The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is looking for male volunteers who are willing to donate a week of their time (June 21-June 26) to serve as a summer camp counselor. Each year MDA puts on a camp for children with muscular dystrophy, ages six through 17. The camp is located at Monticello, Iowa.
Contact Erin Baumgart with MDA to obtain an application, or with further questions. Applications are due May 15.
In response to public health concerns regarding the Swine Flu, the Iowa Department of Education recommends checking their website for the most up-to-date and accurate information:
On the national and international level, additional resources include:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – http://www.cdc.org/swineflu
World Health Organization – www.who.int/en
AEA 267 administration continues to monitor the situation and will provide updates to staff as necessary.
Again this year, Iowa’s Area Education Agency system will be represented by a booth at the Iowa State Fair in the (air conditioned!) Varied Industries Building. The booth was a huge success last year garnering thousands of visitors.
This year, AEA 267 will be asked to staff the booth on the first day of the fair, August 13. Each volunteer will receive a free pass, AEA logo shirt as well as parking and mileage reimbursement. Shifts are in four hour increments. Interested? Contact Beth Strike, AEA 267 Communication Specialist by June 1.
U.S. Cellular & Verizon offer all public employees, including AEA staff, a discount on a personal phone plan. Information about U.S. Cellular can be found at http://www.iec-ia.org/vnews/display.v/ART/49ad49d988b41
For Verizon details, click http://www.iec-ia.org/vnews/display.v/ART/47960c9067fcc
If you have problems, please contact the people listed on the Website. These discounts are made available thanks to the Iowa Educator Consortium, an initiative of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies.
Congratulations to Helen Hinders, Aplington-Parkersburg Middle School; Krista State, CAL Elementary of Latimer; and Larry Thompson, Four Oaks in Mason City for being the three winners for this year’s AEA 267 Outstanding Paraeducator Award!
In order to honor the hard work and dedication of the paraeducators employed by the schools within Area Education Agency 267 (AEA 267), the agency Paraeducator Advisory Committee honors three paraeducators with an award. The paraeducator must demonstrate the following characteristics in order to qualify as a nominee:
A working committee of AEA 267 InfoTech staff members have been developing a system-wide plan for providing and supporting emerging technology tools for staff. Support for tools such as videoconferencing from your computer, blogging, podcasting, and use of a discussion board is being developed. More information related to accessing and training opportunities will be shared by the end of May.
Even though there are obvious connections to the schools, families and educators we serve, the initial focus will be on building our own internal capacity. For more information contact Jerry Schnabel, AEA 267 InfoTech Director.
Starting April 1, school students and K-12 educators (including AEAs) will have access to software discounts of up to 85% with the new Iowa Educators Consortium (IEC) Software Store powered by Journey Education. Partnerships with Microsoft, Adobe, NUANCE and Inspiration have been made that allow us to extend fantastic discounts to Iowa K-12 students, teachers and school and AEA staff. In addition, thousands of other software programs as well as computer hardware, books, bags and more are available at discounted prices.
Journey Education products can be ordered online or by calling 800.874.9001. Any product ordered will be shipped directly to the customer’s home.
Pricing examples:
Questions? Contact Deb Culp, AEA 267 InfoTech Administrative Assistant.
Linda Martin, AEA 267 Consultant for Curriculum, was recently elected to the State Coordinator Advisory Committee for We The People: The Citizen and the Constitution for 2009-2011. Congratulations, Linda!
This is our first attempt at making the Intersections available via podcast to allow people to listen to the content rather than read it.
You may play the podcast by clicking the “play” sympbol ( > ) on this page, choose to listen to the podcast in a new browser window, or choose to download the file. If you wish to download and listen to the podcast later, possibly after copying to your mp3 or iPod player; you will notice that there is about a 30 second delay before the file actually starts to download.
Your web browser may be set to start playing the podcast after it has been downloaded, but you can also choose to just download the file and listen to it later.
Please comment regarding how useful you find this podcast format to be.
If you have questions, contact Larry Niebur- lniebur@aea267.k12.ia.us or 641-357-6125.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Well over 2,000 local educators have already responded to the annual Department of Education Customer Feedback Survey, which closes on April 9. The survey provides local educators across the state with an opportunity to provide feedback about the quality of AEA services they receive.
