Where has the year gone???????

Welcome again to DSEA's DPAS II blog!

We've gotten to the holidays so quickly, it hardly seems possible! We have heard surprisingly little about DPAS II in these months, but I fear that is more from overload than it is from total satisfaction. As we have reiterated over and over, your input is vital to the success of the DPAS II process. If things are working great, we need to know. If that's not so true, we need to know that, too, so we can consider modifications which will help to make things run more smoothly.

Here are some things we HAVE heard. If you have heard other comments from your colleagues, feel free to post a comment. JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

• GOAL-SETTING: Educators being unsure how to write a "good" goal. Problems with goals not being accepted by the evaluator. Problems with goals being directed by the evaluator. Goals conferences not taking place. When conferences ARE taking place, positive communication appears to be taking place. How is it going in your local?

• TIMELINES: Too long between Pre-Observation and Observation. Too little time to complete Pre-Observation Form before the Pre-Observation Conference. Formative Feedback Forms not being completed within the specified timelines. Are you hearing about timeline issues in your building?

• LESSON PLANS: Districts or buildings dictating a specific lesson plan format. This DOES NOT come from the state or from the DPAS II process. Check your contract for specific language regarding the formality of lesson plans.

• IMPROVEMENT PLANS: Everyone needs to be careful to review the IIP section [pp. 38-39 in the Teacher Guide and pp. 39-40 in the Specialist Guide] to be sure they understand what can trigger an Improvement Plan. Post a comment if you think there's an issue in your school!

The corrected pages for your Guide are now available on line at http://www.doe.k12.de.us/csa/dpasii/ and a packet of replacement pages will be delivered to your district in the next few days. Every teacher, specialist and administrator should receive their own packet, so watch for them and replace the corrected pages so that your Guide is the most current.

Here's wishing you a healthy and happy holiday season!

Let us hear from you!!!

JOIN THE CONVERSATION!

Welcome to DSEA's DPAS II blog!

Welcome!

By setting up this blog, we are hoping to provide an opportunity for more people to post their comments, questions or concerns about DPAS II and how it is unfolding in their district. As you know, in September, all school districts and charter schools will use DPAS II to evaluate teachers, specialists and administrators. It will be incredibly important for all involved to have as
many avenues as possible to get answers to their questions or concerns and
to celebrate their successes. That is our purpose here- to provide one of those avenues.

Where we are right now is that all buildings in the new [Phase II] districts have had teams trained in the DPAS II process. Those teams either have already delivered this spring, or will deliver at the beginning of the school year, the DPAS II process training to the staffs of their buildings. The Teacher Guides and Specialist Guides are already in the districts. If you have not received yours, it is probably because the they are waiting until the day of your training.

Speaking of training, all districts and charter schools should have received Frameworks Training during this past school year. DPAS II is based on the Frameworks as developed by Charlotte Danielson, so the two trainings [Frameworks and Process] are important for all to have received. In fact, no one [teacher, specialist or administrator] is to be involved in the DPAS II process until they HAVE BEEN trained.

If you are interested in getting a "jump start" on the year by getting a preview of some or all of the DPAS II materials, they are all available at http://www.doe.k12.de.us/performance/dpasii/. This site also contains the instructional videos which go along with the Guides. And, of special note, is a memo just sent by Secretary of Education Woodruff to the Superintendents explaining some details of the implementation. You should find this of interest and it is "hot off the presses", so check it out at http://www.doe.k12.de.us/performance/dpasii/files/lettertochiefsaboutyear2implementation062608final.pdf .


I hope that you are enjoying a little bit of a break in routine this summer. I encourage you to visit this blog often and see what people are thinking!


Vicky Cairns

DSEA Director of Instructional Advocacy