Final draft of the redesigned Delaware Classroom Teacher Observation Tool is available

The DDOE is pleased to present the final draft of the redesigned Delaware Classroom Teacher Observation Tool! The Delaware Teacher Classroom (DTC) Observation Tool is a tool for coaching and development. Administrators and teachers will use this rubric to align expectations for what high-quality teaching and learning looks like. The observer will use the rubric to guide the collection of evidence from classroom observations to assess the quality of teaching - both strengths and areas for growth. This tool will be piloted in select LEAs and charters during the 2021-2022 school year. The final rubric for implementation state-wide in 2022-2023 will be available in the spring of 2022.

The DTC Observation Tool is structured into three Performance Areas that describe the major elements of a successful classroom. Each Performance Area is accompanied by an Essential Question. They are:

1. Learning Environment: To what extent does the classroom environment support all students to learn?
2. Engagement in Learning: To what extent does the instruction support and engage all students?
3. Maximizing Learning: To what extent do all students retain and apply their learning with productive struggle?

Each Essential Question guides the observer to focus on three Indicators which describe the Performance Area at four levels of performance. Each Indicator is defined by several Descriptors. The Descriptors articulate the teacher and student behaviors that an observer would see in the classroom, during instruction, at each of four different performance levels. The observer collects evidence based on the Descriptors of those Indicators to identify feedback to support teacher growth and development and to support assessment of the instruction.

There are many things teachers do outside of the lesson that contribute to high-quality teaching and learning. To recognize this important work, each Performance Area includes Core Teacher Skills. Core Teacher Skills are not evaluated, but instead serve to name much of the work teachers do to achieve the levels of performance noted in the Indicators, and to provide a common language and set of expectations to support teacher growth and development.

In the Delaware Teacher Classroom Evaluation System, the observer will use the rubric to observe each teacher several times over the course of the school year, and to collect evidence at each observation. The observer will share feedback after each observation to support teacher growth and will only assign performance ratings at the end of the school year, using the evidence collected over the course of the entire year.