PL Update Administrator Edition

We are pleased to provide you with the PL Monthly Update for September! As you scan the update, be sure to check out this month’s TOP 5:

#1: How to Access our PL Monthly Updates (present and past)

You are just a few clicks away from easy access to PL Monthly Updates – present and past. Rather than dig through old emails, consider adding the current PL Monthly Update to your favorites by bookmarking it. To do so, click on the star icon to the right of the above web address. To access past PL Monthly Updates, scroll down to the bottom of this page and click the PL MONTHLY UPDATES button.

#2: Attend our LLI Mini-Conference @ Berry Center on September 25th

We are excited to kick off another year of the district’s Learning Leader Institute (LLI) on September 25 at Berry Center. FIRST Educational Resources and J Casas and Associates will join us for the fall mini-conference. The day will begin with the opening keynote speaker, Baruti Kafele! Seats are limited, so scroll down, select your sessions, and register today!

#3: Critical Action Items

CF-TESS appraisal plans for 2024-25 were targeted to individual teachers based on new hire status, Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), or last year’s plan recommendation indicated by campus appraisers. Noted below are critical action items that will ensure accuracy.

#4: Upcoming Fall Brain Bits Virtual Sessions

“Often we are so busy with sawing that we forget to sharpen the saw.” -- Stephen Covey

We are SO excited to share with you our newest professional development opportunity to sharpen your saw. We recently developed Brain Bits Virtual Sessions brought to you by Quantum Learning!

Session details are provided below.

#5: Compliance-related Required Courses

The district requires that all employees complete a series of yearly compliance-related courses to educate them on the various health, safety, social, and ethical issues that might arise on the job. The directions below enumerate the steps for completing courses launched through Schoology and SafeSchools.Scroll down to access a complete listing of required courses and corresponding due dates.

No later than the final day of the first 3 weeks of school and at least 3 weeks before the first observation (informal or formal), the campus principal (or designee) will provide teachers new to the profession and/or new to CFISD are provided with an Orientation to CF-TESS through a blended professional development model. They are guided to complete an online component via My Learning prior to joining the principal (or designee) for a required face-to-face session.

Access this shared folder of available materials for the ORIENTATION TO CF-TESS. Materials included are detailed below:

A help guide for completing the Verification of Orientation is posted on your CFPGS Homepage under My Appraisal Resources.

The campus principal (or designee) will provide an Annual Review of CF-TESS for ALL teachers (returning and new) no later than the final day of the first three weeks of instruction and at least three weeks before the first observation.

Access this shared folder of available materials for the ANNUAL REVIEW.

📝NOTE: The Annual Review slide deck within the shared folder also includes slides for the required TIA update.

A help guide for completing the Verification of Orientation is posted on your CFPGS Homepage under My Appraisal Resources.

During Phase 1 of the appraisal process, teachers will establish and implement a Personal Professional Goal, as well as a Goal for Student Growth. As a final step in this process, the teacher and appraiser will schedule a face-to-face Goal-Setting Conference to review the Personal Professional Goal as well as the Goal for Student Growth.

Access this shared folder of available training materials for the Goal-setting Process.

A help guide for teachers for completing Phase 1: Establish and Implement Goals is posted on your CFPGS Homepage under My Appraisal Resources.

For the 2024-25 school year, CF-TESS appraisal plans have been targeted to each classroom teacher based on their new hire status, eligibility for the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), or recommendations from last year's plan as indicated by campus appraisers.

The following critical action items will help ensure accuracy:

By September 13

Accessing the Report:

• Run the Active ID, Hire Date, & Assigned Plan Report in CFPGS.
• This report may include staff members who are no longer employed by the district. They will continue to pull in the report until their last paycheck, August 30.
• To do this, click the REPORTING tab in the top navigation bar of CFPGS and locate the report under My Ad-Hoc Reports.

• Download the report as a CSV file for easy sorting and filtering, then save it as an Excel spreadsheet.
  
• Check the "Evaluation Plan Type" column. If it’s blank for any teacher, no plan is currently assigned. This may be appropriate for certain roles, such as an instructional coach who isn't appraised under CF-TESS.

• Ensure all classroom teachers have the correct appraisal plan assigned.
  
• Principals or DIs should complete this form to:
  

• Verify that all teacher appraisal plan assignments are accurate
  
• Indicate any necessary changes
  

Note: Appraisal plans will be assigned to new hires as they onboard throughout the year.

