Education Partner and Instructor Policies
Contents
Education Partner and Instructor Policies.
Submitting Course Applications.
ASPDP and A+ Partnership
The After School Professional Development Program (ASPDP) reimagines professional learning in service of equity by offering critically conscious professional learning that equips educators to confront race, power, and privilege, and to disrupt inequities in order to maximize outcomes for all students, particularly Black, Indigenous, and other students of color, students experiencing economic hardship, Students with Disabilities, Multilingual Learners, LGBTQI+, and other students who have been marginalized by systemic inequities.
ASPDP offers NYC educators in-service courses which teachers can count toward salary differential and towards the New York State (NYS) 100 hours of Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) requirement. All courses are aligned with the NYC DOE’s Equity for All priority and the Danielson Framework for Teaching.
A+ is a new credit designation created in partnership between the DOE and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Fully appointed teachers who were hired after September 1, 2017 and who have not completed their salary differential will be required to complete a certain number of A+ credits if they wish to achieve the differential; please see our FAQ’s for more information on teacher eligibility and requirements.
Beginning in the fall 2019 semester, all ASPDP courses offered for the 2019-2020 school year are approved for A+ credit. Depending on their title, participants may be eligible for A+ credit if they register with ASPDP and the partner organization by the registration deadline, submit all applicable fees, and earn a passing grade in the course.
A+ course providers may include non-profits, cultural institutions, professional learning organizations, institutes of higher education, the UFT, or DOE offices.
Submitting Course Applications
When to Submit
ASPDP reviews course proposal applications only during open submission periods. ASPDP holds two open submission periods, one for Fall and one for Spring and Summer. Fall applications are typically due in April, and spring and summer applications are typically due in October. Please contact ASPDP@schools.nyc.gov for specific proposal deadlines.
What to Submit
Courses must be aligned to the A+ priorities, the standards outlined in the A+ rubric, and to ASPDP’s mission of fostering educational equity by offering rigorous professional learning that develops and deepens educators’ culturally responsive and sustaining teaching practices and beliefs.
ASPDP reserves the right to limit the number of proposals that partner organizations may submit, due to capacity constraints and/or shifts in NYC DOE priorities, and may limit review to only those course categories that are most aligned with current NYC DOE priorities and teachers’ needs. ASPDP also reserves the right to change the selected course category to one that more accurately reflects the course’s focus.
Please note that partners may offer up to four sections of an individual course; however, separate applications must be submitted for each course per semester.
Partners should submit a syllabus and a course profile survey in SurveyMonkey Apply within the application timeframe for that semester and follow any other requirements listed. You will be notified at least two weeks before the catalog opens whether your proposal has been accepted, rejected, or whether we have requested revisions in order to reconsider the application (“revise and resubmit”). You may only resubmit rejected courses once; if the course is rejected more than once, it cannot be resubmitted again for a full academic year.
Guidelines for Course Hours and Timing
Courses may offer between 15 and 45 hours of instruction and coursework. Courses with 45 hours of instruction will be offered for 3 credits; 30 hours for 2 credits; or 15 hours for 1 credit. Currently, we are not able to offer more than 3 credits per class, and proposals should not require participants to complete more than 45 hours of work. Participants may take a maximum of 12 credits per semester.
Education Partners may offer more than one section of a course within a semester when the sections are identical in course content, and should indicate their intention to offer multiple sections on the Course Profile Survey in SurveyMonkey Apply during the course application process. Education Partners should submit separate proposal applications for courses taking place in the same semester that are not identical in content/course structure.
All in-person course sessions must take place after contractual school hours and must not interfere with significant DOE events such as parent/teacher conferences. Please see the DOE school calendar to ensure there are no conflicts. In addition, all course dates must fall within the ASPDP semester dates to facilitate registration, timely grade validation, and survey completion for participants.
