you need agency business cards to start the new school year (or any time during the year):   

1. Go to Creative Services Online.   
2. Log in using your “AEA Login” – the email and password you use to access trainings via AEA Learning Online.  
3. Go to “Browse Heartland AEA Products,” then “Heartland AEA Catalog.”  
4. Click “Continue” on Staff Business Cards.  
5. A window will come up for you to enter your information in real-time. Type in your information, including your official title, then submit your order.   

Note that administrative assistants are able to order business cards on behalf of staff. 

This information is also available on the Intranet > Creative Services. 
If you have any questions, contact the Creative Services Department. 

Polk County Reunification Response Team Pilot Launching; Staff Can Express Interest in Participating by Aug. 26

An essential component of school emergency response is the reunification of students with their parents or primary caregiver after an emergency has taken place. A well organized and timely reunification process is critical to reducing emergency-based trauma in children and is often the only mental health crisis intervention needed following an emergency. The sooner children are reunited with caregivers, the less likely they are to exhibit traumatic stress.    

As schools across Iowa begin to develop and exercise reunification plans, they are quickly discovering that most lack the resources to effectively and efficiently complete the associated tasks. This is especially true in instances involving significant trauma such as active shooter events. In this type of emergency, research indicates that children are best left under the supervision of their teacher, who they trust and seek for safety. This leaves very limited school and district staff available for carrying out the reunification plan. This also requires school personnel directly impacted by the emergency to carry out complex reunification tasks that they may not be able to emotionally manage.    

In partnership with Polk County Emergency Management and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Heartland AEA is in a unique position to assist schools in Polk County by establishing a response team to reunify children with caregivers in an emergency. Should an emergency requiring reunification of children occur, specially trained Heartland AEA staff would deploy to the identified reunification site and assure the school that families are quickly and accurately reunified. 

The Heartland AEA Reunification Response Team would assure three important aspects of response: 

1. Reunification is done as quickly as possible, limiting the amount of time children and caregivers spend in the process;  
2. Children are reunited with the appropriate caregiver by confirming the identity and matching children with their legal guardian; and  
3. Children and families are connected to critical services that may be needed in the days, weeks and months following a traumatic event, such as a school shooting.     

A variety of individual skills sets are needed to fill the roles and responsibilities associated with the reunification team:  

• Logistics staff is needed to see that the necessary equipment, signage and supplies are delivered and set up at a reunification site should the team be requested for deployment.   
• Administrative staff must carry out accurate record collection and verification of identification to assure students are safely reunified with the proper caregiver.  
• Mental health services and support staff is needed to assure that both children and adults receive assistance in a supportive and empathetic environment. 
• Security staff is needed to assist law enforcement by identifying potential areas of concern and assuring the safety of everyone seeking reunification services.   

Are You Interested in Serving on a Reunification Response Team? 
At this time, a regional reunification response plan is being piloted in Polk County. If you have the desire to assist children and families in an emergency, complete this Google form by Aug. 26, 2019, to indicate your interest in serving on a reunification response team. It is recommended that reunification response team members be able to respond to the Polk County area within 30 minutes should the team need to be activated. Once volunteers are identified, we will be scheduling Reunification exercise(s) to train and practice the Reunification Response process.  

If you have questions or need additional information on how you might be of assistance, contact Jadie Boens, Special Programs Director, at ext. 14512. 

Reminder: Have You Completed Your Online ALICE Training for 2019? Deadline is Dec. 31, 2019

As Heartland AEA continues to make improvements in our agency’s safety and security, all staff are required to complete the online ALICE training once a year. By the end of the 2019 calendar year, all Heartland AEA staff members should 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.  





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 expected to complete the ALICE online training by the end of the 2019 calendar year.   

The training has been assigned to all Heartland AEA employees in the AEA Learning Online Learning System. To access the training: 

1. Log into your record in the AEA Learning System. 
2. Click Resume by the training, Heartland AEA: ALICE Training. 
3. Click the button, Launch course in a new tab. 
4. On the ALICE Certification home page, click Enter.  

