DSEA Action!

How the president sees it What about the kids? hen I started teaching in 1972, it wasn't for the money, or the perks, or just to be gainfully employed. It was because of my affinity for children. I love kids and I love teaching, so this career always seemed like a great fit for me. DSEA members take me to task if I fail to make explicit our commitment to advocacy for students, alongside our support for public education and the education professionals who work in and around our schools. It is "all about the kids"— a phrase that has become clichéd. The kids are always present— at New Hire Orientation sessions, Executive Board meetings, Rep Councils, during training and professional development. They may not be visible; they may not be identified. However, they are never far from the minds of Delaware educators and education union leaders. ment trips. Thank you for all that you do for our students, our schools, and our communities. TellDel survey results matter W DSEA ACTION! (USPS 010111 ISSN 01995413) is the official publication of the Delaware State Education Association. ACTION! is mailed 7 times a year, (September, October, combined Nov/Dec issue, February, March/April, June and July) at DSEA headquarters located at 136 E. Water St., Dover, DE 19901. Telephone: 302-734-5834, or toll-free: 1-866-734-5834. Our Wilmington office may be reached by calling 302-366-8440. Subscriptions are included in membership: $2.32 a year for teachers and $1.19 a year for ESPs. Subscriptions are $5 per year to those ineligible for membership. Periodical postage paid at Dover, DE 19901. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DSEA ACTION!, 136 E. Water St., Dover, DE 19901. President FREDERIKA JENNER Vice President KAREN CROUSE Treasurer DOM ZAFFORA NEA Director MIKE HOFFMANN Exec. Director JEFF TASCHNER Editor PAMELA T. NICHOLS Program Assistant SUSAN W. KELLER "It's up to us," says President Frederika Jenner, "to put the available Tell Del data to good use in our schools. No one else is going to just fix things for us." What you did on your summer vacation I trust that everyone found time this summer for R & R. On the other hand, I know full well that members used the time to teach classes, manage district projects, extend students' learning opportunities, and to offer enrichment in community-based programs. Others completed course work, caught up on professional reading, attended workshops, and expanded repertoires of skills and strategies. Plenty of members' work extends well into summer: paras continue assisting students whose progress depends on their care and expertise; school and district secretaries close out one year as they ready for the next; food service workers help support summer learning programs with nutritious meals; custodians get a work-out—moving furniture out of dirty rooms and back into clean ones; bus drivers transport kids for summer school and enrich- Now may be a good time to review Tell Delaware results for your school. Check www.tell delaware.org. Click on "survey results" to find your district and school. [Schools not meeting the 50% participation threshold have no data listed.] Expanded data is located in column two. The data uncovered by clicking on the chart icon is most revealing. If I were you, I'd print a copy for my team to review—it's five pages. Now comes the challenging part. Take a close look at strengths and weaknesses; positives and negatives. Prioritize what would be a good place to start—what's manageable and could generate relatively easy, quick successes. Likewise, everyone doesn't have to work on every situation; tasks, projects, and options can be divvied up among interested staff. Remember—this is not a short-term project. It may take a few years to accomplish important changes. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. The TellDel project will be a bust if participants do not see real and meaningful changes. It really is up to you and your colleagues to work together to ensure that this data is put to good use in building on what seems to work, and adjusting and fixing what needs attention. In my experience, no one else is going to fix things for us. Confidence in evaluation system eroding Overall, we think the results of the recent DPAS II survey demonstrate an erosion of educators' confidence in an evaluation system that was previously pretty highly regarded. We certainly disagree with the principal investigator's determination that "the majority of teachers, specialists, and administrators gave the evaluation process a 'C.' Exaggerated reflections like this may mask genuine and important concerns about DPAS II-R, including on-going problems with process and implementation, as well as training and communications from DDOE. See pages 4 and 5 for more details, and page 10 to sign up for a Component 5 Workshop being put on by DSEA. This exaggerated statement fails to note that 65% of teachers gave the process a 'C' or less, and that 76% of specialists and administrators gave the process the same rating. This seems a far cry from indicating that most Delaware educators gave DPAS what in our schools would be a "satisfactory" THERE IS POWER IN THE UNION. Frederika Jenner President frederika.jenner@dsea.org Leading the way. . . his month we feature Pete Trotto, who is beginning his 15th year in education. An elementary teacher for 14 years, he is moving to 7th grade Social Studies at Redding Middle School in Appoquinimink this year. He has been an Association Rep at Olive B. Loss Elementary T 2 September 2013 DSEA ACTION! School for the last three years. He is beginning his second year as the AEA membership chair. goal now is to make progress towards 100% participation in the AEA across the district. Why did you become involved? What do you think is your local Association's biggest challenge this year? Our building didn't have representation at AEA rep meetings and I felt that we were missing out on important information, as well as having a voice. What accomplishments as a leader are you the most proud of? I am most proud of the relationship I was able to create between our staff and the administration. My Working to keep tweaking Component V and making sure that it is fair to all involved. What about our biggest challenge at the state level? Changing the perception that our public schools are not preparing our children for the future and making them successful citizens. www.dsea.org

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