ASPDP Review Process
Guiding Principles
We believe that all teachers must partner with students, build their critical awareness, and continually engage with their school communities to develop their pedagogical practices in support of equity and justice for students who have been historically and are currently pushed to the margins. As part of educators’ ongoing development of their critical consciousness, they must also work to disrupt and replace any beliefs and practices that may contribute to inequitable learning environments and experiences for students. All courses approved by ASPDP should embody the guiding principles below:
- Critical awareness of and reflection on one's identity, sociopolitical context, and the influences of these entities on teaching and learning are key components for all adults engaged in this work, including instructors and course designers.
- This builds critical consciousness, a mindset that prompts the individual to:
- Disrupt existing narratives;
- Confront issues of race, power, and privilege in society and within their sphere of influence;
- Become an agent for institutional/social change. (Center for Strategic Solutions, 2015)
- Students are valuable partners in the learning process and bring an abundance of personal knowledge and experience. Teachers should co-construct learning experiences with their students by integrating student voices in the design and implementation of instruction.
- Teachers must continually engage with their ever-evolving climate, context, and the individuals in their school communities, as a necessary part of their professional responsibilities.
- We analyze and approach the Framework for Teaching with a critically conscious lens (including an examination of educators' own underlying beliefs and practices and the degree that they contribute to equitable learning experiences for students), allows us to collectively shape an understanding of strong pedagogical practice in support of equity and justice for historically marginalized students, including but not limited to Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color; Students with Disabilities; Multilingual Learners; and LGBTQIA+ students.
Proposal Review
ASPDP uses the A+ rubric to evaluate proposals and notify partners whether proposals have been accepted, rejected, or asked to revise based on rubric criteria, including those related to the development of culturally responsive-sustaining dispositions and practices (CR-SDP). The ASPDP team may also choose to discontinue a course at the discretion of the Chancellor, the A+ Joint Accreditation Committee (JAC), or the Director of the ASPDP.
Even for courses that have previously been approved, you must submit an updated syllabus through SurveyMonkey Apply with updated course dates and any other changes highlighted. ASPDP and the A+ JAC reserve the right to request revisions or reject a course that has previously been offered on the basis of participant feedback, proposal review, enrollment data, alignment to A+ priorities, observation feedback, or other metrics.
Course Observations
ASPDP reviewers periodically observe courses to ensure that the course syllabus that was approved during proposal review is effectively implemented. External partners should provide access to online courses for ASPDP representatives; we also reserve the right to make unannounced visits to in-person courses. Our staff may review the course syllabus, discussion forums, handouts, and other materials. Reviewers may ask to see completed projects from participants, samples of student learning, and/or evidence of instructor feedback.
External partners should be prepared to review observation feedback to make course revisions in order to ensure that all courses maintain their level of quality. ASPDP may discontinue offering courses on the basis of observation feedback in addition to other metrics if courses are not aligned with A+ priorities and ASPDP expectations.
Policies
Enrollment
Instructors may set the total number of seats for their courses. If an instructor wishes to add or decrease the number of seats, they are responsible for informing ASPDP before the registration deadline for that course.
Education Partners should check their rosters against the enrollment rosters on the ASPDP website to ensure that all participants who wish to receive A+ or P credit have enrolled with ASPDP by the registration deadline. If participants register for non-ASPDP approved courses with the education partner, they will not receive P or A+ credit. Participants who do not register with ASPDP by the registration deadline will not receive credit.
We recommend an enrollment minimum of five (5) participants to ensure that all participants have rich opportunities for discussion and peer collaboration. If registration is consistently low over multiple semesters, the course may no longer be offered through ASPDP.
All P credit courses taught by active, full-time NYC DOE employees in pedagogical titles, not affiliated with an external education partner, require a minimum enrollment of eighteen (18) participants. For more information, please see the section on “Policies for Active NYC DOE Pedagogical Employees”.
Registration Deadlines
ASPDP sets standard registration deadlines for all accepted courses, unless the partner requests a different date. ASPDP will share the upcoming semester’s course catalog with partners prior to public posting; if you wish to change your registration deadline, please reach out to us before the semester begins.
- For in-person courses and online courses that do not run the full semester (e.g. month-long online classes), the registration deadline is the day before class begins, unless an alternate deadline is requested.
- For asynchronous online courses that run the full semester, the registration deadline is set approximately halfway through the semester, unless an alternate deadline is requested.
