ISEA

COMMUNIQUÉ A publicAtion of the iowA StAte educAtion ASSociAtion – febRuARY 2014 – Vol. 51, no. 4 IN THIS ISSUE STATE neA State delegate ballot 4 TEACHING & LEARNING new iSeA Academy offerings 11 DELEGATE ASSEMBLY iSeA delegate Assembly information 6-9 Set it... Set it... and forget it! and forget it! E-DUES AVAILABLE NOW! E-DUES AVAILABLE NOW! By Jean Hessburg, Public Relations, jhessburg@isea.org the last two legislative sessions have produced a plethora of boards and commissions overseeing issues concerning public education in iowa. currently, there are no less than 22 boards, commissions, councils, and task forces established by the iowa legislature or created by the iowa department of education to discuss and make recommendations on issues dealing with educator development, instructional time, and teaching standards, just to name a few. we know that knee-jerk responses and politically charged policy decisions are not the answers to helping students and enhancing public education. this is why the iSeA fought for the creation of commissions such as the council on educator development. created in lieu of adopting a non- research based system tying teacher evaluations to student standardized test scores, this task force is studying the efficacy of our current statewide teacher and administrator evaluator systems and will make recommendations for necessary improvements or enhancements. iSeA president, tammy wawro, and other iSeA members represent the interests of education professionals on the council on educator development which will make their recommendations to the Governor and legislature. the teacher leadership and compensation task force will develop recommendations for the new teacher leadership and compensation system, review district applications and make recommendations to the iowa department of education, and monitor implementation across the state. iSeA executive director, Mary Jane cobb, and five iSeA members represent professional interests on this task force. the iSeA fought hard to ensure the iSeA's participation was written into legislation creating these particular commissions and task forces so that professional views, experiences, and issues would be addressed. the Secondary career and technical education task force makes recommendations to address skill shortages, enhance economic growth, and ensure that all students have access to high quality, globally competitive career and technical education programs. iSeA executive board member, Vicky Rossander serves your interests on this task force. the competency-based education task force is studying pilot programs focusing on the instruction standards, the integration of competency-based instruction with the iowa core, and will develop assessment models and professional development. iSeA's teaching and learning Specialist, cindy Swanson, is serving your professional interests on this task force which reported its recommendations last year. the iowa department of education is expected to summarize findings in a final report to the Governor and the legislature in 2019. the iSeA knows your time and resources are incredibly valuable. we know you became professional educators so that you could directly impact the lives of the students in your classroom. it is our job, at the iSeA, to ensure that policymakers understand and respect the importance of your life's work. that is why we work so hard to make sure our members have a voice at every commission, board, council, and task force. the iSeA will continue to communicate with you on important information that affects your profession and we will continue to work and to serve on your behalf. for a complete list of important commissions, task forces, and committees, go to the iowa department of education web site at www.educateiowa. gov. in addition, the site also includes minutes, iowa code, and Google working documents from the meetings. Boards, Commissions, Committees, Councils and Task Forces

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