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RPDS Council Virtual Meeting
Week of December 9th, 2013
I.
Upcoming Events – Mark your calendars!
a. Mentor Training – Please take a moment to announce to your faculty an opportunity to
attend a mentor training session on SU’s campus for the spring.
i. Date: Tuesday, January 14th
ii. Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm (must be present the entire time to receive credit)
iii. Location: Montgomery Room of the Commons Building (Click HERE for a map of
the Campus). The Montgomery Room is located on the 2nd floor.
iv. Parking: Camden Parking Lot E in front of the Commons Building. Visitors must
apply for a parking pass at least one week prior to the event. (Click HERE to
register for a parking pass). Anyone who is currently teaching or taking a course
at SU will not be eligible for a visitor parking pass and will need to adhere to
the parking permit guidelines.
v. Please note: Anyone at your school who has already been trained, does NOT
need to attend this training. Visit the PDS website for a list of Clinically Trained
Mentors in your building. www.salisbury.edu/pds
vi. Registration: Teachers may register until Friday, January 10th by sending their
name, their school’s name, the subject/grade level they teach and their
home/cell phone # to Stacie Siers (sesiers@salisbury.edu).
b. Maryland PDS Network Conference
i. Anyone interested in attending or presenting at the Maryland PDS Network
Conference on Saturday, May 3rd at Stevenson University should contact Stacie
Siers (sesiers@salisbury.edu). The conference provides a wonderful opportunity
for PDS stakeholders to network with other like counterparts from across the
state. SU will provide transportation.
c. Next RPDS Council Meeting
i. Date: Wednesday, February 26th
ii. Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
iii. Location: Worcester Room of the Commons Building on SU’s campus.
iv. Parking: Camden Parking Lot E in front of the Commons Building. Visitors are
required to apply online for a Visitors Parking Pass. An email reminder with a link
for parking will be sent out in early February.
II.
Announcements
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a. NCATE/MSDE Reaccreditation News - We passed with flying colors! As you know, SU
was going for target on Standard 3 (Field Experiences and Clinical Practice), and we
achieved our goal! We would like to thank our school partners for all the time, effort
and support that was evident during our visit. Your dedication and commitment to
provide the best possible experiences for our candidates and interns made all the
difference. A special thank you to all the teachers, mentors, administrators, site
coordinators & liaisons from Sandy Hill & Choptank Elementary and Mardela
Middle/High School. These three schools did an outstanding job of representing our PDS
partnerships and the exceptional work we do together! The team was completely
wowed by both school site visits.
b. Background Checks
i. By law, school districts are requiring background checks for teacher candidates &
interns.
ii. Three of our partner school districts (Anne Arundel, Caroline & Dorchester) have
elected to complete the background check process themselves.
iii. Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester are working with SU to complete the
process. SU has contracted with Mid-Atlantic Regional Investigations (MARI) to
come to the campus for the fingerprinting process and these results are being
sent directly to the four districts by the State’s Criminal Justice Investigative
Service (CJIS). The 1st round of fingerprinting is taking place this week and we
anticipate at least two more weeks at the beginning of the spring semester in
order to ensure that all teacher candidates and interns in the schools we partner
with have nothing in on their legal record that would indicate they are a danger
to the students in the schools.
c. Website Refresher – The PDS website is full of resources to assist SU and school faculty.
Take a moment to review the website and take advantage of the tools it has to offer
www.salisbury.edu/pds. Attached to this email you will find a handy website tutorial.
III.
To Do List
a. Intern/Mentor Orientation/Forum
i. The site coordinator(s) & liaison at each school should be conducting an
orientation/forum for each group of interns along with their mentors. The
following items should be distributed to interns along with any other valuable
information interns & mentors should know during the internship experience.
1. Intern Artifact Checklist – Once the document has been thoroughly
explained it should be signed by the intern, site coordinator(s), liaison &
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ideally the school administrator. Make 3 copies of the document and for
reference give one to the intern, one to the mentor and the liaison
should keep the final copy.
2. Intern PD Tracker
3. Intern Exit Questions
4. The orientation/forum is also the time to discuss the intern’s student
impact study and determine how each intern will disseminate his/her
results at the school level.
b. Exit Conference
i. Be sure to hold an informal exit conference with each intern (as a group or
individually) before they leave their placement. Using the signed Intern Artifact
Checklist as a guide, the following items should be collected from each intern.
