DATE FAQs
What is the purpose of the District Awards for Teacher Excellence (D.A.T.E.) program?
The purpose of D.A.T.E. is to allow districts to create or continue a system of awards for educators demonstrating success in improving student achievement. Texas school districts receive D.A.T.E. funds, determined based on Average Daily Attendance, from TEA to design and implement a performance award program that targets specific district needs and leads to increased student achievement. D.A.T.E. funds also aim to recruit, develop, and retain high quality teachers and strategic align district systems.
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What districts are currently participating in the D.A.T.E. program?
The D.A.T.E. program reaches an extraordinary percentage of Texas' students and teachers. There are currently 205 Texas school districts participating in the D.A.T.E. program. These districts represent over half of Texas’ nearly 312,000 teachers and 4,600,000 students.
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How does the D.A.T.E. program work?
District-level planning committees will establish goals for their district award plans that are consistent with and motivated by their district improvement strategic plan. Once the district goals have been determined, district-level planning committees will create an awards plan that is either: 1) district-wide, 2) for select participating campuses including Targeted Campuses, or 3) to implement TAP. If a district chooses to implement the program in a subset of campuses, then districts are required to target their most high-need campuses.
The planning committee will work with district stakeholders to select teachers and staff to be included in the plan, consistent with program goals, and determine how those individuals will be awarded. The committee will also determine the use of Part II funds for other allowable activities that support the goals of the program in the district.
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How can districts use D.A.T.E. funds?
D.A.T.E. grant awards are divided into two parts. Part I funds make up at least 60 percent of the grant award and must be used to award classroom teachers who are the most effective at improving student performance and who meet the Texas Education Code (TEC) definition of a classroom teacher. Part II funds, up to 40 percent of the grant award, can be used for teacher stipends, teacher mentors, principal incentives, awards to other campus employees, professional development, improving district data capacity, and elements of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP).
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What are the D.A.T.E. timelines I should know?
The D.A.T.E. grant period begins September 1, 2008 and extends to February 28, 2010. Between these dates, districts will have the opportunity the expend grant funds to work toward stated program goals and activities.
Districts will implement the D.A.T.E. program during the 2008-09 school year. Teacher and staff awards will be based on activities conducted during this time period. Performance award payouts will occur between May 15, 2009 and October 15, 2009.
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How do I find out what campuses and teachers are included in my district’s D.A.T.E. program?
If you would like to know which campuses, teachers, and staff are included in your district’s D.A.T.E. program, please contact your local district grant department. They can direct you to the appropriate individuals and documentation.
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