department of education

Office of the Secretary

FINAL

ORDER

235 Teacher of the Year Award

I. Summary of the Evidence and Information Submitted

The Secretary of Education intends to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 235 Teacher of the Year Award in order to clarify in 1.4 the required status of a district or charter school nominee for the Teacher of the Year award during their nominated year.

Notice of the proposed regulation was published in the News Journal and the Delaware State News on December 2, 2005, in the form hereto attached as Exhibit “A”. No comments were received.

II. Findings of Facts

The Secretary finds that it is appropriate to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 235 in order to clarify in 1.4 the required status of a district or charter school nominee for the Teacher of the Year award during their nominated year.

III. Decision to Amend the Regulation

For the foregoing reasons, the Secretary concludes that it is appropriate to amend 14 DE Admin. Code 235. Therefore, pursuant to 14 Del.C. Ch. 89, 14 DE Admin. Code 235 attached hereto as Exhibit “B” is hereby amended. Pursuant to the provision of 14 Del.C. §122(e), 14 DE Admin. Code 235 hereby amended shall be in effect for a period of five years from the effective date of this order as set forth in Section V. below.

IV. Text and Citation

The text of 14 DE Admin. Code 235 amended hereby shall be in the form attached hereto as Exhibit “B”, and said regulation shall be cited as 14 DE Admin. Code 235 in the Administrative Code of Regulations for the Department of Education.

V. Effective Date of Order

The actions hereinabove referred to were taken by the Secretary pursuant to 14 Del.C. Ch. 89 on January 5, 2006. The effective date of this Order shall be ten (10) days from the date this Order is published in the Delaware Register of Regulations.

IT IS SO ORDERED the 5th day of January 2006.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Valerie A. Woodruff, Secretary of Education

1.0 Qualifications

To be considered for the Teacher-of-the-Year award, a person shall have taught, continuously or intermittently, for an accumulative period of three years or more previous to the date of such person’s nomination; shall have been formally nominated; and be actively teaching in this state at the time of nomination. A nominee shall have met all the requirements for a Standard Certificate for the position held, as approved by the Professional Standards Board, Department of Education and the State Board of Education.

To be considered for the Teacher of the Year award a person shall:

1.1 Have taught, continuously or intermittently, for an accumulative period of three years or more in a Delaware public school previous to the date of such person's nomination.

1.2 Have been formally nominated.

1.3 Be actively teaching in their district or charter school in this state at the time of their nomination.

1.4 Continue to actively teach in the nominating district or charter school for the duration of the [school] year of their nomination.

1.4.1 If the nominee chooses to leave the district or charter school during the selection period the district or charter school shall submit another nominee.

1.5 Meet all the requirements for a Standard Certificate for the position held and hold a valid and current license, as approved by the Professional Standards Board, Department of Education and the State Board of Education.

7 DE Reg. 1178 (3/1/04)

2.0 Nominations

The following shall apply in preparing nominations in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

2.1 The Department of Education shall meet annually with the district coordinators of the Teacher of the Year Program and the coordinator representative for the charter schools for the purpose of providing them with detailed instructions and proper forms for the presentation of nominees. Each district is invited to nominate one teacher employed by the district and the charter schools are invited to select one nominee to represent all of the charter schools.

2.1.1 Nominees shall be skillful and dedicated teachers, pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Administrative personnel such as principals and guidance counselors are not eligible to be considered for State Teacher of the Year. Nominees for State Teacher of the Year who are not actively engaged in teaching in a public school at the time at which observations are made pursuant to Section 2.2 below shall be disqualified.

2.2 Nominees shall submit a portfolio describing themselves and setting forth their positions on educational issues. Format will be based on the National Teacher of the Year program.

2.3 Following the submission of the portfolios, selected Department of Education staff members and selected former state and local district Teachers of the Year shall be assigned in pairs to read the portfolios of two nominees and observe those nominees in the classroom based on the criteria stipulated in the Teacher of the Year Nomination Information Document Program Guide that is updated each year. Another group of Department of Education Staff members shall be assigned to read all of the portfolios and rate them based on forms found in the Teacher of the Year Nomination Information Document Program Guide. Based on the numerical ratings from both the portfolio readers and from the observations, three nominees shall be identified as finalists for consideration by a panel of judges.

2.4 The panel of judges shall include: the current State Teacher of the Year; the President of the State Congress of Parents and Teachers; the President of the State Student Council Association; a member of the State Board of Education; a representative of the Chamber of Commerce; the President of the Delaware State Education Association; and the Chair of the Professional Standards Board or, if necessary, their designees.

2.5 The judges shall recommend one person for the Secretary of Education to declare as the State Teacher of the Year.

3 DE Reg. 104 (7/1/99)

7 DE Reg. 1178 (3/1/04)