By September 13

Appraiser Assignment:

• Assign an appraiser to each teacher within CFPGS before beginning the appraisal process.

• As a Site Admin (principal/DI), ensure you are attached as the primary appraiser for any teacher you evaluate. This is crucial, as only the primary appraiser can initiate and complete the End-of-Year (EOY) Appraisal Summary.

A help guide for attaching and removing appraiser rights is available on your CFPGS Homepage under Resources for Site Administrators.

Access the Appraiser’s Checklist for 2024-25 as it provides at a glance the established process and timeline surrounding CF-TESS.

This document is also posted in CFPGS via Resources for Appraisers.

We’ve set up a few reports in CFPGS that are aimed at helping you work smarter, not harder.

Appraisers can find these reports by clicking on the REPORTING tab in CFPGS.

1. Draft Goal from Previous School Year Report – This report allows you to view a teacher’s Personal Professional Goal (PPG) that was drafted when the teacher prepared for their EOY Conference.
2. Active ID, Hire Date, & Assigned Plan Report – This report includes each teacher's employee ID number, hire date, and assigned plan type.
   

1. Appraisal Entry Report – This report will allow you to review Formal Appraisal entries for all teachers in Domains 2 and 3 with a status of not started, in progress, or completed.
2. Credit Conversion Report – If you allow teachers to submit Credit Conversion Requests (moving eligible off-contract credits to CTE credits), then this report will provide you with an at-a-glance view of those who have submitted hours.
3. PD Calendar Year: Total Credits Report – This report will allow you to see, at-a-glance, the total credits by credit type for each teacher. This is a beneficial report as it allows you to view the total number of CTE credits per teacher. It is easy to access.
4. Required Course Completion Roster Report - This report is aimed at assisting you in monitoring the completion of compliance-related required courses.

The district will continue its pilot for the 2024-25 school year, adding additional groups. The pilot group will include:

• Admin Asst I, Attendance
• Admin Asst I, SPED
• Admin Asst II, Finance MS
• Admin Asst III, Finance HS
• Admin Asst I, HS Counselor
• Registrar, HS

The differentiated areas of responsibility for each role, as defined by the district's HR team, are reflected in Domain 1 of the evaluation instrument for each.

Additional information and details are forthcoming and will be emailed to principals and impacted employees.

The district requires that all employees complete a series of yearly compliance-related courses to educate them on the various health, safety, social, and ethical issues that might arise on the job. The directions below enumerate the steps for completing courses launched through Schoology and SafeSchools.

Here is a complete listing of required compliance-related courses for RETURNING EMPLOYEES, NEW HIRE TEACHERS, and SPECIFIC AUDIENCES (i.e., nurses, campus admin).

Courses marked with a ⭐ ICON offer the TEST-OUT option. In order to ensure successful completion of each course, users are encourage to follow the directions highlighted in the help guide referenced below.

A help guide and a video tutorial for accessing and completing compliance-related courses are posted on your CFPGS Homepage under Resources for My Learning.

📝NOTE: Beginning on page 3 of this document, you’ll find directions for completing courses with the TEST-OUT option.

We are excited to kick off another year of the district’s Learning Leader Institute (LLI) on September 25 at Berry Center. By way of two mini-conferences (fall and spring), leaders will engage in learning that revolves around timely and relevant themes focused on the needs and challenges faced by today’s leaders.

FIRST Educational Resources and J Casas and Associates will join us for the fall mini-conference. The day will begin with the opening keynote speaker, Baruti Kafele! If you would like to preview breakout session offerings and other details, click here.

Principals, Directors, and Coordinators can involve up to two additional leadership team members based on the mini-conference topics and their needs.

Seating is limited. Registration closes on September 20. Register TODAY for Session #58540!

“Often we are so busy with sawing that we forget to sharpen the saw.” -- Stephen Covey

We are SO excited to share our newest professional development opportunity with you to sharpen your saw. We recently developed Brain Bits Virtual Sessions, brought to you by Quantum Learning! You’ll find session details in this month’s update.

Quantum Learning is a proven research-based approach to learning and teaching integrating best educational practices into a unified whole. Participants learn a system to effectively facilitate the learning process and understand theory and implementation by creating an optimal learning environment for students K-12.

Our Brain Bits Virtual Sessions are a series of professional development courses that provide small, digestible chunks to provide learners with relevant content in a virtual setting.

