This past June, the Iowa River overflowed its banks and deluged 20 buildings on the University of Iowa's Iowa City campus. As the floodwaters finally receded, regents and administrators on the Iowa campus began dealing with all the ramifications and lessons of the flooding--including the key roles of testing emergency plans, nonstop communication,…

This report presents the Iowa edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's 2008 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook." The 2008 "Yearbook" focuses on how state policies impact the retention of effective new teachers. This policy evaluation is broken down into three areas that encompass 15 goals. Broadly, these goals examine…

The well-being of a large portion of American children is distressingly low. Integrated service delivery--which provides the broadest range of education, health, housing, and social services--is viewed as one way to remedy the failure of public and private institutions to deliver effective services that can ameliorate or reverse these problems and…

Describes the Iowa Communications Network, a statewide fiber optic network capable of transporting interactive, two-way audio, video, voice, and data signals. Topics include statewide cooperation among educational and state organizations; classroom design, including interactive classrooms; access to the Internet; and use by noneducational…

In a letter to her children, Denise O'Brien discusses her and her husband's experiences farming in Iowa and her role as a farm activist. Stresses the importance of changing farm policy in order for her children to have the opportunity to experience the satisfaction of rural farm life. (LP)

The Iowa Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP) serves as a collaborative resource to advise and advocate on behalf of all children with special needs and their families on issues of best practice and special education compliance. This Panel provides opportunity for dialogue among diverse stakeholders regarding philosophies and policies that will…

Discusses money shortages in Iowa that are affecting school library media specialists and highlights two collaborative efforts: cooperative purchasing of online reference databases, and the Com Cat union catalog. Explains the role of the area education agency (AEA) system in supporting schools and how online databases are being used. (LRW)

In 1986 the General Assembly of the state of Iowa decided that it was important to develop statewide plans for educational telecommunications systems use among universities, community colleges, and secondary schools. The Iowa plan was developed by: (1) defining the basics of the telecommunications systems under consideration; (2) determining…