1. Digital pictures – unless they have already taken care of this request.
2. Intern PD Trackers with any additional documentation such as agendas
from PD, meetings or flyers from school activities, etc.
3. Answers to Exit Conference Questions
4. Completed Intern Artifact Checklist
ii. Liaisons should keep the collected items until the end of the year feedback
session with Stacie.
c. PDS Site Assessment Strategic Planning Tool Completed
i. Site Coordinator(s) & Liaison should have their PDS Site Assessment Strategic
Planning Tool completed noting evidence for meeting each PDS standard and
creating a plan for how to meet standards that are currently not being met.
ii. This planning tool will help schools to focus on areas that may be weak or
nonexistent in their partnership. Once completed it will be a handy resource to
use when completing the final online PDS Assessment at the end of the year.
iii. THE GOOD NEWS! For those of you who have been involved with PDS for many
years you have no doubt seen significant changes in documentation
requirements. For those of you who are new to PDS let me be very specific on
what is required.
1. Documentation: As a site coordinator or liaison you are asked to
complete 2 pieces of documentation per year. ONE is the PDS Site
Assessment Planning Tool, which was distributed at our October RPDS
Council meeting and readdressed above. The SECOND is the actual online
PDS Site Assessment survey that mirrors the planning document and
allows each PDS site to accurately assess themselves according to the
Maryland PDS standards.
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2. Artifact Collection: The only artifacts that liaisons are asked to collect
and turn in at the end of the year are:
a. Signed Intern Artifact Checklists
b. Digital pictures from the Interns
c. Intern PD Trackers with any additional agendas, flyers, etc.
d. Answers to the Intern Exit Conference Questions
IV.
iv. All in all…we’ve come a long way! Our goals for the year are:
1. to provide a clear start to the internship experience for intern/mentor
pairs
2. to provide excellent communication and support throughout the
internship experience for intern/mentor pairs
3. to provide closure for interns through an exit conference & the
collection of intern artifacts
4. to document how each site is meeting the Maryland PDS Standards
through the completion of a strategic planning tool and completion of
the online PDS Site Assessment.
Follow-Up
a. Intern Evaluations Revamped
i. During the October RPDS Council meeting, Dr. Wood presented data from the
Intern Evaluation of Mentor, Supervisor and School Site. The Council provided
feedback for several questions that needed updating and clarification. As a
result, it was determined that the Intern Evaluation of Supervisor should be
separate from the Intern Evaluation of Mentor and School Site. Additionally, the
following changes were made to the actual questions regarding mentors and
school site. Highlighted areas indicate changes.
Revised Mentor Teacher Questions
My mentor teacher and I worked together through co-teaching to deliver
instruction to students.*
My mentor teacher and I worked together to insure that student learning
outcomes (SLOs) were achieved.*
Revised School Site Questions
My school placement gave me the opportunity to teach or work with students
with individualized education plans (IEPs), 504s or behavior plans.*
My placement provided me the opportunity to meet with an inclusion (special
education) teacher or an assistant/coach.*
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During my placement I consulted with resource personnel (e.g., math/reading
coach, reading specialist, STEM coordinator, therapist, school psychologist,
counselor, social worker, school nurse or other staff member) about a student or
students in my classroom.*
My mentor teacher and/or I reviewed a student's IEP, 504 or student behavior
plan.*
During my placement I participated in a teacher-parent/guardian conference or
meeting centered on a student academic performance or classroom behavior.*
During my placement I communicated (e.g., email, parent letter, phone call,
conference or meeting) with a family who speaks a language different from my
own.*
During my placement I attended data meetings that discussed student and/or
classroom performance.*
During my placement I attended school functions that may have included PTA,
other back to school nights or activities where I interacted with parents and/or
guardians.*
ii. Fall interns are using the updated evaluation tools.
b. Progress with the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program
i. Three informational meetings have been held to advertise the program to
prospective candidates interested in pursuing a terminal degree. Applications for
the program will be available very soon, so stay tuned!
ii. Visit the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) website for more information.
1. http://www.salisbury.edu/educationspecialties/edd/
Feel free to contact me with any questions you have concerning anything related to PDS! I am more
than willing to meet with you in person and assist any site in any way that I can!
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season!