to a PDF copy - Great Prairie Area Education Agency
Transcription
to a PDF copy - Great Prairie Area Education Agency
Great Prairie AEA Regions & School Districts Mission North Mahaska Great Prairie Area Education Agency improves teaching and learning by developing leaders, discovering solutions and delivering services through collaboration with students, families, schools, and communities. GPAEA Regions West Central Pekin EddyvilleBlakesburgFremont WACO Fairfield Albia Chariton Keota Sigourney Oskaloosa East Ottumwa Cardinal Seymour Centerville MoultonUdell GPAEA 5/12/14 Wapello Morning Winfield Sun Mt. Union Mount Pleasant Moravia Wayne AN EDUCATOR’S GUIDE TO GREAT PRAIRIE AEA Tri-County w on Ne ond L Danville Mediapolis Davis County Van Buren gton rlin t Bu Wes Burlington Fort Madison Harmony Central Lee AEA Offices Keokuk Vision Great Prairie AEA will be the recognized leader in services that improve student performance. Goals students will improve 1 All their performance. All agency services will 2 improve their quality. Quick Facts Impacting Lives Building Futures Office Locations Burlington Office 3601 West Avenue Burlington, IA 52601-9456 1-319-753-6561 1-800-382-8970 FAX: 319-753-1527 Ottumwa Office 2814 N. Court Street Ottumwa, IA 52501-1163 641-682-8591 1-800-622-0027 1-800-286-8591 FAX: 641-682-9083 Harold L. Mick (Albia) Office 103 South A Street, PO Box 217 Albia, IA 52531 641-932-5003 FAX: 641-932-5017 Mount Pleasant Office 309 East Monroe Mount Pleasant, IA 52641 319-385-9005 FAX: 319-385-9006 Fairfield Office 2000 West Jackson Fairfield, IA 52556 641-472-3414, 888-734-3367 FAX: 641-472-6118 Founded 1975 Students 35,000+ Public School Districts 33 Accredited Non-Public Schools 6 Teachers & Administrators 3,600 Counties 14 Total Staff 270 Square Miles 6,360 GPAEA.ORG • 800-622-0027 Welcome to Great Prairie AEA! As an educator in this area, we want you to know about the many resources available to you from Great Prairie Area Education Agency (AEA). Please keep this document handy for quick links and/or as a reference about the AEA. GPAEA.ORG Students, parents, employees and others doing business with or performing services for the Great Prairie Area Education Agency are hereby notified that this agency does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, national origin, sex, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability in admission or access to, or treatment in, its programs and activities. The agency does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, national origin, sex, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability in admission or access to, or treatment in, its hiring and employment practices. Any person having inquiries concerning the agency’s compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), § 504 or IOWA CODE § 280.3 is directed to contact: EducationalEquity/Section 504/Special Education Programming, Dr. Deb Cook, Regional Director, Great Prairie Area Education Agency, 103 South A Street, Albia, IA 52531, 641-932-5003 x5801or 800-622-0027 x5801; Educational Equity/MCGF/Title IX Gender Equity/Title VI Race and National Origin Equity/Title III ELL, Doreen Underwood, Diverse Learners Consultant, 3601 West Avenue, Burlington, IA 52601, 319-753-6561 x4108 or 800-382-8970 x4108; or Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Hiring and Employment Practices, Greg Manske, Human Resources Director, Great Prairie Area Education Agency, 3601 West Avenue, Burlington, IA 52601, 319-753-6561 x1217 or 800382-8970 x1217, who have been designated by the agency to coordinate the agency’s efforts to comply with the regulations implementing Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, the ADA, § 504 and IOWA CODE 280.3 (2007). WHAT THE AEA PROVIDES YOU State law mandates the AEA provide services to schools in nine areas: › Diverse Learners › Curriculum Instruction and Assessment › Professional Development › Instructional Media › School Technology ›Leadership › Multicultural, Gender-Fair › School-Community Planning › School Management This brochure touches on some (but not all) of the services available to you. WHY WE HAVE AN AEA The Iowa legislature created the AEAs to fulfill three important roles in the schools: › Equity › Efficiency › Excellence Many of the roles that AEA staff perform, especially in the many rural school districts across Iowa, require less than full-time work by individuals. The AEAs can hire many of these professionals as full-time employees and provide critical services to multiple schools. Iowa currently has nine area education agencies, covering every school district in Iowa. The AEAs are also required to provide services to parents home-schooling their children and to accredited, nonpublic schools. PROGRAMS & SERVICES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Great Prairie Area Education Agency (AEA) is a regional organization that provides school improvement services for students, teachers and administrators. The agency is an educational partner with 33 