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= __** Artifact/Data Description and Reflections **__ =

Description:
The //Iowa Core// Network team and Quality Learning staff delivered the “Foundations of the //Iowa Core// Curriculum” and the “Core and More” professional development series for educators in Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency’s public and non-public schools. The professional development series were conducted over a two-year period in an effort to develop understanding of the //Iowa Core// essential concepts and skills and Characteristics of Effective Instruction and to increase capacity for implementation. Each district selected educators to participate in a Leadership Team whose responsibilities would include: participation in professional development, support for instructional staff in district, completion of a Self Study, and development of an Implementation Plan. There were 435 participants from the area who participated in the training, developed and created by the AEA9 Iowa Core Team. At the end of the series, participants were asked to complete an "**[|End of Course Evaluation.docx]**" Survey (See "ICC Data Collected Below for graphs and results).A comprehensive picture of the offerings and numbers of participants in Iowa Core sessions can be found in the "AEA9 Iowa Core Team Meetings" spreadsheets below.

Analysis of the end of course assessments reveals the following:
 * Overall, district Leadership teams increased their knowledge of the intent and purpose of the //Iowa Core// and communicate the vision of the //Iowa Core// to instructional staff and community stakeholder;
 * Educators are beginning to connect Characteristics of Effective Instruction into the delivery of lesson/unit plans Educators are beginning to apply 21st Century Skills in the design and delivery of lesson/unit plans;
 * Instructional staff, who did not attend either professional development, have a mixed understanding of intent and spirit of the //Iowa Core;//
 * Educators express a need for additional professional development and support to address 21st Century Skills and begin alignment processes to fully implement the //Iowa Core//



Reflection:
There was a great deal of learning that occurred for me during the time we worked with Leadership Teams to roll out the Iowa Core. We had very large participation in the work, with 235 educators participation in the 2008-2009 school year, and 437 participants in the 2009-2010 school year in Leadership Team development around Iowa Core. The first year of the work was extremely productive with the content primarily on first & second-order change and informational content regarding the roll-out of the Iowa Core. While the State provided the primary content that first year, feedback early on indicated it wasn't specific enough for districts to move forward in an aggressive manner. Therefore, I created a document called the [|"**AEA9 Roll-Out Document,**]" that was intended to guide schools through the "stages" of the work to full reform in the schools relative to the Iowa Core. After the "End-Of-Course" Survey, we realized there were many districts who participated in the the Leadership Series, but few had gone back to their respective districts to move forward the Iowa Core with all teachers. That fact quickly became a priority for our work, to increase the understanding of the Iowa Core, including the intent and spirit of the work. No longer are we in a position in education to "tweak" the system, we need major educational reform in Iowa. Our push, then, for the next years of the work, needed to be aggressively moving districts into the work of the Iowa Core. While our efforts to move schools aggressively did not seem to provide as much success as I originally hoped, there are approximately 50% of the districts who do understand the importance of the work and will continue to pursue and attain high expectations. I determined that needed to be one of the primary focuses for the district work needed to be ensuring all teachers and communities understand the work and expectations of the Iowa Core.

One school I have worked with extensively the past three years is Muscatine High School. In 2008-2009, their High School Leadership Team attended (with enthusiasm) the Iowa Core Leadership Series. They dedicate time to not only take in the expectations set forth in the Iowa Core sessions, but they understood the call to drastically change education for the 21st Century. In addition, their Team had extensive conversations and meetings to develop and articulate their vision for the Iowa Core- taking into consideration their population served, community demographics, and data. Ultimately, their first draft of the Iowa Core Implementation Plan specified standards and activities that would aggressively change delivery at the high school. In the 2010-2011, the high school implemented the **"G2"** program for some students in 10th & 11th grades, which includes high technology use and a project-based approach to learning. Data on the implementation of the G2 program will be available at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. In future years, they will plan to expand the program so more students can learn in this type of environment. I continue to work with the K-8 and 9-12 District Leadership Teams as they move forward the Iowa Core in an aggressive manner that meets the needs of their district and vision.

In the 2010-2011 school year, I had the chance to work with the East Central Community School District in project-based, unit design through Intel's, "Thinking with Technology" tools. This approach to learning the content of the Iowa Core includes improving instruction through the use of thinking skills and technology use relative to unit design. Another piece of the work includes alignment of assessments. Here are some comments and feedback received from the teachers regarding the Intel training: **[|FEEDBACK FROM EC INTEL.docx]**