CR AEA flipbook

How can Central Rivers AEA serve you and your students? Please keep this brochure handy as a reference about the AEA. We want you to know about the many resources available to you from Central Rivers Area Education Agency (Central Rivers AEA) so that you can take full advantage of what we have to offer. We also encourage you to bookmark the Central Rivers AEA Web site: www.centralriversaea.org It will give you access to many of the agency’s resources. Follow us on social media.

WHAT THE AEA PROVIDES YOU HOW THE AEA WORKS State law mandates the AEA provide services to schools in Unlike school districts, the AEA system has no taxing authority. The nine areas: agency is funded by a per-pupil assessment designated by the state legislature, by federal funds, various grants and sale of services. Some • Diverse Learners services, such as Professional Learning, are supported by fees charged • Curriculum Instruction and Assessment to participants. • Professional Learning • Instructional Media A nine-member board of directors elected by area school boards • School Technology governs Central Rivers AEA. Board members represent designated • Leadership segments of the agency’s service area called director districts. They are • Multicultural, Gender-Fair elected by school district board members. • School-Community Planning • School Management DIVERSE LEARNERS This brochure touches on some (but not all) of the services available to you. Nearly 80 percent of AEA funding goes to providing services that make education equitably available for all students. Students who WHY WE HAVE AN AEA qualify for an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individualized Education Plan (IEP) as well as students who are considered talented The Iowa legislature created the AEAs to fulfill three and gifted or for whom English is a second language, receive AEA important roles in the schools: support services. • Equity • Efficiency AEA staff work in your building providing support to you and to specific • Excellence students. You may see school psychologists, social workers, speech- Many of the roles that AEA staff perform, especially in the language pathologists, special education consultants, occupational many rural school districts across Iowa, require less than therapists and physical therapists, to name a few of the professionals full-time work by individuals. The AEAs can hire many of employed by the AEA. these professionals as full-time employees and provide critical services to multiple schools. These employees work with students, families and educators often The AEA is also integrally involved in assisting districts serving as a member of an IFSP or IEP team and helping to implement in meeting requirements of public mandates such as appropriate services. the Individuals with Disabilities Act and its related state performance plan, Iowa Core and the Teacher Leadership The AEAs are responsible for identifying and serving children from birth Initiative. to age five through Early ACCESS and Early Childhood Services. Iowa currently has nine area education agencies, covering Many children receive help before they ever reach kindergarten so that every school district in Iowa. The AEAs are also required to they are school-ready just like the rest of their age group. provide services to parents home-schooling their children and to accredited, nonpublic schools. The AEA provides a wide assortment of assistive devices for children of all ages. These range from simple pencil grips to auditory amplification systems to speech devices and a wide variety of personal conveyances.

A resource team of educators and AEA support staff provide CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION consultation, information and coordination of plans for children with AND ASSESSMENT autism and related disorders and for their families. AEA staff also work with educators in implementing behavioral interventions for students When the legislature enacted the Iowa Core, the Iowa with challenging behaviors. Department of Education turned to the AEA to help develop it and to share it with school leadership teams. The agency’s transition support services are for students, parents, teachers and school districts as they plan for students to make The agency also has content teams to help support your successful transitions including movement from home to school, school efforts in aligning content, addressing assessment and aligning to school, and to post-school employment, education and living settings. curriculums between grade levels and school buildings. The AEA is deeply committed to assisting all learners. These consultants The Family & Educator Partnership (FEP) offers support for families work with districts and/or individual teachers to improve ways that and educators as well as a library of information about various support achievement of grade level expectations for all learners. disabilities. It’s available to educators and parents whose child or children may have one or more disabilities. You may ask someone from Examples of supports include: the FEP to sit in on an IEP meeting and to help explain the process, • Visible Learning Classroom forms and other details involved in special education. • Formative Assessment • Comprehensive Literacy • Teaching Fractions & Developing Numeracy • Multi-Tiered System of Supports • NGSS Science Standards Workshop • Teacher Leadership Network • Inquiry Based Learning • Counselors Network • Accelerating Learning Strategies • TAG Network • Technology Networks

INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA Central Rivers AEA offers a variety of educational resources available for checkout as well as digitally. These items include student literature, books with audio, professional titles, online journals, STEM resources including robots, cameras, microscopes, RealCare Baby simulators, digital resources and many, many more. • Wondering what items are available in the media collection? Take a look at our online catalog, GetMedia. Physical materials may be reserved online 24/7 by logging into a personal account. • Central Rivers AEA provides regular van delivery weekly to each school building throughout the school year as well as biweekly throughout the summer. To locate your van delivery dates and locations check it out on our website. • Digital resources provide a variety of opportunities for learning to be accessible at all times to all students. Educators at Central Rivers AEA have access to 26 digital resources as well as Mystery Science, Pear Deck, and News-O-Matic. • Need access to GetMedia or our digital resources? Usernames and passwords may be obtained by reaching out to media services through [email protected], the ‘Live Chat’ feature on the agency webpage, or calling 641-844-2410. • Don’t see what you are looking for? Reach out to our media team for requests and recommendations. GetMedia bringing the power of media to educators and students

