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Welcome friends. Let’s discuss the Draft Professional Growth Plan, or DPGP.
Our goal is to define DPGP, specifically attending to its purpose and requirements and steps
for completing it.
The easiest rationale for the Draft Professional Growth Plan is that it is required by the
State of Washington for all new teachers earning a Residency Teacher Certificate. Indeed, the
requirement is written into Washington Administrative Code, chapter 181. This is the same chapter
used for deriving Principles of HOPE program standards. And just for your knowledge, here’s
the statute in WAC requiring edTPA. Nevertheless, the requirements we are focused on is the
Draft Professional Growth Plan, which states, “All candidates shall exit the residency
certificate program with a draft professional growth plan oriented toward the expectations
for the professional certificate.”
Briefly, some additional information linking DPGP to future certification requirements.
The initial level of certification for teachers in Washington is called Residency. The next
level is called Professional (most states have multiple tiers of teacher certification
to encourage growth). New teachers receive a Residency Certificate, which is valid for
one and one-half years of full time employment or FTE. The certificate is reissued after
1.5 years of teaching with a three year expiration date. The three year reissue may be extended
by two years for a total of five years. During this three or five year reissue period, a
teacher is expected to work toward the Professional Certificate by either completing the ProTeach
portfolio or National Board Certification. The employer district and OSPI assist teachers
in keeping track of due dates and steps for moving from Residency to Professional certification.
The ProTeach portfolio may be completed to move from Residency to Professional certification
after three to five years in the field. ProTeach has three tasks, similar to edTPA but with
slightly different emphasis.
A few points of interest are that ProTeach shares some important similarities with edTPA,
such as three focus students, analysis of student voice, and analysis of whole class
performance.
The ProTeach portfolio includes a needs assessment and authoring of a professional growth plan.
This growth plan is based on the Draft Professional Growth Plan written for Residency Certification.
Lastly, teachers in Washington State are evaluated according to eight evaluation criteria. These
include Centering instruction on high expectations for student achievement
Demonstrating effective teaching practices Recognizing individual student learning needs
and developing strategies to address those needs
Providing clear and intentional focus on subject matter content and curriculum
Fostering and managing a safe, positive learning environment
Using multiple student data elements to modify instruction and improve student learning
Communicating and collaborating with parents and school community
Exhibiting collaborative and collegial practices focused on improving instructional practice
and student learning New teachers are subject to evaluation by
building administrators or district designees on all of these criteria for the first three
years of employment.
The Draft Professional Growth Plan is required for certification, and this is important.
However, writing the DPGP also presents a significant opportunity to summarize internship
experiences, identify areas for improvement, and prepare for evaluation and certification
requirements once in the field.
DPGP includes two documents, a set of instructions and writing template.
Both documents are located in the Teacher Education SharePoint site, under the link
titled Draft Professional Growth Plan.
Be mindful to follow the steps for downloading documents from SharePoint.
The instructions show eight steps, including: Save a copy of “FIRST LAST NAME Template
for Draft Professional Growth Plan” to your computer.
Save the copy with your first and last name as part of the file name.
Select four criteria (from the eight available) where you perceive a need for growth.
Select one rubric from each criteria (for a total of four rubrics).
Respond to the reflective prompts for the four rubrics.
Briefly summarize responses from the four rubrics on the last page, Summary Page of
Draft Professional Growth Plan. Delete unused rubrics and criteria not selected
for reflection. Ensure four rubrics from four different criteria
have been included, along with the final summary page.
There is also an example of a completed rubric provided in the instructions.
Along with a scoring rubric used by instructors who are overseeing the completion of the DPGP.
The DPGP reflective template consists of eight criteria and 21 rubrics – the same criteria
and rubrics shown on Internship Evaluation. The template also includes a summary page
at the end, which is provided by the Professional Educator Standards Board. As the instructions
suggest, it is not necessary to reflect on all rubrics, but rather select four. Unused
rubrics should be deleted form the template.
Criteria are shown in blue, with corresponding rubrics below. Reflective prompts are aligned
with ProTeach writing prompts as practice for completion of this portfolio. State mandated
criteria, scales, and framework are also included for practice with teacher evaluation.
The summary page is required and it is shown at the end of the template. After responding
to four rubrics, briefly summarize by filling in the last page. Responses on the summary
page need not extend beyond one page. Signatures may be typed.
There are three steps for submitting your DPGP. First, submit the DPGP to the instructor
overseeing administration of it. Many instructors require submission of assignments using Blackboard
because it’s convenient. Next, after the DPGP is assessed by the instructor and shows
feedback, retrieve it. If the DPGP was uploaded to Blackboard it may be retrieved from there.
Finally, submit the copy showing instructor feedback to Teacher Education SharePoint site,
under the link titled, Draft Professional Growth Plan.
Please ensure you follow the steps described in this presentation and on the Instructions
for Draft Professional Growth Plan. Failure to follow direction may delay processing of
certification paperwork. However, a more valuable point is that writing your DPGP in an opportunity
to focus on areas of growth for improvement.