public school districts and 6 accredited, private schools in a 14-county area of southeast Iowa. Great Prairie AEA staff, schools and families work together to help all children reach their potential. As educators, we are constantly striving to learn new skills and strategies that will improve student learning. Great Prairie AEA programs are coordinated to enhance the professional, personal, and organizational staff development needs of LEA and AEA staff. These include credit courses, leadership development programs, support staff workshops, school improvement institutes, paraeducator certification and internal staff development. Great Prairie AEA offers equitable and efficient services within individual districts or on a regional basis. Great Prairie AEA’s programs and services are agency-wide focusing on improving student performance. Our Programs & Services include: • 21st Century Learning (Room 21C) • Assessment • Assistive Technology • Challenging Behavior & Autism Team (CBAT) • Crisis Response Team • Cultural Proficiency • Early ACCESS • Early Childhood • English Language Learner (ELL) • Hearing/Audiology • Iowa/Common Core • Leadership • Literacy • Mathematics • Media/Library • Multicultural, Gender Fair (MCGF) • Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) • Occupational Therapy • Parent-Educator Connection (PEC) • Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports (PBIS) • Physical Therapy • Print/Production • Professional Development • Science Literacy • School Improvement • Schools in Need of Assistance • Special Education Consultation & Direct Support • Speech-Language Pathology • Student Events • Teacher Leadership Compensation (TLC) • Technology • Transition • Visual Impairment SCHOOL MANAGEMENT Each year, Great Prairie AEA leaders hold budget workshops for local school districts. Superintendents and business managers typically attend these meetings. Click on the Course Catalog button at gpaea.org. Great Prairie AEA partners with Drake University, Morningside College and Viterbo University to offer advance degrees and Master’s degrees in Southeast Iowa locations to further advance teacher leadership and education. In addition, AEAs provide leadership services that are based on the Iowa Standards for School Administrators and school needs. Services assist with recruitment, induction, retention and professional development of educational leaders. TECHNOLOGY & PRINT SERVICES Great Prairie AEA Technology Services focus on consultation, assistance, and professional development opportunities that enhance the integration and use of technology for the 21st Century learner. Support is also provided for the development and management of local and wide area networks including the use of the Iowa Communication Network (ICN) and Internet. The Great Prairie AEA Print & Production Department provides a full suite of digital and print services to area schools at modest costs. Digital services included CD/ DVD duplication, file conversion, high speed scanning, photo ID badges, digital photo print, digital cutouts and graphic design. Print services include a full range of copy and color copy, with a variety of finishing and binding options. Items produced include but are not limited to: school carbonless forms, letterheads, envelopes, brochures, newsletters, business cards, handbooks, directories, calendars, yearbooks, certificates, pocket folders, writing journals and other instructional materials including large color posters! Visit the Great Prairie AEA website to learn more about the Print & Production Services offered. Connect with GPAEA Find us on your favorite social media or sign-up for our e-newsletter The Cornerstone for the latest educational news & information for area schools. Visit gpaea.org to get started! HOW THE AEA WORKS HOW TO CONTACT THE AEA If you need to reach any of your agency service providers, you can always go to the Great Prairie AEA website at gpaea.org and search or download a copy of our directory. Click on the Directory button at the top to view, search or download the Agency Directory. The AEA is divided into regions, and most agency staff are assigned to specific regions. Some agency specialists provide services to multiple buildings or regions. If you have concerns about a student or about a service, we encourage you to talk directly with your AEA staff person. Unlike school districts, the AEA system has no taxing authority. The agency is funded by a per-pupil assessment designated by the state legislature, by federal funds, various grants and sale of services. Some services, such as Professional Development, are supported by fees charged to participants. A nine-member board of directors elected by area school boards governs Great Prairie AEA. Board members represent designated segments of the agency’s service area called director districts. They are elected by school district board members. DIVERSE LEARNERS AEAs devote nearly 75 percent of their financial resources to providing services to students with disabilities