DES MOINES, IOWA (September 25, 2019) — Iowa’s Area Education Agencies and AEA PREP have been working to embed Future Ready Iowa's goal of having 70 percent of Iowans with post-secondary credentials by 2025 in Iowa high schools. AEA PREP, a service of Iowa’s AEAs, kicked off this year with a two-day institute, involving national experts on improving post-secondary attainment and increasing credentials with an equity focus on low-income, minority, and students with disabilities.
On Monday and Tuesday, more than 200 education leaders, representing 33 districts and all nine AEAs came together for the National Postsecondary Strategy Institute (NPSI) — Iowa. This event, held at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, helped school districts develop their internal capacity to support every student toward attaining a successful post-secondary pathway.
“NPSI — Iowa advances the work already started in the many districts that have embraced the notion that post-secondary success is not only critical to Iowa’s workforce and economic-development needs, but also for each and every student in Iowa who deserves equal opportunity and access to succeed in earning a post-secondary credential," said David Ford, Director, AEA PREP.
Representatives from every Area Education Agency and school districts across the state heard remarks from both Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise. They also worked together to:
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Increase understanding of factors that contribute to a strong district-wide college and career-readiness framework aligned to school-based accountability measures.
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Provide examples of how to use data, research, and community-based partnerships to increase student-level outcomes.
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Work toward building a college and career readiness framework for their district.
All participating districts applied to attend this conference. Districts from Eastern were scheduled to have representatives in attendance include Bettendorf, Camanche, Clinton, Durant, Louisa-Muscatine, North Scott, and Pleasant Valley school districts.
NPSI — Iowa was made possible through the generous support of Iowa’s Area Education Agencies, Iowa College Aid, Bright Foundation, Des Moines Area Community College, Vermeer Corporation, and the Iowa Culinary Institute.