If you need assistance with accessing the site, contact:  

• Carol Naylor, ext. 14443  
• Shelley Christensen, ext. 14702  
• Britini Jones, ext. 14702    

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.

You’re Going to Love Our Improved Wellness Program! Sign Up for an Account and for Health Screenings at the All-Staff Meeting Today!

Learning. Fun. Rewards. It’s Heartland AEA Wellness!  

Heartland AEA is teaming up with a new wellness vendor, Interactive Health, to provide you with the guidance you need to get on the right track with your wellness goals. We’re ready to help YOU be well!  The Wellness Program will essentially be the same as in prior years -- just bigger and better! It will be expanding with new healthy activities that have engaging programs to help you learn and earn rewards!  

Great Features! 
Activity Tracking  
Your Personal Health Action Plan helps you track your activities and health goals while accumulating points to earn up to $250.  

Wellness Challenges  
Fun and engaging competitions will be offered throughout the year, in addition to new “flash challenges” to help motivate you to reach your wellness goals.  

Online Workshops  
Workshops reinforce healthy lifestyles and are recommended based on your health risk and interests.  

Health Coaching  
Connect with Interactive Health coaches to get recommendations to help you improve your health. 

Program Overview & Incentives 
As always, all the information about this year’s Wellness Program can be found on the Intranet under the Wellness link.  

Create an Account on the Interactive Health Portal 
It’s easy! Go to the Interactive Health portal and enter the new user code: NVLC5. From there you can create your own username and password. Voila -- it’s done! Start exploring! You can also download the Interactive Health app from the App Store or Google Play. 

New! Register for On-site Health Screenings at the All-Staff Meeting 
The Agency is pleased to partner with Interactive Health and Hy-Vee to include health screenings as a part of the Wellness Program. New this year will be on-site screenings at the All-Staff Meeting on Sept. 27 at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines. Two options will be available -- health evaluations and biometrics. 

Health Evaluations 
7 - 9:30 a.m., prior to the start of the All-Staff Meeting. Please fast before this test. (More information is available when you sign up.) 

This type of screening will include: 

• Venipuncture blood draw
 
• Total cholesterol, HDL and LDL
 
• Triglycerides and fasting glucose
 
•  Blood pressure
 

APPOINTMENTS ARE LIMITED: Note there are 60 slots available the day of the All-Staff Meeting for the health evaluation. So if you are interested, sign up is recommended ASAP.

• Go to myinteractivehealth.com. 
 
• New user: enter code NVLC5    Returning user: log in with user ID and password. 
 
• Click on “Schedule Now” to choose your appointment time. 
 
• Rather call? Contact us at (800) 840-6100, Monday – Friday, 8 am – 6 pm CT. 
 

If you’re unable to participate during the All-Staff meeting: you have the opportunity to test using a physician verification form provided by Interactive Health. Bring this form to a physician appointment. Call (800) 840-6100 and request a Physician Verification Form. Return the completed paperwork to Interactive Health no later than April 17, 2020. 

Biometric Screenings 
7-9 a.m., prior to the start of the All-Staff Meeting. Please fast before this test. (More information is available when you sign up.) 

Hy-Vee will again conduct biometric screenings, as they have for many of you in the past. A biometric screening is a combination of measurements and readings about certain health factors that may be helpful in identifying potential risk factors for chronic diseases or conditions, like heart disease, hypertension or diabetes. This also includes a finger prick to gather blood, not a traditional blood draw (venipuncture). 

APPOINTMENTS ARE LIMITED: Note there are 100 slots available the day of the All-Staff Meeting for the biometric screenings. So if you are interested, sign up is recommended ASAP.  

•  Go to https://www.hy-vee.com/health/screenings/group.aspx.
 
•  Choose Heartland AEA in the drop-down at the bottom of the page.
 
