5.1 The following 5 Appraisal Components, including any Appraisal Criteria specified for each, shall be the basis upon which the performance of a specialist shall be determined. In each academic year, for each of the first 4 Appraisal Components, a school district or charter school may waive 1 criterion identified as optional below. In addition, for the Professional Responsibilities Component (subsection 5.1.4), a school district or charter school may substitute a locally determined alternative Appraisal Component, which must be approved by the Department no later than the last day of July of each year. Final notification of any such waiver or substitution shall be provided to all specialists in a school district or charter school and the Department by the last day in August of each year:
5.1.1 Planning and Preparation
5.1.1.1 Designing Coherent Programs or Services: Specialist designs activities and plans for services that support the needs of the students or clients served.
5.1.1.2 Demonstrating Knowledge of Best Practice and Models of Delivery: Specialist uses practices and models of delivery that are aligned with local and national standards. (Optional)
5.1.1.3 Demonstrating Knowledge of Students or Clients: Specialist shows knowledge of the needs and characteristics of the students or clients, including their approaches to learning, knowledge, skills, and interests. (Optional)
5.1.1.4 Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources: Specialist selects appropriate resources, either within or outside of the school, that support the needs of students or clients.
5.1.1.5 Demonstrating Knowledge of How to Design or Use Student Assessments: Specialist creates and or selects assessments that are congruent with instructional goals, criteria and standards. The specialist plans for the use of formative and summative assessments of the Specialist's students.
5.1.2 Professional Practice and Delivery of Services
5.1.2.1 Creating an Environment to Support Student or Client Needs: Specialist creates an environment in which student or client needs are identified and valued. Specialist and student or client interactions show rapport that is grounded in mutual respect.
5.1.2.2 Demonstrating Flexibility and Responsiveness: Specialist has a repertoire of instructional or professional strategies and makes modifications to services based on needs of the students or clients. (Optional)
5.1.2.3 Communicating Clearly and Accurately: Verbal and written communication is clear and appropriate to students' or clients' ages, backgrounds, needs, or levels of understanding. (Optional)
5.1.2.4 Delivering Services to Students or Clients: Specialist is responsive to the identified needs of the students or clients and meets standards of professional practice. The resources and materials are suitable and match the needs of the students or clients. The delivery of service is coherent.
5.1.3 Professional Collaboration and Consultation
5.1.3.1 Collaborating with Others: Specialist develops partnerships with school or district staff or external agencies to provide integrated services that meet student or client needs. (Optional)
5.1.3.2 Serving as a Consultant to the School Community: Specialist shares expertise with school staff to assist them in their work or to respond to school wide issues, problems, or concerns. (Optional)
5.1.3.3 Providing Resources and Access: Specialist provides school, district or external based resources to appropriate staff, students, or clients or gives information about the effective use of the resources.
5.1.3.4 Communicating with Families: Specialist shares information about district or school educational programs and expectations for student or client performance. Specialist develops a mechanism for two-way communication with families about student or client progress, behavior, personal needs, or concerns.
5.1.3.5 Use of Assessment in Planning and Delivery of Services: Specialist makes the criteria of the assessment known to the students, monitors the students' progress, provides descriptive feedback, and promotes student self-assessment and uses data to plan future instruction.
5.1.4 Professional Responsibilities
5.1.4.1 Maintaining Standards of Professional Practice: Specialist adheres to the Specialist's professional standards of practice, including issues surrounding confidentiality.
5.1.4.2 Recording student data in a Record System: Specialist keeps student or client records relevant to their services and shares information with appropriate school personnel. (Optional)
5.1.4.3 Growing and Developing Professionally: Specialist chooses and participates in professional development that is aligned with the Specialist's professional needs and aligned with the needs of the school, district or students. (Optional)
5.1.4.4 Reflecting on Professional Practice: Specialist engages in reflective thinking as an individual, as a team participant, or as a school and community member with the goal of improving professional practice and delivery of service.
5.1.5 Student Improvement -
Measuring Student Improvement: Students collectively demonstrate appropriate levels of student growth as benchmarked against standards set by the Secretary based on input from stakeholder groups. For the purpose of this regulation, "student growth" means the change in student achievement data for an individual student between two points in time and may include other measures that are as rigorous and comparable across classrooms. For non-tested grades and subjects, student achievement data means alternative measures of student learning and performance, such as student scores on pre-tests and end-of-course tests; student performance on English language proficiency assessments; and other measures of student achievement that are rigorous and comparable across classrooms, developed in partnership with input from relevant specialist organizations or licensure bodies and the Delaware State Education Association (DSEA) and approved by the Department. For tested grades and subjects, student achievement data means student scores on the State assessment system and, as appropriate, other measures of student learning, such as those specified for non-tested grades and subjects, provided they are rigorous and comparable across classrooms.
