Welcome to the GPAEA Literacy Team Newsletter

The literacy team at Great Prairie AEA hopes this newsletter finds you well. Most schools have been in school for a week or more already. We hope your days in school have been positive for you and your students.

Our team started this newsletter in order to provide you with information that is relevant to literacy. This information may be agency or state level news, opportunities for engaging in ongoing learning, or research and findings that impact our work with students. We want to keep you up-to-date!

So how do you find our newsletter? Our newsletter will be shared in the Cornerstone, and it can be sent directly to your inbox. If you would like to receive our newsletter when it is hot off the press, please share your name and email with your AEA Literacy Consultant so you can be added to the list.

As always, we are here to support you and your students. Please feel free to reach out to your friendly literacy consultant. If you aren't sure who your literacy consultant is, check out our regional assignments below. There is also a regional map at the end of this newsletter. Enjoy!

Welcome back! As things start gearing up for the new school year, there are several important updates below. Please take time to check this out and share this message with your colleagues.

Action Steps

• Visit the Iowa Back-to-School Checklist for Schools for a list of required and recommended tasks, some of which should be started now.
• Collaborate with your district team to select default literacy and math assessments for 2023-24. Selection must be entered in CASA by August 15th. Don’t forget to communicate those selections to teachers/staff.
• If you have new leadership or tech support, make sure they have the school/district user or AEA user access guides in order to manage user access to systems.
• Share this link with your new colleagues (and administration) to join this email list. Sign up for Early Warning System email updates. We use this list to send out emails like this one to people working with MTSS/Early Warning Systems tasks in FastBridge and Student Success.
• Use our support map to find the right place to get help with the systems we support
• Bookmark this link to our system status page.

FastBridge updates

• Rosters should be loading as of 8/9/23 for schools/districts who selected a July rollover date for FastBridge. If you don't see a roster, FIRST check the following:
• Are students enrolled, scheduled to classes and with StateStudent IDs?
• Is your SIS and SIF agent are set to send 23-24 data? (check with your Infinite Campus, JMC or Powerschool manager)
• If those things all check out and have been in place at least a day, submit a ticket in FastBridge with a specific student example or two.
• Note: if your district selected the mid-August rollover date, you may not see rosters in FastBridge by the time school starts.
• Click here for Screening window dates
• Iowa’s FastBridge implementation is unique. Some of the FastBridge directions are not correct for the Iowa project. Go here for Iowa resources and directions.
• No Master Account Managers (MAAs)
• Do not set your own screening windows, assessments, etc. in FastBridge. The state has already completed that setup.
• For a more comprehensive list and visuals showing what Iowa districts should not alter in Fastbridge, read about the differences in FastBridge management for Iowa users here
• FastBridge announced that preschool earlyReading and earlyMath composite scores have been updated and taken out of lab status. However, the preschool versions of the tests have not been validated as screening measures usable in Iowa schools.The PK tests are a subset of existing Kindergarten tests. They will not be available in Iowa. We do provide myIGDIS at no cost for Iowa users as a valid preschool literacy screening assessment. Contact Mary Breyfogle for more information about myIGDIS.

Panorama Student Success updates

• Rosters should be loading as of 8/9/23. See above for diagnostic tips. Submit a support request with details to support_iowa@panoramaed.com for Student Success issues.
• In order for grade and attendance data to be connected to a content area in Student Success it is necessary to appropriately code courses in your district student information system.

Managing EdPortal access to FastBridge and Student Success

• Access to FastBridge and Student Success remains via the Iowa Education Portal. Below are the links to instructions for setting up and troubleshooting access. We recommend bookmarking to find them more easily and ensure you’re always using the current version.
• Access for school/district users
• Troubleshooting access issues for school/district users
• Access for AEA users
• User permissions are assigned in your SIS. Please make sure that your tech/SIS people review the directions for assigning roles and make sure the SIS settings are correct and up to date.
• Remember, users in schools/districts should never request a user role for FastBridge or Student Success directly in EdPortal. That information comes from the district system.
• Keep EdPortal accounts up-to-date!
• New staff who previously worked in another Iowa district need to update their existing portal account to the new district (Administrative Organization) and new district email address. Do not create a new EdPortal account.
• Staff whose name changed over the summer will also need to update their EdPortal account with their new email address.
• For staff who need to create a new portal account, don’t forget that after creation, they’ll need to log all the way into their new portal account and set their district/non-public school as the Administrative Organization before the process to connect user roles from the district student information system to their account will work..
• Need help? Here’s where to find it.