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Delaware Projects Year 7
2011-2012
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Support for the Delaware Education Support System Leadership Team |
MACC will continue to work with the Leadership Team and take part in the development of Delaware’s (DE) state system of support (SSOS) for schools and districts in need of improvement. The availability of the SSOS self-assessment instrument from the Center for Innovation and Improvement (CII) in Year 3 of the grant enabled MACC to help the team identify gaps in its SSOS that needed to be addressed in order for the system to work more effectively. In Year 4, the team created a strategic plan for improving the SSOS and focused on implementing that plan. In Years 5 and 6, MACC engaged in a process with DDOE project managers to create handbooks that describe the functions and responsibilities of each program manager position, including its role in the state system of support and the collaboration across programs that it requires. In Year 7, work on the program manager manuals will continue as MACC provides critical friend feedback and assistance with defining and implementing the state system of support. |
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Supporting the Implementation of the DDOE Migrant Education Program's (MEP’s) Statewide Service Delivery Plan (SDP) |
In Year 7, MACC will provide technical assistance in a variety of ways to build the capacity of the SEA to identify and develop resources and training for their LEAs that are charged with improving migrant student and family outcomes. MACC's principal contributions will be to (1) provide strategic guidance in the refinement of the state’s Service Delivery Plan, (2) assist the state with monitoring the implementation of their Service Delivery Plan to ensure that it remains aligned with the needs of their current migrant student population, and (3) assist the SEA with the development of an evaluation framework that will build its capacity to monitor the degree to which the grantees have met their statewide program improvement targets. Since 2008, MACC has worked in partnership with the DDOE Migrant Education Program to complete their data-driven, federally-mandated Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CAN) process. The CNA was completed in January, 2008 and MACC was asked to continue assisting the SEA by sharing successful practices and resources, and encouraging cross-program communication that will lead to improved awareness of the unique needs of migrant students and their families. |
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Building Capacity of State English Language Learner (ELL) Assessment and Accountability Systems |
In Year 7, MACC will strive to increase DDOE's capacity to appropriately address the unique needs of ELL students by supporting them in improving their assessment accommodation policies so they are more responsive to the individual needs of each ELL child. MACC will improve DDOE's capacity to develop a cohesive statewide system of support by providing SEA staff from the Assessment, Title I, and Title III offices with opportunities to collaborate, discuss, and refine state assessment policies for accommodating ELLs. MACC will also increase DDOE's capacity to develop and deliver training to LEAs on the state assessment policy for accommodating ELLs. New ELL data collection and analysis requirements found in the proposed ESEA reauthorization, the U.S. Department of Education’s Blueprint for Diverse Learners, and the new requirements for the Enhanced Assessment Grants for the English language proficiency tests to be developed under the Common Core Standards Initiative indicate new capacities which SEAs and SEA staff will need to develop for ELL accountability and assessment systems. Thus, the five MACC SEAs (DC, DE, MD, NJ, and PA) must have the capacity to collect, analyze, and report on ELL progress using data from state content area assessments, the state ELP assessment, ELL accommodation, and student demographics. |
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Measuring Student Growth for Teacher Evaluation |
MACC will assist the implementation of an interim teacher evaluation model using measures of student growth. As one of the first two states to be awarded Race to the Top funding, Delaware is committed to adding measures of student growth to teacher evaluations. This is a condition of accepting Race to the Top funds, and has been written into Delaware law. MACC has already helped the DDOE create a collaborative process for convening content area stakeholder groups and engaging them to identify or create content area measures. MACC has structured a web page for sharing this collaborative process on the DDOE website. Initially, MACC brought a key DDOE representative to a conference to learn about measuring student growth and invited Laura Goe from NCCTQ to act as a consultant to the state process. MACC also invited assessment experts from the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center to assist with the process. |
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Support for Delaware’s English Language Learners’ (ELLs’) Services |
Through an informal needs assessment with the Title III Director of DDOE on July 8, 2011, MACC identified potential areas of assistance in disseminating program information to districts, and integrating Title III work into the larger DESS and SIG context. Additional needs were identified around creating a Title III handbook, establishing a state ELL advisory committee, developing monitoring tools, and creating an organized approach to professional development for ELL teachers. MACC will continue to help increase the capacity of the DDOE to meet district and school needs related to the education of ELLs. |
For more information regarding MACC’s work in Delaware please contact MACC’s Delaware State Coordinator Barbara Hicks at bhicks@ceee.gwu.edu