“We set a goal this year of getting at least 2,000 responses,” said Dr. Dean Meier, chief administrator. “With a response this great we can have confidence in the results and act accordingly.” The agency serves about 5,000 educators, which means over 25% of them responded–a respectable rate in the social science world.
The results of the survey will be analyzed over the coming months once the survey has closed. Data will be shared with staff via a variety of formats.
The AEA 267 Board of Directors held a joint meeting with the boards from North Iowa Area Community College, Hawkeye Community College, and Iowa Valley Community College from on April 1, 2009 at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls. An overview of AEA 267 programs and services, as well as celebrations and challenges, was presented. The community colleges shared highlights from their respective colleges.
The Board reconvened at 7:15 p.m. in the AEA 267 office in Iowa Falls for their regular meeting.
During the regular meeting, the board:
701.1Â Public and Media comment
701.2Â Media Coverage of Board Meetings
702.2Â Public Complaints
801.1Â Information and Technology Services
The Iowa Department of Education released the Class of 2008 graduation rates. Statewide the graduation rate for 2008 is 88.7 percent. Iowa continues to have one of the highest graduate rates in the nation. The dropout rate is less than 3 percent. The 2008 graduation rate is 1.8 percent lower than the 2007 rate of 90.5 percent. The 2008 dropout rate is 0.55 percent higher than the 2007 dropout rate of 2.3 percent.
Some recent reports have provided the number of school dropouts alone and not offered information on the graduation and dropout rates. The adjustment in the two rates is due, in part, to enhancements in Iowa’s data system. The 2008 graduating class is the first group of students to have a statewide identification number for all four years. This has allowed Iowa school districts and the Iowa Department of Education to keep careful accounting of each ninth grader as they progressed through school. The system has provided advancements in determining when a student graduates, even if they moved to a different district in the state during their high school career.
This is part of Iowa’s effort to provide accurate information and to seek improvements to its general data system. The department was recently notified that it has received a federal Statewide Data Systems Program grant for $8.7 million over the next five years. In addition, the department will pursue the more than $250 million available through the stimulus package for educational data systems.
Iowa uses the National Center for Education Statistics’ “leaver rate” to calculate graduation rates. The department has used this rate since 2003. For more information, visit http://www.iowa.gov/educate
The Iowa Department of Education has launched a new Iowa Core Curriculum website at www.corecurriculum.iowa.gov
The purpose of the official Iowa Core Curriculum site is to help Iowa parents and all citizens learn more about the state-wide academic expectations for kindergarten through 12th-grade students.
The website offers a look at the skills and concepts all Iowa students must know under the Iowa Core Curriculum, signed into law by Governor Culver in 2008. This includes concepts and skills in literacy, math, science, social studies, and 21st century learning skills (civic literacy, financial literacy, technology literacy, health literacy, and employability skills). Parents will be able to do customized searches by academic area or by grades.
Superintendents, principals, and other education leaders in Iowa are currently receiving training on how to implement the Iowa Core Curriculum, which must be fully put into practice in high schools by 2012-2013 and in kindergarten through eighth grades by 2014-2015. Iowa’s area education agencies and the Iowa Department of Education have collaborated to provide this training. This cooperation will continue as districts begin to provide professional development directly to teachers on the Iowa Core Curriculum and supportive teaching strategies.
For background information on the Iowa Core Curriculum, please visit the Iowa Department of Education’s website at www.iowa.gov/educate and click on “Iowa Core Curriculum†on the left-hand side of the page.
The Iowa Department of Education has launched Intersect, a new web site providing research on education issues based on Iowa-specific information. Intersect can be found at http://intersect.iowa.gov.
The research is conducted by Iowa Department of Education analysts to help educators make informed decisions. The primary research is not peer-reviewed, but is based on the work conducted by the department to study variables affecting education in Iowa.
Data is part of Iowa’s history in education. For more than a decade, the department has collected information about Iowa schools. It provides multiple reports to the public on topics such as student performance on statewide tests, enrollment numbers, graduation rates and more. With Intersect, the data are analyzed to become truly informative; revealing trends and unveiling critical elements to answers. Current research papers on the site include:
District Characteristics: What Factors Impact Student Achievement?
The Relation Between District Size And Student Achievement: Summary
Iowa’s Growth Model Incorporated Into Decisions About Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
