[District Letterhead]
Dear Colleagues,
______ISD is pleased to once again be working in partnership with the University of Texas at Dallas Texas Regional Collaborative (UTD TRC) for Excellence in Science Teaching, and with the proposed UTD TRC for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. The goals of the Texas Regional Collaboratives align with the goals and objectives of ______ISD in that both target improving science teaching and learning for both our students and our teachers.
In order to fulfill grant requirements, our Science Teacher Mentors (STMs) and Mathematics Teacher Mentors (MTMs) will commit to all of the following:
· Attend at least 100 hours of professional development provided by UT Dallas related to science or math instruction, content knowledge, and pedagogy. Professional development will be provided through summer and weekend sessions, with optional graduate course work in science or math content applicable to a Master of Arts in Teaching degree for which STMs and MTMs will receive some tuition support.
· Attend a 60 hour content area summer institute: July 11-22, 2016 for STMs and July 5 – August 8, 2016 for MTMs.
· Attend approximately one STM/MTM Training day per month on Saturdays to address additional content and pedagogy. Full schedule is to be provided in spring 2016.
· Take pre- and post-assessments of teacher content knowledge and efficacy.
· Provide mentoring and/or training to three cadre members (CMs), each of whom will receive 12 contact hours through the grant. The goal is to provide content and pedagogy for these teachers to allow for collaboration on campus with their STM/MTM and other CMs. The UTD TRC will provide resources in the form of teaching materials, and support for CM training to all STMs/MTMs. STMs/MTMs will earn a stipend of $200 for completing CM training.
In turn, our district is committed to:
· Supporting our Science/Mathematics Teacher Mentors in implementing content knowledge and pedagogy gained through collaborative trainings.
· Working with our STMs/MTMs and CMs to determine and execute a plan for a minimum of 12 hours mentoring/training of CMs and 24 hours for Immersion CMs. (CMs will receive additional hours through attendance at approved UTD TRC offerings.)
· Providing The UTD TRC with student-level STAAR data for teachers at targeted grade level/course by June 15, 2017.
To be included in this data:
1. Number of students taught directly by the Teacher Mentor
2. Number of students in question 1 with state assessment data in science for 2017
3. Number of students in question 2 who did not meet the standard on the state assessment in 2017
4. Number of students from question 2 who did meet the standard on the state assessment in 2017
This data will be submitted through a secure Internet portal, coded by each teacher’s UT EID, and reported only in aggregate form (combining data across approximately 1,000 Teacher Mentors), and it will not be made available on an individual basis to anyone outside the TRC evaluation staff.
[Signature and Title of Administrator]