The deadline for submitting a Distinguished Teacher Review application was midnight Thursday, Jan. 22, and the number of submissions indicates teachers are excited. Of the more than 1,400 teachers identified to take part in the Distinguished Teacher Review process, 1,390 applied – representing more than 94 percent of those eligible.
The Distinguished Teacher Review is a component of Dallas ISD’s new evaluation system, the Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI), and assesses the quality of instruction, leadership, lifelong learning, and contributions to the profession of the district’s most effective teachers. The district believes that these teachers will set the bar for what highly effective teaching looks like in Dallas ISD.
“We know that teachers make the difference in the academic achievement of our students,” said Superintendent of Schools Mike Miles. “Teachers participating in this inaugural Distinguished Teacher Review process are the standard bearers for the quality of teaching we are working to achieve in all of our classrooms.”
Applications will now be reviewed and scored by a central review team, and site visits will be made to verify each candidate’s quality of instruction. The months-long process will provide evaluation ratings and effectiveness levels, which will identify the district’s distinguished teachers.
Dallas ISD is breaking ground with TEI and the completion of Distinguished Teacher Review process applications is another step toward transforming the way teachers are compensated.
The traditional teacher salary schedule, which uses years of service and college degrees as the key measures for compensation, places little importance on teacher performance and student outcomes. Dallas ISD’s new evaluation and compensation model eliminates the traditional teacher salary schedule and replaces it with a compensation system based on teacher effectiveness. Under the new system, teachers have the opportunity to earn more in less time than their peers in other districts that compensate using a traditional salary model.
