About Northwest AEA

Northwest Area Education Agency (AEA) is a regional agency that provides school improvement services for students, teachers and administrators. The agency is an educational partner with 36 public school districts and 33 accredited, private schools in a 10-county area of northwest Iowa, serving over 40,000 students. Northwest AEA staff, schools and families work together to help all children reach their potential.

As an intermediate agency, Northwest AEA offers the kinds of services that can be provided most equitably, efficiently and economically on a regional or cooperative basis among school districts.

The mission of Northwest AEA is to provide visionary leadership and quality, student-centered services through relationships with families, schools and communities.

Background

Iowa's educational structure dates back to 1858, but the first regional services were not established until 1910 when Iowa school districts numbered over 5,000. In that year county superintendents were appointed to oversee the schools in each county.

Over the years the number of districts steadily declined. In 1957, the state legislature allowed counties to jointly employ one superintendent to handle the smaller number of districts. Then, in 1965 the legislature approved the merger of two or more counties into joint county school systems.

But problems developed under this new arrangement. The availability of services varied greatly from one county or joint-county system to another.

The state legislature responded in 1974 by replacing county systems with 15 area education agencies to provide equity across the state. There are now 10 AEAs due to mergers across the state. Since its inception, Iowa’s AEA system has been widely regarded as one of the finest systems of intermediate services in the country.