ADEPT Overview
ADEPT is South Carolina's system for assisting, developing, and evaluating professional teaching. Based on state expectations (i.e., the ADEPT Performance Standards) that are aligned with nationally recognized professional standards, the ADEPT system forms a seamless continuum for educators throughout the entirety of their careers.
ADEPT includes both formal and informal evaluations. Most classroom based teachers will participate in the SAFE-T formal evaluation model; media specialists, guidance counselors and speech teachers follow the traditional ADEPT formal evaluation model. All teachers who are not on formal evaluation are expected to complete Professional Growth and Development plans, which are updated annually.
Certified Staff Formal Evaluations (SAFE-T)
Educators are required to successfully complete an ADEPT formal evaluation at the annual contract level in order to advance to a professional teaching certificate and to be eligible for employment at the continuing contract level. The formal evaluation process for teachers is currently known by the acronym SAFE-T, which stands for Summative ADEPT Formal Evaluation for Classroom Based Teachers,. Media Specialists, Guidance Counselors and Speech Language Therapists participate in the traditional formal ADEPT evaluation for special area personnel.
Resources for both evaluators and teachers being evaluated can be found below. Forms can be easily identified by the prefix in their titles (ET stands for evaluator template; TT stands for teacher template).
TT1 - Teacher Template - Long Range Plans
TT2 - Teacher Template - Unit Work Sample
TT3 - Teacher Template - Reflection on Instruction and Student Learning
TT4 - Teacher Template - Professional Self-Assessment
ET1 - Evaluator Template - Classroom Observation Record
ET2 - Evaluator Template - Professional Performance Review
ET3 - Evaluator Template - Preliminary and Final SAFE-T Summaries (must be completed and signed by all participants in the evaluation process and submitted to the Office of Human Resources at the conclusion of the evaluation cycle).
ET4 - Evaluator Template - SAFE-T Log (must be completed and signed by all participants in the evaluation process and submitted to the Office of Human Resources at the conclusion of the evaluation cycle).
Goals-Based Evaluations (GBE)
Continuing contract teachers not currently participating in the formal evaluation process will participate in the Goals Based Evaluation Process. Professional Growth & Development Plans form the basis of GBE, and allow the educator to develop his or her own goals with input from the principal and determine what evidence will be used to show progress or completion of the goal. Principals will review PGD plans in the fall again in the spring. A signed copy of each teacher's PGD Plan must be submitted to the Office of Human Resources prior to April 15th of each year. The Research & Development Professional Growth & Development Plan template can be accessed with the link below.
Professional Growth & Development Plans will follow either the Research and Development (R&D) format, or the Competency Based (CB) format. An administrator may direct an employee to develop a CB PGD plan at any time, based on specific areas identified by the principal. If an employee has not been directed to create a CB PGD, then he / she should develop an R&D PGD.
As in the past, the GBE process follows the 5-year validity cycle of the educator's certificate. There are, however, no pre-set goal areas, and educators may select one to three goals over a one-year or multi-year period for his / her R&D PGD Plan. Plans may be modified as necessary (for instance, in cases where the teacher is re-assigned to a new subject area). Educators may also choose whether to pursue goals individually, or in collaboration with others. The activities that the educator will implement while pursuing the goal may or may not count toward renewal credit for certification.
Goals should be developed on the formulation of a research question, which is then transformed into one or more goals. Goals should relate to one or more Adept Performance Standards (for a complete list of APS, see the link to the SAFE-T Guide for Teachers and Evaluators in the section above); should focus primarily on the higher-level cognitive processes of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (i.e, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create), and should be stated in terms of the educator’s influence on students. Goals should support any applicable school or district initiative.
Goals are desired end-points; they are not the activities and strategies implemented to reach those ends. For example, enrolling in a course is NOT a goal. It is an activity. The goal has to do with what should be gained by completing the course (e.g., more knowledge, greater skill).
An important part of the PGD process is identifying evidence to verify annual progress and / or overall goal accomplishment. Educators should determine what evidence will be used to make this determination. In general, educators are expected to collect, analyze and interpret data during the PGD process, and then disseminate the results (through presentations, articles, web sites, newsletters or e-mail).
Questions or concerns about the GBE process should be directed to the principal and / or to the Office of Human Resources.