•  There will be four different events listed, all with a "details" link to the right that should be clicked on to find a time.
 
•  All four events are for the All-staff Meeting, so if you don’t find a time you’re looking right away, check the other events listed. 
 

If you have any questions about this year’s Wellness Program or screenings taking place the day of the All-Staff Meeting, contact Carol McDaniel, Human Resources Assistant, at ext. 14002.

Note: Personal information that you provide, and health data obtained through your Health Evaluation will only be used by Interactive Health to provide you with personally relevant information. Interactive Health will not, under any circumstances, share this information with your employer. In addition, Interactive Health will not sell or rent information to any outside third party. We respect the privacy of all our members.  Reasonable alternative standard information.  

If you are unable to participate which is required for you to earn an incentive under this wellness program, you may qualify for an opportunity to earn the same incentive through an alternative course of action. This alternative course of action must be completed by May 15, 2020. Please contact Interactive Health at least two weeks prior to this date at (800) 840-6100 or rasrequest@interactivehealthinc.com to ask about a reasonable alternative standard to qualify for the incentive.  

Reminder: Lots of Updates in the Curriculum, Assessment & Instruction World!

Dept. of Education Offering Panorama Database to Districts 
Panorama is a database being offered free of charge to districts by the Iowa Department of Education. It will eventually support MTSS across literacy, math, behavior and social-emotional learning. When Panorama initially becomes available to districts, the only data elements that will be available in the system will be literacy screening data for grades K-6. You will be able to: 

•  See all the information about each child in one place.
  
• This will start with literacy, and then in the future, span across academics, attendance, behavior and social-emotional learning (Early Warning System).
 
•  Identify at-risk students from universal screening and other data.
 
• Manage interventions and progress monitoring.
 
• Determine who needs differentiated accountability and support using Healthy Indicator reports. 


Training for Heartland AEA districts will take place across the Agency during the fall semester. Stay tuned for more details. 

Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress Reports Coming in October 
Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) reports will be coming to districts in October. As soon as training is available through the ISASP website, we will be asking you to complete that training module and be ready to discuss it at DBT meetings, so you can better understand how to use the data to support districts. Here is information Iowa Testing Programs shared in May on performance level descriptors and reporting. In addition, here is the link to the ISASP portal.  

Iowa’s AEAs Continuing to Partner with FastBridge 
Iowa’s AEAs are continuing to offer the FastBridge suite of formative assessment tools to public districts and non-public schools for the 2019-20 school year. Schools will be able to access the full FastBridge suite of resources for math and behavior for grades K-6. This year the AEAs expanded access for grades 7-8 in the areas of literacy, math and behavior assessment tools. The Heartland AEA districts and accredited non-public schools participating in the 2019-20 school year are linked here. Please note there is a tab for grades K-6 and 7-8.   

Listed below are changes to FastBridge for the 2019-20 school year, current as of the end of July. The best way to stay up-to-date is to check the FastBridge Release Notes on the Knowledge Base when you’re logged into your FastBridge account.  

Group Screening Report Updates  
The Group Screening Report for Teachers was updated to better display results for assessments with subtests. The new default view provides a summary of the composite score by interval. A new dropdown is also available to view a summary of all subtests or a specific subtest. This updated view is available for AUTOreading and Comprehension Efficiency. The Group Screening Report for Leader roles (District Managers, School Managers, Specialists) now supports additional assessments as well and includes summary information at the top of the report for:  

• AUTOreading  
• Comprehension Efficiency  
• mySAEBRS  
• SAEBRS             

Introducing FASTtrack Reading 
FASTtrack provides a simple solution for quickly screening students across multiple disciplines and providing resources for teachers based on student results. FASTtrack ensures you are always using the right combination of assessments with your students based on grade level and time of year. FASTtrack removes any guesswork by providing a one-button solution for teachers and students to start or continue testing. FASTtrack Reading is available as of July 2019.   

