ACHIEVE data tech update: This May, Central Rivers AEA data technicians will be reaching out to local school district contacts to request updates on student rosters. They’ll be checking for students who have changed buildings or exited the district to ensure the ACHIEVE system is accurate. This clean-up will help special education teachers start the next school year with more accurate class lists and improve data ahead of October’s official count. AEA service providers will also receive their rosters this spring to support this process. If school staff have questions and you’re not sure how to help, please reach out to your Regional Administrator. This is a new process at Central Rivers AEA, and once it’s in place, it should be a helpful improvement for schools and staff.
Centers of Excellence (CoE): Central Rivers AEA is partnering with Keystone AEA to launch one of Iowa’s first Centers of Excellence starting in the 2025–26 school year. The initial focus will be on Early ACCESS services. To learn more, please watch [this short video] that explains the concept and what’s ahead for our teams. This is an exciting new opportunity for our agency and the families we serve.
Special Ed Services for 2025-26: Please review the May Superintendent Report for updates on the continued evolution of our special education services. The report includes reminders and new information about “program enhancement services,” which are additional supports available for a fee beginning next school year. More details will be shared at the May 22 meeting, with a deeper dive planned this fall. In the meantime, please continue promoting upcoming autism training opportunities to both teachers and administrators.
Student records guidance for end of year 2025 (summer scanning update): Central Rivers AEA is currently undertaking a major student records project that will continue through most of the upcoming school year. The goal is to phase out outdated and hard-to-access records while building a more secure and user-friendly records management system.
Staff are asked to review the updated records guidance and manage their working files accordingly over the summer. In most cases, office staff will not be scanning stacks of working files this summer. Instead, staff should store their files in Google Drive, following the updated guidance.
One exception is direct service log notes, which should still be handled separately from other working file materials. Once the new records system is in place, additional steps for managing digital files will be shared. Staff may also find that some items previously saved are no longer necessary under the new guidance. Thank you for your attention to this important update.
Live documents, helpful resources and guides can be found on our staff website.
