DeKalb Schools has a new concept called the “Professional Development Institute”. It will be deployed this Wednesday – Friday (Aug 5-7). The goal of these 3 days is to learn how to teach virtually effectively.
There are a lot of questions. Hopefully we can figure out some answers here. This is what we know so far.
ProDev Rate: Certified staff $35/hr & Classified staff $18/hr
The administration tells me professional development is “strongly encouraged”, but it is not mandatory.
Mandatory & Choice Sessions
All identified school-based employee groups who attend the full-day professional development sessions will be compensated through a STIPEND process. I don’t believe the stipend amount has been defined yet.
There are mandatory whole team sessions each AM. AM Mandatory whole group virtual meetings will be guided/facilitated by the local
school principal via a staff TEAMS meeting.
SAMPLE AM SCHEDULE
Although sessions in the PM are primarily choice, there are sessions that are required for certain employee groups based on guidance from a particular DCSD department (e.g., Exceptional Education Dept., etc.) and/or the local school principal.
SAMPLE PM SCHEDULE
The sessions may either be asynchronous (pre-recorded) or synchronous (LIVE). There are no session/course capacity limits which would require pre-registration. It seems like attendance will be determined by virtual monitoring and/or uploaded lesson work.
In other News …
Middle School Sports – Note from DeKalb Schools Administration,
“In coordination with other Metro-Atlanta school districts, an abundance of caution and the best interest of our children, staff and community, DCSD has elected to postpone all middle school sports activities for the 2020-21 school year. The rationale for this decision was based on
- the assessment of other Metro Atlanta districts with middle school programs and
- primarily on the data provided by the Georgia State Board of Health regarding COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and mortality rates. ”
DeKalb Schools Sports – Town Hall
Join DCSD Athletics on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 5:30 p.m. for a virtual town hall to learn more about the impact of COVID-19 on school sports. Watch here: https://t.co/dI9T6qqTGJ pic.twitter.com/WNIDgxds1E
— DeKalb Schools, GA (@DeKalbSchools) August 3, 2020
“Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice. Moderation in pursuit of justice is no virtue.”