Since the mid 1980's, many important developments have occurred in Florida and throughout the nation that have informed Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) and the United Teachers of Dade (UTD) of new approaches to professional growth and evaluation of instructional and school support/resource personnel. Revisions to the previous evaluation instrument, the Teacher Assessment and Development System (TADS), agreed upon by the M-DCPS/ UTD Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation in ongoing discussions, have resulted in the creation of the Professional Assessment and Comprehensive Evaluation System (PACES). This new system is expected to:

• raise expectations for teaching and learning above those reflected in TADS;

• promote ongoing professional growth for all educators in M-DCPS;

• promote student achievement by enabling higher levels of learning;

• reduce paperwork and more fully integrate assessment and evaluation processes with new technologies; and

• accommodate individual differences among educators and appreciate the unique contexts in which individual educators work.

 

The focus of PACES is the ongoing assessment of teaching and learning by teachers, their colleagues, and administrators for the purpose of professional development. The need for continual professional growth is a priority for teachers because teachers have the most direct, ongoing influence on student learning. However, as an educational community, it is critical for all educators who support learners directly and indirectly to engage in professional growth that extends practice.

The professional growth process and end-of-year evaluation are highly interrelated because ongoing classroom-based observation and observation of teaching and learning as well as activities of school support/resource personnel that provide information about professional development are the keys to successful employee evaluations. Observation of teaching and learning provides individuals with information important for developing ongoing professional growth activities. Evaluation reflects the extent to which employees are meeting job performance expectations.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools and UTD are committed to promoting student achievement by:

·        creating a district-wide culture which nurtures the growth of a community of learners composed of prospective and current teachers, school support/resource personnel, administrators, students, parents, universities and other community partners;

• providing learning opportunities for all learners;

• attending to individual differences among learners;

• supporting a safe, caring environment that is conducive to learning;

• sharing the responsibility for each learner’s growth; and

• supporting teachers in fulfilling their duties and obligations to learners.

To achieve these ends, the teachers of Miami-Dade County Public Schools are assured of:

• opportunities to grow professionally;

• a work environment that promotes personal development;

• support and assistance to help children learn and improve;

• freedom to make professional decisions to enhance learning; and

• choice of developmental pursuits.

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