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.