ACCESS Chair

The ACCESS for ELLs test chair serves as a liaison between the Language Acquisition Division and the local school, and disseminates information and materials from ACCESS for ELLs chair meetings to school administrators, ESL teachers, counselors, and general education teachers. The chair serves as the test coordinator for the ACCESS for ELLs exam and collaborates with the school staff members who coordinate interim assessments and DC CAS testing to ensure that English language learners receive the appropriate accommodations. The chair also collaborates with school staff to collect data for former ELL students who are receiving monitoring services and works with school administrators to ensure timely dissemination of all ELL students’ parent/guardian notifications.

Teachers or counselors serving as ACCESS for ELLs test chairs must be familiar with ACCESS for ELLs testing procedures, the ELL accommodation guidelines for the PARCC, ESL exiting criteria and monitoring requirements, the parent/guardian letters required for NCLB compliance, and the main elements of the DC Language Access Act as it applies in a school setting. Teachers interested in this position should contact their principal.

Burst Point of Contact

This point of contact is responsible for managing materials, coordinating instructional schedules, and monitoring the implementation of the Burst intervention program at her or his school for kindergarten through grade 3. This position is vital to ensuring that students receive regular, high-quality Burst instruction. Teachers interested in serving as a Burst point of contact should have attended an Amplify Burst training, have two or more years of experience teaching Burst instruction to small groups of students, and have experience assisting with creating classroom or school-wide Burst implementation schedules.

Teachers should also possess extensive first-hand knowledge of the DIBELS and Burst assessment procedures and the technology and materials associated with the Burst cycle. Experience teaching Burst lessons in a variety of settings is preferred. For more information, contact [email protected].

Early Childhood Grade Level Chair

An early childhood grade level chair provides information, support, guidance, and leadership for other early childhood educators in her or his school. In this position, grade level chairs will support the coordination of high-quality services for 3–5 year old students in Title I DCPS classrooms by serving as the school site contact for information on Head Start program requirements, including those set forth in the Head Start Program Performance Standards related to early childhood education and development, indoor and outdoor health and safety, child supervision, and program monitoring.

Teachers may apply for a year-long grade level chair position at their schools. Applicants must be nominated by their principals, and selection will be made by the Office of Early Childhood Education. Grade level chairs participate in a mandatory, paid, multi-day summer training prior to beginning their role and receive an annual stipend. Teachers interested in this position should contact their principals.

Read 180 Point of Contact

This point of contact is responsible for monitoring the implementation of Read 180 at her or his school, including managing program materials and coordinating instructional schedules. The point of contact is
also responsible for ensuring that the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) testing is completed within the designated testing windows.

Read 180 points of contact should be prepared to disaggregate and compile data with teachers to analyze growth and trends. They will also support teachers in implementing recommendations provided by external Read 180 coaches during school visits. This position is vital to ensuring that students receive regular, high-quality Read 180 instruction.

Teachers interested in serving as a Read 180 point of contact should have attended the Read 180 and SRI trainings and have experience teaching Read 180. The point of contact should also be familiar with the SRI assessment and administration procedures, and how to use this data to identify students for Read 180. Teachers interested in this position should have a Read 180 implementation level rating of expert or practitioner on recent fidelity reports.

Scholastic Reading Inventory Point of Contact

The Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) point of contact is responsible for ensuring that all students at a designated school are tested at the beginning and end of each academic year. The SRI point of contact records individual student growth and keeps records of students’ Lexile levels to provide to teachers. This position is vital to ensuring that students receive high-quality, targeted literacy interventions.

Teachers who are interested in serving as an SRI point of contact should be familiar with Scholastic Achievement Manager (SAM), the SRI assessment and administration procedures, and how to read and analyze data.

Teachers are selected each June for the following school year. There is one position available in each secondary school. In order to serve as an SRI POC, the designee must attend one of the Scholastic Reading Inventory trainings in August.

Spotlight: Katherine Chesterson

Katherine started her career in 2009 at Anne Beers Elementary School as a Special Education teacher through DC Teaching Fellows.  As an Instructional Coach, she works with teachers and students to improve instructional practices and drive student achievement.  Katherine does this by creating and facilitating school-based professional development, leading school-wide data discussions, and facilitating collaborative and individual learning cycles.

Katherine also participated in in the Teachers Central to Leadership Fellowship in DCPS's Central Office, working with the Teacher Recruitment and Selection team in the Office of Human Capital.

I love working in DCPS.  I think it is a very progressing place where a lot of passionate people are working toward the same goal:  raising student achievement and giving children the tools they need to be successful.  That is what I want to do and there is no place else I would rather do it.