CENTRAL RIVERS AEA DIGITAL RESOURCES AEA Digital Resources includes educational resources funded and provided by Iowa’s Area Education Agencies for PreK-12 students. On the Central Rivers Area Education Agency home page, you have access to all of the following resources: Educational Resources Funded and Provided by Iowa’s Education Agencies AEA Digital GRADE bit.ly/CRAEADigitalResources Library LEVEL American K-12 Collection of streaming video, images and digital documents for children’s literature, science, health and guidance. History in Video K-12 Collection of hundreds of documentaries featuring dramatic reenactments and engaging analysis from prominent scholars and experts. BookFLIX PreK-3 120 animated stories paired with non-fiction ebooks on a similar subject for young learners to practice literacy skills. Britannica K-12 Over 3 million images for educational, non-commercial use for assignments, projects and lesson plans. ImageQuest Britannica Pre K-12 Encyclopedia articles, multimedia, primary sources, and more support student research and reinforce curriculum standards. School 7-12 Core Concepts Videos, digital interactive activities and experiments exploring chemistry, biology and the periodic table. Science K-12 Reference for concise, reliable, up-to-date cultural information on countries across the globe. CultureGrams Professional Development Collection is a highly specialized database of full-text electronic information especially for educators, professional librarians, and education. EBSCO Host K-12 Collection of videos that provide an interactive, behind-the-scenes look at the people, places and events that have shaped our world. FreedomFLIX 4-12 Educational, peer-reviewed research articles, journals and newspapers for research. Gale K-12 Learn360 K-12 Educational multimedia such as video, audio, maps, activities and STEM resources and printables for educators. MackinVIA K-12 Robust collection of ebooks and audiobooks designed for classes and individual reading for pleasure. Mystery K-5 Mystery Science is available to all K-5 educators in Central Rivers AEA via individual accounts. Several lessons are now Science available to families for free. Parents may sign-up for mini-lessons. News-O-Matic K-5 **NEW** Provides curated and delivers age-appropriate news articles, covering a diverse range of topics, to students in a safe K-5 and secure environment. Drawing on reputable news sources, this groundbreaking tool ensures the information presented is PebbleGo 3-6 accurate, unbiased, and credible. Power Knowledge Informational articles that support literacy, critical thinking and digital citizenship with ready-made activities. Includes PebbleGo Spanish and Read More Animals and Science ebooks. Science fair projects and experiments, interactive games, scientist profiles, live video feeds and nature cams covering life, physical, Earth, and space sciences. ScienceFLIX 4-12 Hands-on projects, videos, multiple text types, interactive features and more provide students with a better understanding of science concepts and ideas. ProQuest:SIRS 9-12 Issues Researcher Exploration of the perspectives (pro vs. con) and essential questions under debate on over 300 social issues. soundzabound K-12 25 volumes of royalty-free music with audio themes and sound effects for presentations, digital storytelling, TV broadcasts, web design and more. TeachingBooks K-12 Collection of interviews with authors and illustrators so students and educators are able to learn directly from them to Teen Health & 7-12 personalize their connections to the text. Wellness Articles on relationship skills, decision-making, growth mindset, PTSD, stress/academic anxiety, social engagement, diversity and family life that support social-emotional learning and physical well-being. TrueFLIX 3-6 Pairs fictional videos with related non-fiction ebooks about history and science-related topics to support students with literacy skills. Your students may use the school’s username/passwords to access these resources at school, at home or anywhere else they may have access to the Internet. Check with your teacher librarian for the username/password.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CREATIVE SERVICES The AEA offers a variety of classes that you may take for Central Rivers Area Education Agency has everything needed to licensure renewal purposes and graduate credit or to simply design and print all of your classroom resources. Lamination, color stay current in your field. We offer learning opportunities in a printing, bindery and more are offered at a minimal cost with quick range of formats, face to face, virtually and through an on- delivery to your school building. Some of the products that we can demand system. produce for you include: A listing of all learning opportunities is available on the agency’s • Progress charts website (click on Educators > Professional Learning). Click on • Planners “AEA Course Catalog” or “On-Demand Learning System”. Live • Canvas wall hangings support is available during regular business hours via the “Chat • Color posters/banners with Us” box or by calling 319-273-8200. • Worksheets • Certificates Good luck with your new school year! • Stickers If you need assistance, don’t hesitate to ask • Computer clings your AEA staff for help! www.centralriversaea.org Please place your order at: https://aeacreativeservices.org HOW TO CONTACT THE AEA Need to reach someone at the AEA? Visit our website at www.centralriversaea.org and use the Chat with Us feature. Live operators are available during office hours. There is also a “Contact Us” section at the bottom of the page that you can use. Each district served by Central Rivers AEA is served by a regional administrator who is specifically assigned to help them. These individuals are there to help connect you to individual AEA programs and services that meet your unique needs.