After completing FASTtrack, teachers get access to several valuable resources:  

• A tailored instruction plan to address any class-wide skill gaps 
 
• Individual student risk levels across multiple skill areas 
 
• Supplemental instruction plans for students who show risk in skill areas 
 
• Recommended intervention tools and dosage 
 
• Progress monitoring recommendations 
 

Math Updates 
New items have been added to the aMath item bank that assesses high school math standards (grades 9-12). In order to accommodate the new high school items, the aMath scale is being extended from the maximum score of 245 to a new maximum score of 275. This change enables aMath to accurately estimate general math performance across the full range of math ability from kindergarten through grade 12.   

The new content will be released in Lab status for the 2019-20 academic year. This new content is available by enabling the aMath assessment for grades 9-12.  

As changes are being made to math assessments, the S2I report will not be available for math. New Intervention Content 
New intervention content is now available via the Training Center. 

As of July 2019, new math intervention modules are now available for grades K-5:   

• Number Sense  
• Whole Number Operations  

Other Assessment Updates  
FAST is changing its Fall screening recommendation for CBMmath assessments to be on-grade rather than the previous grade. User feedback has mentioned a desire to screen students on current grade-level standards and to use the Group Growth report with CBMmath, which requires on-grade Fall results to provide full functionality. So for the 2019-20 school year and moving forward, FAST will recommend screening on current grade level in Fall. The ability to choose prior grade level as desired still remains from the Screening page in FAST, however.  

Graphical logos for FAST assessments are updated in this release. This update does not affect functionality for educators or for students.  

Benchmarks & Norms  
The national norms for the FAST assessments listed below were updated and linked here. 

The update applies to both seasonal norms (fall, winter and spring), and growth (fall-to-winter, fall-to-spring and winter-to-spring). The update also affects default benchmarks because the benchmarks are tied directly to the national norms.   

This update differs from prior updates in that FAST researchers employed special procedures to produce samples that have demographic characteristics matched to the overall U.S. student population by gender, race/ethnicity and the percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch. The sampling procedures were repeated for each combination of assessment and grade separately. And, for each assessment, the norms are based on students from at least 20 states.  

Demographically matched seasonal and growth norms have been updated for the following measures:  

• earlyReading composite (and all measures required for the composite) K & 1  
• earlyMath composite (and all measures required for the composite) K & 1  
• aReading (K-8)  
• aMath (K-8)  
• CBMreading (1-6)  
• AUTOreading composite (K-8)  

The current national aggregate seasonal norms and growth norms for the following FAST assessments have also been updated. Like the demographically matched norms, these norms use scores from across the entire FAST user base. The difference is that the data were not constrained to conform to U.S. student demographic percentages. The demographics of the aggregate norm samples are similar to U.S. percentages, with modestly higher socio-economic status (estimated by percent on free or reduced lunch).   

• CBMmath Automaticity (L1, L2, L3) grades 1-3  
• CBMmath CAP (2-8)  
• CBMreading (7-8)  

Benefits 
The new demographically matched national norms accurately represent the distribution of scores on FAST measures that would be attained in the full U.S. school population by grade, thus, providing FAST customers a way to accurately evaluate student, classroom, grade level and school results relative to national expectations. The procedures employed also increase the accuracy of the national norms across the full range of abilities from the 1st through the 99th percentile. Because these norms are based on large samples using robust statistical procedures, they will likely remain the same for five years.  

Comparison to Current National Norms  
On average, the score associated with each benchmark (some risk and high risk) drops modestly. The decrease for the some-risk benchmark is small (e.g., 4 words per minute on CBMreading in Grade 2) and small to modest for the high-risk benchmark (e.g., 15 words per minute on CBMreading in Grade 2). What this means is that, on average, fewer students will be flagged as either high risk or some risk using national norms. The decline is due to the fact that prior national norms were based on samples with modestly higher SES levels (lower free-reduced lunch levels) than the U.S. school population.  