Education Partners should proactively communicate ASPDP deadlines on their websites and in their communications. If participants register with the partner organization but do not complete their registration with ASPDP prior to the registration deadline, they will not be eligible for A+ or P credit for that class.
Registration Restrictions
If you wish to limit course registration to a particular group of educators or pre-screen participants, please email ASPDP after your proposal approval; you will be given an access code to distribute to participants when they register for the course on the ASPDP website. Please note that participants must register by the designated registration deadline, even though the course is restricted.
Course Fees
Non-DOE Education Partners may choose to charge a course fee. Your course fee should be noted on the proposal submission, and we recommend not exceeding $400 for a three-credit course. If you charge a fee for your course, you are responsible for collecting the payments from participants.
ASPDP also charges participants an administrative course fee based on the number of course credits. ASPDP will include both the ASPDP course fee and the Education Partner’s fee (if applicable) in the course details on our website.
Number of Credits for Class | ASPDP Fee for Classes Taught by NYC DOE Instructor (all-inclusive fee) | ASPDP Fee for Classes Taught by Non-DOE Education Partner (education partner may charge separate fee) |
1 credit | $75 | $45 |
2 credits | $150 | $90 |
3 credits | $225 | $125 |
Education Partners should clearly advertise both fees in their outreach to potential participants. To minimize confusion for participants, we also ask education partners to include the following language on their websites to clarify the payment structure:
NYC DOE Teachers: To receive full CTLE and salary differential A+/P credit for this course you must register with ASPDP on their website. If you do not complete the ASPDP registration by the registration deadline, you will not be eligible for A+ or P credits towards your salary differential. If you have questions about using ASPDP courses towards the salary differential, please email ASPDP at ASPDP@schools.nyc.gov.
Active, full-time NYC DOE instructors do not set a separate education partner fee as they will be paid a standard DOE stipend at the end of the semester. For more information about policies for full-time NYC DOE employees in pedagogical titles, please see “Policies for Active NYC DOE Pedagogical Employees”.
Course Changes and Cancellations
Partners are responsible for reviewing their course listings on the ASPDP website before that semester’s catalog opens during the education partner preview window, and using the course edits function to request any edits to dates, instructor names, course categories, or any other details before the course begins. ASPDP cannot make course edits more than one week after the catalog opens.
Education partners and instructors must notify ASPDP via email if making any significant changes to course content, course dates, assignments, etc. that they did not previously indicate during the submission process.
If you must cancel your course or significantly change the listed dates, assignments, grading policy, or any other aspect of the course from the original syllabus, please notify ASPDP before contacting participants. If a course is cancelled for any reason, participants will be offered the opportunity to receive a refund or transfer their ASPDP course fees to a different course within the same semester, and we request that you provide refunds to registered participants as well.
If a session is cancelled, the instructor must make arrangements for participants to make up the time missed.
Refunds and Transfers
ASPDP can only offer refunds of our course fees in specific circumstances. Participants may receive a refund of their ASPDP fee if:
- They withdraw from the course at least one week (7 days) before the registration deadline
- Their course is cancelled
Education Partners set their own refund policies for any additional fees. If you cancel a course, we ask that you refund all participant fees.
If participants prefer to transfer their ASPDP fee, they may do so only if:
- They request the transfer at least one week prior to the registration deadline of the original course;
- The new course has available seats; and,
- The new course is in the same semester
ASPDP is not able to transfer course fees to past or future semesters, or to allow participants to transfer their course fee again once a transfer has been completed.
For more information on ASPDP’s refund and transfer policies, please see the Participant Policies or FAQs on our website.
Attendance for In-Person Classes
In order to meet New York State Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) credit requirements, instructors should keep detailed registration and attendance records for all courses. Please note time of arrival, lunch, and time of departure in attendance logs.
Participants who are absent from the course and do not complete make-up work for hours missed should not receive credit for the course and are not eligible for refunds. A participant may never miss the first or final session of an in-person course, barring extenuating circumstances as determined by the instructor.
It is at the instructor’s discretion to grant excused absences. In all cases, participants are expected to make up course work in order to receive full credit for courses.