LEADERSHIP MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS Central Rivers AEA provides leadership services that assist with the On any given day, a significant number of students recruitment, induction, retention and professional learning of school experience barriers to learning (either situational or long- leaders. The professional learning experts at Central Rivers AEA have term) which interfere with their ability to fully engage collaborated to put together the Lead, Inspire, Innovate learning series in the classroom. Among the most common are social, to empower teachers and administrators to lead the effort to improve emotional and behavioral challenges. Central Rivers AEA student learning. has a team of consultants with expertise in youth mental health, classroom management and other learning TECHNOLOGY AND SUPPORT supports. An array of professional learning and one-on- SERVICES one consultation is available to classroom teachers and administrators. We understand that yesterday’s solutions The Central Rivers AEA Information Technology Support Team provides may not address today’s challenges in the classroom and a wide range of assistance to school districts and technology leaders center our services around research-proven strategies. within our region. Our dedicated professional staff has experience working with coordinators to achieve educational goals and solve GROUP PURCHASING DISCOUNTS complex problems. We are committed to providing you with excellent customer service and prompt technical support solutions. AEA Purchasing, http://www.aeapurchasing.org/, is an initiative of Iowa’s AEAs, and it helps schools to be more ● Purchasing Discounts for Technology efficient. AEA Purchasing provides a voluntary purchasing Iowa’s AEA Purchasing Program offers substantial educational program for K-12 schools. By bringing school purchasing discounts on many products and tools like computers, audio programs under one statewide umbrella, AEA Purchasing systems, cameras, learning management systems, projectors and allows schools to take advantage of volume purchases more. and negotiated pricing. Statewide schools across the state have saved millions of dollars on AV and computer ● Equipment Repair Services equipment, software, furniture, janitorial and office supplies, paper, etc. Central Rivers AEA has certified staff that offers equipment repair services which covers a wide range of hardware and includes free estimates plus warranty assistance. ● Network Support Central Rivers AEA has experienced staff to assist with network design, installation, and configuration along with internet service aggregation. We also provide hardware, software and email support with the ability to perform advanced diagnostics and performance tuning. ● E-Rate Assistance The federal E-rate program provides discounts of up to 90 percent to help eligible schools obtain affordable telecommunication services, networking equipment and internet access. ● Single Sign-on through ClassLink OneClick ClassLink OneClick is a dashboard that provides district teachers and students secure single sign-on (SSO) access to digital resources and applications from any location or device. ● Cybersecurity Central Rivers AEA has professional staff to help your district address cybersecurity vulnerabilities within your IT infrastructure. We can provide network security consulting, guidance on best practices and resource assistance. ● Managed IT Services This program is contracted on a yearly basis and provides on-site technicians that administer first-line technical support for school districts. The Central Rivers IT Support Team also provides advanced and specialized technical assistance to ensure optimal IT functionality. Central Rivers AEA technical support can be reached by phone at 319- 273-8231 or email at [email protected].

Central Rivers AEA Cedar Falls Office 1521 Technology Parkway • Cedar Falls, IA 50613 Ph. 1-800-542-8375 or 319-273-8200 Central Rivers AEA Clear Lake Office 9184 265th Street, Suite B • Clear Lake, IA 50428 Ph. 1-800-392-6640 or 641-329-4200 Central Rivers AEA Marshalltown Office 909 South 12th Street • Marshalltown, IA 50158 Ph. 1-800-735-1539 or 641-753-3564 For more information about Central Rivers AEA or to request a tour, contact Beth Strike, Director of Creative Services & Communications at 319-273-8222. Central Rivers Area Education Agency (AEA) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, marital status, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic background or disability in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices as required by all applicable Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action laws, directives, and regulations of federal, state and local governing bodies and agen- cies. Students, parents of students, applicants for employment and employees of Central Rivers AEA shall have the right to file a formal complaint alleging non-compliance with federal and state regulations requiring nondiscrimination in ed- ucational programs and employment. Inquiries concerning application of this statement should be addressed to: Karl Kurt, Equity Coordinator, Central Rivers AEA, 1521 Technology Pkwy, Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613, Telephone: 800-542-8375. 07/2023- MT