Board Agenda - April 01, 2008

j. District Awards for Teacher Excellence (DATE) Program Approval

Presenter: Jeff Bailey

Purpose: A - Request decision - closure required

Time: No time limit

Description:

The District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.), created by House Bill 1, Article IV of the 79th Legislature in 2006 (T.E.C. Ch. 21, Subchapter O, § 21.701), is a non-competitive teacher incentive awards program designed to provide funding to support the establishment of district-wide goals and implementation of a financial award system. The program should be designed to award teachers for positively impacting student achievement, target the district's most in-need campuses to improve teacher quality, and create capacity and sustainability for improved instruction within the district.

All Texas school districts and open enrollment charter schools are eligible to take part in the program. District level committees will establish district goals for their district award plans that are consistent with their local district improvement strategic plan. Once the district goals have been determined, district level planning committees will create an awards plan either district-wide or for select targeted campuses.

The district planning committee has developed a plan to implement the D.A.T.E. incentive grant program in targeted schools. The application for the grant will need to be submitted to the Texas Education Agency by April 8, 2008. The proposed plan for the district program will be contingent upon acceptance by the Texas Education Agency.

Recommendation:

The district planning committee recommends that Plano ISD proceed with the submission of the district plan to the Texas Education Agency and apply to participate in the District Awards for Teacher Excellence grant program. The committee requests the approval of the plan by the Board of Trustees.

Business Impact:

None

Summary:

Appendix:

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