For more in-depth information regarding changes to FASTbridge, access the Knowledge Base when you are logged into the system and read the FAST Release notes for July 12, 2019.  

Results of the MTSS Belief Survey Are Available 
At last April’s regional meetings, staff was asked to complete an MTSS Belief Survey. Research is clear that educator beliefs about the system they work within and the students they work with can have profound effects on student achievement. Here are the results of the survey.  

This data will be reviewed by different leadership teams in the Agency and, hopefully, it will serve as a baseline to show how our beliefs change over time to deepen implementation of an MTSS Framework at Heartland AEA.  

ESSA Designated Schools and Agency Staff to Support Them Listed 
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed in 2015, is a federal K-12 education law that replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. The law maintains a focus on equity for all students, while giving states and local school districts more ownership over systems of school accountability and support. 

ESSA requires states to develop comprehensive plans for accountability and support, identify schools for support and improvement (Comprehensive and Targeted) and publish school report cards reflecting performance. All Heartland AEA identified targeted and comprehensive schools submitted ESSA Action Plans in May 2019 per guidelines from the Iowa Department of Education. Buildings will spend the 2019-20 school year working to fulfill the actions they set out to accomplish in their plans.  

Iowa’s new report cards, called the Iowa School Performance Profiles, include each school’s scores on a set of accountability measures, such as state assessments. The reports display results based on a school’s overall performance, as well as the performance of subgroups of students, such as children from low-income backgrounds. 

This spreadsheet lists the targeted and comprehensive schools in the Heartland AEA area as well as the agency staff who have been identified to support them.   

2019-20 Teacher Quality Information Available; Course Registration Begins Aug. 16
Registration for Teacher Quality (TQ) courses and study groups begins Aug. 16 and ends Sept. 13. TQ courses and study groups are offered as an optional format for professional learning for our Certified staff. They 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. TQ opportunities are offered from October - June.  

Heartland AEA has a strong commitment to time spent in service to our partners. TQ courses will be offered at times when service to children, educators and families is least impacted. TQ courses and study groups will be offered between Oct. 11, 2019, and June 30, 2020, outside of contract hours, Monday-Friday or on weekends, except for a few exceptions. 

TQ Timeline for 2019-20 

• TQ registration open: Aug. 16 - Sept. 13, 2019 
 
• TQ proposals for staff-generated study groups due: Sept. 13, 2019
 
• Registration Deadline for staff-generated study groups: September 20, 2019
 
• TQ courses and study groups held: Oct. 11, 2019 - June 30, 2020 
 

This document provides registration information for TQ courses, the process for creating study groups and details on stipends. Here is a frequently asked questions document that will help answer questions about Teacher Quality. 

Action Needed: Update the Anti-Virus Software on Your Agency Computer by Sept. 10

In an ongoing effort to keep our agency software up-to-date, an updated version of Symantec Anti-Virus software will be available this week to install on agency computers.



Beginning Aug. 20, 2019, the update for Symantec Anti-Virus will be available via the Self Service app on all agency computers needing the update. Staff may install this update at their convenience during a three-week window. If the update has not been performed by staff at the end of the three weeks (ending Sept. 10, 2019), the update will be applied to your computer automatically (beginning Sept. 11, 2019). It is important you perform this update to ensure the update is not automatically applied at an inopportune time.



To install this update, follow the instructions below: 

• Locate and open the Self Service app. You will find it in the Applications folder, or you may have a shortcut on your Dock. 
• Click the "Utilities" category on the left-hand side of Self Service and locate the Symantec Endpoint Protection 14.2.4811.1100 policy. 
• Click the "Install" button and read the brief description. Then click the "Install" button to start the installation process. 
• A message will appear when Symantec Endpoint Protection 14.2.4811.1100 has been installed, reminding you your computer will need to be restarted. Your computer will restart 1 minute after you click the OK button.