Grades
Participants should submit their coursework by the last day of the course, and education partners must enter final grades on the ASPDP website no later than two weeks after the final day of the course. We encourage submitting the grades as soon as possible in a timely fashion, participants will be able to view their grades.
The system will only allow you to submit once all grades have been updated and your CTLE records are uploaded. For step-by-step directions to submit grades, please see our FAQ.
Once grades are submitted, the instructor cannot change them. If course instructors need to make changes to grades that have already been submitted due to error, please email ASPDP. It can only be done manually. Please note that we only allow grade changes for participants within the semester.
Once you have entered all grades after the end of your course, we will review and validate grades for participants. Note that the validation process may take up to 4-6 weeks after the end of the semester, but will not impact participants’ salary differential as they will earn retroactive pay based on the semester date, not the date the grades were validated.
Instructors are required to keep copies of the grades for seven (7) years after the completion of the course.
Each Partner organization may grant participants certificates verifying their successful completion of a course; however, please note that participants can only obtain credit towards their salary differential by submitting their application and uploading an official ASPDP transcript. Education partners should not include “ASPDP” on any of the certificates issued to participants; the Office of Salary Services will use ASPDP’s official transcript to verify completion of coursework that is eligible for A+ or P credit rather than certificates of completion issued by education partners.
Certificates of Completion
Certificates of
completion for ASPDP courses issued by education partner organizations should
only include "NYCPS" (New York City Public Schools), not
"ASPDP," "A+," or "P credits." You may continue
to include the number of coursework hours.
Participants
can only receive credit towards their salary differential when they:
1. Register and
pay with both ASPDP and the partner organization,
2. Successfully
complete the course, and
3. Receive an
official ASPDP transcript as per our Participant Policies.
CTLE
ASPDP is an approved Continuing Teacher and Leader Education (CTLE) sponsor with the New York State Education Department (NYSED). If you are offering courses approved by ASPDP, teachers can count these hours toward their CTLE requirement, and ASPDP will provide the transcripts and other required documentation to teachers.
If you are independently approved by NYSED as a CTLE sponsor, please note that teachers cannot count the hours from the same course twice (i.e. credit from ASPDP and credit from the partner organization).
Education partners must submit a record of participants’ attendance to ASPDP for auditing purposes. Please ensure that submitted CTLE records are accurate. Instructors should upload this record using ASPDP’s CTLE Attendance File template for each attendance log per course for both in person and online courses. Education partners should upload attendance files via the ASPDP website no more than two weeks after the end of the course; your grades will not be accepted as submitted until you have uploaded the CTLE records.
Extensions
It is at the instructor’s discretion whether to grant extensions to complete coursework. Instructors are responsible for informing ASPDP of any extensions granted and updating the final participant grades no later than two weeks after the final day of the course within the same semester. As noted above, you will need to enter all grades and upload CTLE attendance in order to submit.
Building/Security Arrangements
Education Partners and instructors are responsible for making building and security arrangements for in-person courses. If you plan to use a DOE site, you are responsible for locating a site that operates during the times and days your courses are in session, and space should be coordinated through the principal and custodian.
Course Marketing
ASPDP uses a combination of emails, online ads, blog posts, and features in DOE newsletters to share information about our course catalog to teachers. We encourage our Education Partners to promote their specific courses to potential participants.
All marketing for classes should:
- Clearly display both the Education Partner fee, if applicable, and the ASPDP course fee
- Any discounts or coupons offered for the Education Partner fee should clearly indicate that the discounts only apply to the Education Partner fee.
- Include the ASPDP registration deadline so that participants know that they are only eligible for credit if they register by this deadline.
Since many of our partners offer courses to a nationwide audience that are not eligible for A+ or P credit, we strongly recommend including ASPDP courses on a separate page of your website so it is clear to participants which courses can yield A+/P credit and what steps participants must follow (i.e. registering first with ASPDP and paying the ASPDP fee by the registration deadline).
ASPDP reserves the right to discontinue partnership if we observe repeated instances of misleading marketing materials, including but not limited to e-mail outreach, social media posts, and advertisements on websites.