AUDIENCE: Those new to Quantum Learning, and those who have experienced Quantum Learning and would like more QL content.

DESCRIPTION: The emotional control center in the brain, also known as the amygdala, has the capability of hi-jacking the pre-frontal cortex of our students’ brains, negatively impacting their learning. In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will calm the amygdala to facilitate higher order thinking and start the process of encoding our content into long term memory.

AUDIENCE: Those new to Quantum Learning, and those who have experienced Quantum Learning and would like more QL content.

DESCRIPTION: Do you find yourself telling your students over and over to “Pay attention!”? Guess what? They ARE paying attention ALL THE TIME…to the most exciting thing in the room at any given moment. Is it you? Your lessons? Your activities? If not, have no fear! In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will capture and hold the working memory of our students, so that their attention is focused on our content.

*Be ready with a lesson that could use an “upgrade”.

AUDIENCE: Those new to Quantum Learning, and those who have experienced Quantum Learning and would like more QL content.

DESCRIPTION: How often do you ask students to recall something that you taught a day or two earlier, only to hear them say, “I have no idea what you are talking about!”? The part of the brain called the hippocampus plays a critical role in short- and long-term memory retention. In this 2-hour session, we will share research-driven, brain-based strategies that will help our students’ brains keep our content and remember it longer. In Quantum Learning, we call these strategies “feeding the hippo”.

*Be ready with a lesson that could use an “upgrade”.

Four key principles govern a comprehensive induction program: orientation, ongoing support provided through the district's New Teacher Institute, mentoring, and networking. The goal of mentoring and induction programs is the retention and growth of new teachers so that every student succeeds.

Supporting New Teachers in September

Lead Mentors at every campus are equipped with proven strategies for mentoring novice teachers as well as preparing campus mentors to meet the needs of novice teachers during the Phases of First Year Teaching. Each new teacher is paired with a mentor and meets on a regular basis while developing relationships that involve trust, open communication, and collaboration.

Lead Mentor Share Session

Lead Mentors are invited to join us on Wednesday, September 11th, at the Mark Henry Administrative Building from 5:00-6:00 pm. Don’t forget to register in CFPGS, session #56250.

Checkout Our New Teacher Induction Webpage

You are just a click away from additional resources to support Lead Mentors, Mentors, and New Teachers. Simply click HERE.

Feel free to reach out to tonya.dixon@cfisd.net with questions or concerns

At every campus, Professional Learning Liaisons are specifically chosen to serve in the role based on their knowledge and willingness to help others grow. As the school year begins, PLLs help monitor staff’s progress in completing the beginning of the year Compliance Courses.

In addition, PLLs assist staff with accessing professional development transcripts and records and share information about professional development opportunities.

Principals, DIs, and District Department Leaders, consider sharing this flyer regarding our upcoming training for Creating Courses in My Learning with any new or additional staff/team members that you wish to designate as Course Requesters (those who will be able to add courses and sections in My Learning) for your campus or department.

Because we know that you continuously seek opportunities to grow others and yourself, we encourage you to explore and share two available resources that are just a couple of clicks away.

• Leadership Development Resources – visit here to find information regarding the district’s Leadership Institute Series
• Graduate Resources – this one-stop-shop provides various graduate programs for those seeking principal certification and/or a M.Ed., Ed.D., or Ph.D.

The professional learning department is committed to providing support, building capacity, and cultivating talent by partnering with departments across the district to provide research-based professional development that can translate into improved student achievement and overall school effectiveness.

The team offers educators a continuum of support services through multiple professional learning opportunities. From new teacher induction and mentoring to the teacher appraisal process, leadership development, and Quantum Learning, the Professional Learning staff strives to provide high-quality, job-embedded professional learning for all stages of professional growth. The essential functions of the department are as follows:

1. Cypress-Fairbanks Professional Growth System (CFPGS)
2. New Teacher Induction and Mentoring
3. Teacher Appraisal Process
4. Graduate Cohorts and Resources
5. Districtwide Professional Development

Glenda Horner, Ed.D.

Director for Professional Learning

Torine Champion, Ed. D.
Coordinator for Professional Learning

Tonya Dixon, Ed.D.

Professional Learning Specialist

Belinda Sepulveda
Administrative Assistant to Director for Professional Learning

Pat Bice
Administrative Assistant for Professional Learning