Support for the Delaware State Support Leadership Team
Delaware has a pre-existing State Committee, called the Delaware Education Support System (DESS) Leadership Team. The DESS Leadership Team is made up of SEA directors from across programs and divisions including School Improvement (Title I and Title III are included under this division), Special Education, Reading First, Curriculum Development, Assessment and Accountability, and Education Technology. Among the roles and responsibilities of the DESS Leadership Team are the design and coordination of the technical assistance the state education agency provides to districts and charter schools identified as in need of improvement. MACC staff are members of this team, and consulted with team members to create annual technical assistance plans aligned with state priorities.
Because Objective 1.1 had been met prior to MACC beginning its work with Delaware, MACC's work under Goal 1 for Year 2 focused on assisting the DESS Leadership Team to meet Objective 1.2: Build the DESS Leadership Team's collective knowledge and skill to develop and implement a differentiated approach to state TA/ PD for schools and districts in different stages of improvement.
Support to the Delaware Mathematics Coalition
In consultation with the DESS Leadership Team (Delaware's State Committee) Coordinator, Martha Brooks, the Delaware team worked with the Delaware Director for Curriculum Development (Mike Stetter), the Education Associate for Mathematics (Sally Caldwell), and the new statewide Delaware Math Coalition to develop a five-year plan for mathematics education in Delaware.
The Delaware Mathematics Coalition is comprised of district leaders in mathematics education from most of Delaware's districts and University of Delaware mathematics education faculty. The five-year plan addresses (1) the roll-out of the new state-wide mathematics curriculum, and (2) the provision of comprehensive professional development in the new curriculum for teachers statewide. MACC's Delaware State Coordinator, Barbara Hicks, worked with Dr. Stetter and Ms. Caldwell to provide technical assistance on developing the professional development plan for mathematics teachers that adheres to evidence-based principles of professional development and incorporates the specific needs of teachers in districts and schools identified for improvement.
The first stage focused on building the capacity of the Math Coalition to use evidence-based research to develop a unified vision for mathematics learning and teaching in Delaware. This activity was designed to build state capacity in the area of designing and using ongoing, job-embedded professional development to help district instructional leaders (i.e., the district and university-based members of the Math Coalition) build effective practice in schools identified for improvement.
Migrant Education Program Comprehensive Needs Assessment
The federal Office of Migrant Education initiated a comprehensive needs assessment (CNA) process designed to assist states with improving the quantity and quality of data collection on their migrant students.
MACC staff facilitated the meetings of the various teams that were convened to usher the CNA process through several stages.
1.A Needs Assessment Committee (NAC) prioritized the areas of need that were identified earlier in the process, and devised a Data Plan.
2.The state migrant education program (MEP) collected both qualitative and quantitative data over the summer.
3.Between September - October, 2006, the Needs Assessment Committee convened to analyze the data that was collected over the summer and to write need statements that formed the basis for the decision-making phase of the CNA process.
4. A service delivery plan was created to guide the MEP for a three to five-year period. MACC assisted with the writing of the service delivery plan which impacted how MEP funds were allocated, what data was collected, as well as enabling the SEA to monitor the effectiveness of their various programs that serve migrant children and their families.
5. Once the service delivery plan was completed, MACC was in a position to recommend and assist with the development of a differentiated approach to program improvement and professional development that increased opportunities for collaboration among state and federal agencies (such as Title I, Part A and Title III).