Guiding Your District Through the ASW Process Guilford County Schools Coordinators Tom Daugherty – Social Studies Coordinator Becki Haislip – Healthful Living Coordinator Liliana Jordanov – World Language Coordinator Nathan Street – Arts Education Coordinator PAST…LESSONS LEARNED…PRESENT Prepping Teachers from 2012 Forward • Professional development opportunities throughout the school year – Regionally – Subject specific • August conference – where over 1,000 teachers were trained in ASW process • Redundancy of information Keeping District Administration Apprised of Information • Not only district administrators but also: – Principals – Curriculum facilitators – Other subject leads – Counselors • Strategic scheduling Communication • • • • Weekly emails, updates announcements Sharing of resources Being as transparent as possible Common communication from all coordinators • Modeling in professional development • Providing specialized professional development • Rolling with the punches Documentation • Documentation of who should be completing ASW • Who is out on leave • Who will be retiring • New hires • Teacher transfers Communication and Identification • How does one determine which AP/IB teachers are included in ASW and who will be the lead on communicating with them? • ASW is just a computer program… – It is imperative that teachers’ schedules in PowerSchool are reviewed – The day-to-day schedule may differ from its presentation in PowerSchool. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Nothing is Perfect • Difficult implementation throughout • Recognize this was not a perfect process – Benefits outweigh the drawbacks • Learn to roll with the punches Objectives • Importance of understanding the verbs in each objective • The resources that DPI provided were very helpful • It was a perfect opportunity for teachers to explore their standards • Some objectives are not compatible with the ASW process Accountability and Being Informed • Attending professional development is crucial • Hold non-compliant teachers accountable • Keep Human Resources Department in the loop Analysis • Requested raw data from Human Resources • Analyzed the data by subject and identified trends • Shared data with subject area teachers • Provided additional training and professional development for new hires and returning teachers needing additional assistance Narrative • Many teachers did not utilize this section to its full capacity • Emphasize the narrative as the teachers’ way to DEFEND their artifact to the reviewer. Objectives = Evidence • Understanding the verb • Does the collected evidence match the objective chosen? Keep in Mind • Know all key personnel – Especially in a small district • Collaboration within building and across the district – Not just subject specific • New teachers should rely on teachers experienced in the process for help and direction GCS vs NC State GCS Difference Did Not Meet Expected Growth 38.5% 27% -11.5% Meets Expected Growth 58.5% 68% +9.5% Exceeds Expected Growth 3% 5% +2% Overall Meets or Exceeds 61.5% 73% +11.5% Contact Information • Tom Daugherty – Social Studies Coordinator – daughet@gcsnc.com • Becki Haislip – Healthful Living Coordinator – haislib@gcsnc.com • Liliana Jordanov – World Language Coordinator – jordanl2@gcsnc.com • Nathan Street – Arts Education Coordinator – streetn@gcsnc.com Top Ten for ASW Prepare a Plan – Be as comprehensive as you can in rolling this out. Think about Professional Development, who in the district needs to be involved, and how much time you can afford to give the process. Common Constant Communication – Everyone from the district office shares the same message about ASW every time. Make sure you know who all is responsible for ASW and keep them in the information loop. This might be especially tricky for AP/IB teachers. Everyone Everywhere – All parties need to be involved in this process. Curriculum and Instruction, Human Resources, Professional Development, Curriculum Facilitators, District Level PowerSchool Manager, and School level administrators and teachers all need to be involved in ASW Collaboration is Key – Not just in your own subject area, but look to others that need to do ASW and help them work across curriculum (i.e. P.E. and World Languages) to tackle the process. Look to collaborate with other districts as well. Take the Time – Some teachers have NEVER looked at their objectives. It will take time to work with them to get to a place where they understand the verb and rest of the objective to an extent that they can provide evidence that they are teaching that objective well. Practice makes Permanent – Use Professional Development time to have teachers practice all the steps of the ASW process – from objective selection to reviewing. DPI has provided great resources for this Reflect like a Reviewer – Your portfolios will be rated by teachers, therefore, your teachers should think about what they would want to see if they were reviewing that work. Look for Loopholes – Know who is responsible for ASW. There are exceptions for medical leave, parental leave, transfers, and late hires which might remove some teachers’ responsibility for completing ASW. As well, review PowerSchool to see what the computer says about their schedule to make sure they are truly responsible for completing ASW. Wander through the Wiki – DPI has amazing resources, videos, and FAQs on the ASW wiki that have been incredibly helpful in leading teachers through this process. You have to know what’s out there before you can direct teachers to it, though. Practice Patience and Find Flexibility – There are a lot of moving parts in this process. Teachers have to know the process, collect their evidence, figure out how to digitize it, and upload their artifacts. There is a computer platform that occasionally has issues. Principals need to know what part they play. Everyone has to wait for results to come in. Be patient with those that have questions and flexible with those things that don’t seem to be going right.