who need special education. The AEA staff works with school staff and families to identify the needs of children with disabilities and provides for or supplements a wide variety of services to meet those needs. Some of the needs include direct services to students with disabilities such as speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and teachers of the hearing impaired. In addition, the agency provides staff with specialized skills such as school psychologists, social workers, special education consultants, autism consultants, and transition consultants just to name a few. The AEAs are also responsible for identifying and serving children birth to age three and their families through Early ACCESS. Good luck with your new school year! If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to ask your AEA staff for help! GPAEA.ORG The Parent Educator Connection (PEC) offers a library of information for parents of students with disabilities. PEC staff are available to serve as a parent liaison throughout the IEP process. In addition to serving students with disabilities, AEAs work with school staff to support students on 504 plans as well as students who are talented and gifted. LEARNING SUPPORTS Not every student comes to school ready and able to learn. On any given day, a significant number of students experience barriers (either situational or long-term) which interfere with their ability to fully engage in classroom instruction. Research from a variety of sources indicates that fully implementing a comprehensive system of supports promotes healthy social, emotional, and behavioral development in all students so that all youth have an equal opportunity to be successful in school. Learning Supports include a wide range of strategies, programs, services, and practices that are implemented to create conditions and environments that promote student learning from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade. If your school needs assistance in this area, talk with AEA staff in your building about arranging this. CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT When the legislature enacted the Iowa Core, the Iowa Department of Education turned to the AEA to help develop it and to share it with school leadership teams. The agency also has content teams to help support your efforts in aligning content, using student formal and informal assessments and in building better articulated curriculums between grade levels and school buildings. The AEA is deeply committed to assisting all learners. Content specialists work alongside administrators and teachers to ensure quality instruction is present in every classroom in Great Prairie AEA. GROUP PURCHASING DISCOUNTS AEA Purchasing is an independent, tax-exempt, nonprofit organization supporting the mission of the Iowa Area Education Agencies. Our goal is to combine the purchasing power of Iowa schools to offer aggressive pricing on materials, goods and services. In 2013, participating Iowa schools and AEAs saved over $7 million. AEA Purchasing is funded by minimal vendor administrative fees and overhead is low with only five staff members maintaining daily operations. Visit the website for product categories, vendor partners, contacts, how to order and pricing! aeapurchasing.org INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA MEDIA & DATABASES Great Prairie staff and teachers are assigned four media accounts, based on the features of the database. SNAP - Online reservation media catalog http://snap.gpaea.org MyUsername: ______________________________________ My Password: ______________________________________ Iowa AEA Online Databases for Lesson Plans 31Username: ______________________________________ SNAP Password: ____________________________________ Shared District Iowa AEA Online Database / GPAEA Online Database 31District: _________________________________________ My Password: ______________________________________ Create your own individual UN/PW for Visual Thesaurus (vocabulary) OneClickDigital (downloadable audiobooks) Follett (ebooks) MyUsername: ______________________________________ My Password: ______________________________________ PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Website: gpaea.org, click on Course Catalog My License Folder # is: ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ The agency’s Library Media Center delivers the following resources to school: K-12 Materials K-12 Print: • Trade/Library books (thousands of titles with multiple copies - both fiction and nonfiction) • Audio Books (including the new Playaways – preloaded audio players) • Boxed Book sets (up to ten copies of a single title) • Big Books (over 600 different titles) • Checkout period of six weeks. K-12 Non-print: • Study kits/Multi-media (1000 different items including history, science and literacy book props) • Assistive Tech resources • Checkout period of two weeks. Professional materials: • Journals (over 60 print journals) • Professional Books • Professional Nonprint