As I saw in the Family Foundations Academy Update Report submitted to the Delaware Department of Education for their formal review, four charter schools in Delaware are part of a consortium called the Delaware Charter Collaborative. Because East Side, Prestige, Kuumba and Thomas Edison are so special, they get to skip the DPAS II and form their own teacher evaluation program. And it looks like Family Foundations Academy will join the cabal since East Side took them over in a “consultation” agreement. Can anyone tell me what makes the teachers in these schools so special? First one to answer gets the Sunday No-Prize! Check out the rubric below:
The Season Of Myths 
The same way any district or charter school could, they develop an alternate evaluation system which must be approved by the DOE. This option is outlined in Delaware code.
SBE featured several evaluation systems and different rubrics in two workshops (one in late June and one webinar in August) links available on the SBE website.
DSEA and several local district boards have taken a real interest in these opportunities but no one else has yet submitted a system for approval, however I have heard that some are considering it.
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Yes – this came up at the last WEAC meeting at Highlands. Apparently the workshop where this was introduced involved the districts and offered them the same option, but for whatever reason it was rejected. I think some of the priority schools are looking again at the option of adopting this approach over DPAS II…
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Specific code reference is title 14 section 1270 (f) A local school district, vocational-technical school district or charter school may make application to the Department for a waiver of the provisions of the DPAS II evaluation system, which shall be granted, subject to the provisions of rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this subchapter, if the request for a waiver is based on a locally developed evaluation process that is demonstrated to be the product of the collective bargaining process pursuant to Chapter 40 of this title and community review and is as rigorous and as educationally sound as DPAS II, provides for evaluating educator performance by measuring student growth using multiple measures over the course of a curricular year, and contains a mechanism for certifying evaluators and for quality control.
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Thanks Dee! I appreciate you pointing out to the specific state code on this. Just one question, can you say the same for the DOE suggested letter school districts are giving parents when they opt their child out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment?
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That’s the catch, “must be approved by the DOE”! What’s the likelihood they would approve a public school’s request for a different evaluation system?!?! Uhhhh….by my calculations, NONE!
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Jenny, words out of my mouth. DDOE has a track record. No credibility in thinking district plans would be welcomed.
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