FREE TEKS-based Professional Development
TEA and the 20 ESCs created professional development to give Texas Teachers a scope for every K-12 TEKS in every subject. This material was funded by a grant worth $31,900,000.
Why isn’t this material posted on the TEA website?
How did the 20 ESCs develop the material for the Statewide Professional Development Initiatives K-12 for every subject and at the same time develop comparable materials for CSCOPE?
CSCOPE is sold to schools.
The Statewide Professional Development Initiatives, which has more information about the TEKS than does CSCOPE, is free to schools.
Why are superintendents purchasing CSCOPE from the ESCs instead of using the free materials from the ESCs?
A better questions is—Why are the ESCs selling CSCOPE when they already have a program that is free?
Are the two programs the same?
Following is on the TEA website. It is a thank you note to school districts who used the free materials and gives a brief description of the program.
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Boots on the Ground Action Plan
Ask your superintendent why your school district is buying CSCOPE intead of using comparable free materials.
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October 3, 2011
To: The Administrator Addressed
Re: Professional Development Opportunities and New Resources in Project Share
The Texas Education Agency (TEA) would like to thank the many districts and open-enrollment charters that participated in the professional development opportunities made available during summer 2011. All professional development, funded through Rider 42, the 81st Texas Legislature’s Student Success Initiative, will continue throughout the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years and into summer 2013. The professional development trainings are provided to educators at no cost and are available through the twenty education service centers (ESCs).
TEKS-based professional development is available to Grades K-12 teachers and administrators and addresses various topics such the new social studies TEKS; end-of-course success for math, science, English, and social studies; math, science, and social studies academies; English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) academies; and Texas Adolescent Literacy Academies (TALA). All professional development is designed to address content specific TEKS as well as the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS), the ELPS, and the Response to Intervention (RtI) model. In addition to the training that is offered in face-to-face settings, online professional development courses are also available through Project Share. Eligible participants, both face-to-face and online, are able to earn continuing professional education credits (CPEs).Your service center is prepared to provide more information about each academy, including participant eligibility, face-to-face and online options, and training schedules. For a list of available online courses, a course catalog is available through the Project Share website at http://www.projectsharetexas.org/educators.html.
We are pleased to report that, in addition to professional development offered through Project Share, the statewide online platform continues to grow and to offer new options in online resources, collaboration, and learning for both educators and students. New resources such as McDonald Observatory’s StarDate and NASA at 50 are available through the content repository, and ESCs are now prepared to share state-developed OnTrack math and science lessons with districts and open-enrollment charters that elect to use the online resources as supplementary materials in Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, biology, chemistry and physics. Districts interested in receiving electronic copies of the OnTrack lessons can contact an ESC Project Share representative to learn more about how to import and manage district-level copies. A list providing Project Share contacts for each ESC is attached to this letter. OnTrack lessons will also be made available through iTunesU.
TEA plans to continue to develop and share online resources and provide information about Project Share at the Project Share website at www.projectsharetexas.org and through institutional announcements within the Epsilen platform. Also in development is the Project Share 2020 strategic plan that outlines the goals and objectives for Project Share through the 2020-2021 school year.
Throughout the summer, districts began to add student accounts, and Project Share account numbers now approach 500,000. We are excited about the growing opportunities made possible by Project Share and look forward to continued collaboration and sharing with Texas public schools. For additional information about professional development and Project Share, please contact your regional ESC or contact Kerry Ballast, Director of Special Projects at kerry.ballast@tea.state.tx.us or (512) 463-9087 or via the Project Share mailbox at projectshare@tea.state.tx.us.
Sincerely,
Anita Givens
Associate Commissioner
Standards and Programs