including DVD, Audio and Video Process for reservations and delivery: Using SNAP, our online catalog, educators can reserve media items for delivery throughout the school year. Orders can be placed until 8:30 a.m. for next day delivery based on your delivery day. The AEA provides weekly van delivery to public and accredited nonpublic schools. Check with your van contact or the AEA media site for van schedules. Educators are provided a member username/password by the Media Center. Contact us directly at [email protected] or phone 800-622-0027 x5264 with any questions. K-12 Digital Materials Digital Video: • Over 500 titles from independent producers are available using our TOMMs player in SNAP. Educators can stream or download content from this GPAEA Digital Video Collection. • Learn360 digital video can be searched through the SNAP catalog, as well. • NBC Learn Digital Audio: • Downloadable audio books from Recorded Books can be downloaded to Mp4 players or listened to via the computer and SNAP. • Learn360 digital audio clips (music, speeches) can be searched through the SNAP catalog, as well. Digital Images: Learn360 digital images can be searched through the SNAP media catalog. eBooks: Simultaneous, multi-user access to eBooks – K-12 science / history titles. Search through SNAP. DIRECTORY Website: gpaea.org, click on Directory View, search or download the directory from our website. Information about Great Prairie AEA services, staff and school districts can be accessed 24/7. K-12 Online Databases Students are provided username/password access for these subscription online databases. All available at school, at home or anywhere else they may have access to the Internet. Check with your teacher librarian or the AEA Media Center for more information. Iowa AEA Online: Funded by Iowa’s Area Education Agencies for K-12 students, the following online databases are available from the IAO site – www.iowaaeaonline.org. • AEA Digital Library • AP Images - You and your students have access to over two million contemporary or historical photographs and images dating back to 1826 up to minutes ago from Associated Press photographers. • Atomic Learning –Video clip tutorials cover hundreds of software & web2.0 products. Atomic Learning’s 21st Century Skills Collection includes professional development resources and curriculum materials to empower educators to integrate 21st century skills into the classroom. Educator accounts have been provided for teachers. • BookFlix - Interactive literacy resource pairs classic fictional video storybooks from Weston Woods with nonfiction eBooks from Scholastic to reinforce reading skills and develop essential real-world knowledge and understanding. • Britannica Digital Learning – A suite of encyclopedia databases for K-12 students. • CultureGrams - Cultural and statistical snapshots of every country recognized by the United Nations -- from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. • iClipart for Schools – Access over 7 million clipart images and fonts • Gale-Cengage Learning – A series of journal databases including Academic One File for educators’ professional use and multiple options for students including: General One File, InfoTrac Student Edition, Health and Wellness Resource Center, InfoTrac Junior Edition, Kids InfoBits • Learn360 - Top educational publishers include A&E/History/Bio, PBS, National Geographic, Sunburst Visual Media, Reading Rainbow, Britannica Concise Encyclopedia and many more. The videos are also searchable through SNAP, the AEA online media catalog. Educator accounts are provided with access to playlists and slideshow resources. • SIRS Issues Researcher - Relevant, credible resources aligned to learning standards that tell the whole story on the major issues of the day. • Soundzabound - Download copyright free music tracks that your students can use in developing podcasts, blogs and presentations. • Teen Health & Wellness – This award-winning resource provides students with non-judgmental, straightforward, standards-aligned, curricular and self-help support. • TrueFlix - Nonfiction ebooks paired with digital video introduction for grades 4-6 from Scholasitc. • TeachingBooks.net - Resources for teachers to connect with book trailers, lesson plans, and author information. Additional GPAEA Online Database Funded by Great Prairie AEA for K-12 students, the following online databases are also available from the AEA Media page. The resources support goals for CCSS in Literacy and Iowa 21st Century Skills. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • PowerKnowledge - Life Science (3-8) PowerKnowledge - Earth & Space (3-8) PowerKnowledge - Physical Science (3-8) CyberSmarts (3-7) Teen CyberSmarts (6-9) CQ Researcher Visual Thesaurus OneClickDigital (downloadable teen audio books) Follett eBooks Student News Net - SNN EBSCO Literary Reference Center NBC Learn digital video (also linked through SNAP) Rosen Financial Literacy CQ Researcher Visual Thesaurus OneClickDigital (downloadable teen audio books)