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
The Agency is looking forward to another year of employee engagement through staff presentations at our All-Staff Meeting!
Save Aug. 18, 2020, on your calendar for a “most of the day” meeting that will again feature an afternoon of presentations from YOU! Like last year, there will be continued opportunities for staff to showcase their work and accomplishments. Our call for presenters will allow you and your colleagues the option of choosing to present an afternoon session or a morning informational table or both.
- Morning informational tables: If departments or workgroups would like to showcase their work via a table display, that option will be available from 8 to 9 a.m. before the meeting begins.
- Afternoon presentations: 30 minutes in length and can be presented in any format you prefer. Topics can be personal or professional.
How to Submit a Proposal
If you or a team of your co-workers are interested in presenting, complete this presentation proposal by APRIL 1 (that’s no joke!). After all proposals have been submitted, you will be notified if your presentation or table display has been accepted.
When planning your presentation, think about how it reflects, educates, touches on or celebrates in the areas of Connections / Connecting and/or Well-being. Keynote speaker Lyndsey Fennelly will kick off the day with this focus and we’d like the staff presentations to follow her lead. Consider these learning focus areas:
- Connections with staff, student and educators
- Well-being services and supports to students, educators and self
- Celebrating YOU: sharing your successes, what you’re proud of, both professional or personal
- Core Values: Caring - Proactive - Collaborative
- 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
- Wellness: Heartland AEA’s Five Elements of Wellness: Career, Community, Financial, Social, Physical
This approach to learning during our All-Staff meeting gives us a unique opportunity to feel the pulse of the Agency in just a few hours, to connect, learn and celebrate together. These presentations showcase your expertise, your passion and your innovation. So don’t be shy—show your work! Submit your presentation application by April 1, 2020!
If you have any questions, contact the Communications Department.
Iowa’s high school graduation rate climbed to a record high of 91.6 percent in 2019, continuing a trend of long-term growth across nearly all groups of students, including those from diverse backgrounds, according to new data from the Iowa Department of Education.
“More Iowans are graduating high school better equipped to meet the demands of the 21st-century economy,” said Gov. Reynolds. “Whether it’s through computer science, STEM or work-based learning, we are changing the way our students learn and removing barriers that exist for underserved communities. Today’s announcement is an important milestone, but our work continues to guarantee student success well beyond high school.”
Data show 91.6 percent of students in Iowa’s Class of 2019 graduated within four years, up from 91.4 percent in the Class of 2018. Since 2011, Iowa’s four-year graduation rate has increased 3.3 percentage points overall, with significant gains in nearly every student demographic subgroup. For example, graduation rates for Hispanic students have climbed by 9.3 percentage points, students whose first language is not English have increased by 8.8 percentage points, and African American students have gone up 8.4 percentage points since 2011.
"Iowans should be proud of our consistent, upward trend in graduation rates," Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise said. “Schools are also ensuring students are prepared to succeed beyond graduation by making classwork relevant and engaging through career academies, college credit and work-based learning opportunities that help students connect what they are learning to postsecondary opportunities.”
Iowa graduation rates are calculated with a formula established by the U.S. Department of Education. Unique student identification numbers allow school districts to account for all ninth-grade students as they move through high school. At the state level, the method helps determine when a student graduates, even if the student has switched districts in Iowa during high school.
Iowa’s five-year graduation rate – which reflects students who were part of a graduating class but took an extra year to finish high school – was 93.5 percent for the Class of 2018, up from 93.3 percent for the Class of 2017.
Iowa’s annual dropout rate reflects the percentage of students in grades 9-12 who drop out of school during a single year. The annual dropout rate dipped to 2.61 percent for the 2018-19 school year from 2.67 percent for the previous school year.
For more information, visit the Iowa Department of Education’s website.
We have less than three months left in our 2019-20 Wellness Program with an official end date of May 31, 2020. Thank you to all who have and are participating in the Program!
Some things to keep in mind:
- Challenges: One regular challenge remaining - Chill Out (mid-April)
- Flash Challenges: Two flash challenges remaining - Water You Drinking (March 30-April 3) and Earth Day (April)
- Biometric Screenings: One on-site biometric screening event remaining on April 2 (last day to turn in forms to Interactive Health for all screenings is April 17, 2020)
- Online Workshops: Online workshops range from one to four weeks to complete. Remember, you need three.
- Webinars: Three scheduled monthly webinars remain. However, previous webinars are available as far back as 2016.
If you are unable to complete the whole program for the $250 incentive, there is still plenty of time to complete the baseline activities and receive $40 towards Heartland AEA apparel. So, keep pushing forward!
Important: Do not wait to record your activities! Many of the activities, including the webinars, only allow you to record one per day, so it is best to enter them as you complete the activity and not wait until the very end of the program.
The agenda for the March 10, 2020, Heartland AEA Board of Directors meeting is available.
