Tuesday, November 03, 2009

DCPS Teaching and Learning Framework

Here's the DCPS Teaching and Learning Framework, which supports the IMPACT which is the new system for assessing the performance of DCPS teachers and other school-based staff. I finished the first evaluation cycle with impressive ratings. Thanks to the National Board process. It made me reflect on, rethink, retool and redo my instructional practices. It made me innovative, creative, and try new things for my diverse students to learn the standards. It made me focus on data gathering and analysis, connecting and having good relationships with my students, colleagues, parents, and the community so we can all work towards a common goal --- maximizing my students' potential and increasing student achievement. Nope, I'm not yet National Board certified and I'm still working on it, but the process made me a teacher leader, a teacher collaborator, and a teacher learner...it made me a 21st Century educator! Even if I don't get National Board certified, I'm still glad I went through the process. It made me become a better teacher that my students deserve, and the intrinsic reward which made me grow professionally is worth all the sleepless nights, sacrifice and effort.

What do I think about the IMPACT? Yes, it is far better than our PPEP (old teacher evaluation system) but, for me, not the best one. I understand that this is still a work in progress. I have shared my concerns during WTU-DCPS Focus Group Discussions on this issue as a special education teacher. Studies have shown that students in co-teaching classrooms are better achievers than their peers. Also, the IDEA 2004 mandates inclusive education for our diverse learners. The new DCPS teacher evaluation tool does not support co-teaching nor the inclusion model. I hope that DCPS will come up with a rubric on team teaching model. I also want to know how they expect us to co-plan, co-teach, and co-grade with the regular education teachers, we just need some guidance on that.
Here's the pdf copy of the manual that was given during the training: IMPACT Guidebooks. And here's about our Master Educators. Tell me what you think: solangala@yahoo.com.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please note that IMPACT measures TLF effectiveness, hence, IMPACT supports the TLF and not the other way around.

Teacher Sol said...

Thanks for correcting, I might have interpreted it differently. I just want to point you to the DCPS Teaching and Learning webpage which states:

The Framework’s Purpose

Guided by the district’s core beliefs, the Teaching and Learning Framework has been developed with three purposes:

•Provide clear expectations for teachers
•Align professional development and support
•Support a fair and transparent educator assessment system

Anonymous said...

The 3rd bullet means that ANY assessment system THAT is in place or will be in placed is INHERENTLY supported by the Framework by ENSURING what are expected from teachers are 'fair and transparent'. How is this possible: providing clear expectations for teachers (refer to bullet 1).

FYI, the Framework was developed ahead of IMPACT.

Teacher Sol said...

Thank you for clarifying, highly appreciated.

Sounds like you know a lot about the IMPACT :D

Promethean Planet

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