For the past six years, the Iowa Department of Education has focused on the improvement of student performance in reading. The Iowa Department of Education has done this by providing professional development for school staffs, and then evaluating their efforts by assessing student performance.

For Iowa’s Reading First efforts, Every Child Reads, part of the No Child Left Behind Law: Excellence in Teaching and Learning, a multi-phase approach has been implemented to develop, field test, revise, and publish the professional development materials needed.

The AVS Group provides support for all aspects of the design, development, and publication of these Iowa Department of Education materials, including:

• Instructional design and development of all professional development materials, including print materials and video script support.
• Video production, including pre-production, shooting, editing, and post-production support.
• Web site design, development, and maintenance.
• Online application programming that allows teachers to submit data for study by the Iowa Department of Education.
• Graphic design and development of all materials, including packaging, binder covers, logos, and templates.

The materials that The AVS Group has developed help the Iowa Department of Education attain their goals by:

• Providing a consistent, easy-to-use method of communicating the message of Every Child Reads.
• Providing instructional activities, strategies, and models for teachers to use in their classrooms for teaching and assessment.
• Helping teachers learn the theory and instructional practices they need to help their students become proficient readers.

The process. “The confidence I have in AVS to provide quality work is extremely high. I’m impressed with their level of professionalism; attention to detail; consistency of meeting deadlines; and their organized, knowledgeable approach to understanding our department needs and offering appropriate solutions.”

Results. “We have evidence that the support these materials offer has not only helped students become more proficient readers, but have enabled teachers to provide more efficient and effective reading instruction. The professional development activities that staffs are engaging in are changing the way schools go about their business.”

Carlene Lodermeier, Project Director for Every Child Reads, Reading Consultant for the Iowa Department of Education, and supporter of the No Child Left Behind Law.

In 2002, the Iowa Department of Education received funding for their Reading First program, part of the No Child Left Behind Law. Reading First is designed to ensure that all students are reading at grade level by the third grade. As a result of this funding, the Iowa Department of Education posted a request for proposal to develop the professional development materials for their efforts. In May of 2003, The AVS Group was awarded the $1.2 million, three- to six-year multimedia project. A second two-year contract was awarded to AVS in October of 2004 to provide multimedia services for a program designed to address struggling readers and help improve teacher instruction in grades 4–12.

The Iowa Department of Education is an agency of the state of Iowa whose mission, according to the Iowa Department of Education Web site, is to help communities meet the learning needs of all of their children and adults. The department provides support to all public schools and area education agencies throughout the state of Iowa, as well as all educational programs in these schools and agencies.