Customer Support
All Education Partners must provide a customer support phone number and/or email address for participants. Education Partners should be prepared to respond to participant inquiries within 48 business hours and provide assistance with any issues participants might encounter during registration or during the course. If you repeatedly fail to adequately address participant inquiries or issues, ASPDP may discontinue partnership.
Academic Integrity
All instructors are responsible for maintaining ASPDP’s academic integrity policy for participants. Instructors who witness and/or encounter any form of cheating or plagiarism must report the infraction to ASPDP along with supporting documentation. Cheating includes using the work of another person as if they were one’s own without giving proper source credit, submission of work completed either in part or in whole by someone else, collaborating with another participant on assignments that are meant to be completed individually, etc. As stated in the Participant Policies, any participant in violation of the academic integrity policy will receive a failing grade and no credit for their course, and may be barred from taking courses through ASPDP.
ASPDP Survey
Instructors should remind participants to complete ASPDP’s feedback survey, which they can do directly on the ASPDP website once logged in at the end of the course. They will only have access to the survey within that course semester.
This survey is designed to provide feedback to the instructor and ASPDP regarding course content and format. If you plan to distribute your own survey in class, please make sure participants know that they will still be required to complete the online survey emailed from ASPDP.
Data from the ASPDP survey will be shared with Education Partners approximately two months after the end of the semester. We encourage you to use feedback from participants to revise your course.
Additional Policies for Full-Time, Active NYC DOE Pedagogical Employees
Definition of “NYC DOE Instructor”
Only active, full-time NYC DOE employees in pedagogical titles, not affiliated with a non-DOE external education partner, may be considered DOE instructors. NYC DOE pedagogical employees who are eligible for a stipend have chosen to teach classes outside of their typical responsibilities and their assigned work hours as described in their job descriptions, and are not already receiving payment from another entity, including the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), for teaching the course.
Enrollment
As noted under “Enrollment and Cancellations”, all in-service courses taught by active, full-time NYC DOE pedagogical employees require a minimum enrollment of eighteen (18) participants as these instructors are paid a stipend directly by the NYC DOE. We will cancel courses with fewer than 18 participants at least one week before the registration deadline, and give participants the opportunity to receive refunds or transfer their ASPDP fees to an open class in the same semester.
Pedagogical Compensation
Please note the following policies for active, full-time NYC DOE pedagogical employees who are eligible for stipends from the NYC DOE.
- Only active, full-time NYC DOE employees in pedagogical titles may be considered DOE instructors, and may not be receiving payment from another entity for teaching the course, including the UFT as well as external education partners (museums, nonprofits, online providers, etc.).
- NYC DOE instructors must indicate that they are currently active, full-time NYC DOE employees in pedagogical titles on their proposal applications in SurveyMonkey Apply.
- NYC DOE instructors may not charge participant fees for the class, except for materials fees that are not to exceed $50 per participant, if necessary. (Please see “Materials Fees” section below for more information.)
- Eligible NYC DOE instructors teaching courses that reach the enrollment minimum of eighteen participants will receive one payment of $3000 per course for presenting 45 hours of instruction (3-credit class), $2000 per course for a 2-credit class, or $1000 for a 1-credit class. These rates went into effect as of the fall 2020 semester. The stipend is processed after completion of the semester, and will be added to teachers’ regular paychecks.
- The NYC DOE cannot pay retired teachers, central employees, or other former DOE employees who are not currently working as active, full-time NYC DOE pedagogical employees to teach ASPDP courses.
- Instructors who co-teach a course share the instructional hours and compensation with their colleague.
- ASPDP will only open one section of any course taught by a full-time NYC DOE instructor that meets over the same dates. In the event that a course must be limited in size due to a fixed amount of supplies, space, or equipment, a second section may be added as long as it meets the minimum enrollment of eighteen (18) participants.
- NYC DOE Supervisors (Assistant Principals, etc.) are not encouraged to teach in-service courses as they may not be eligible for stipends.
- ASPDP does not pay stipends to non-DOE instructors and education partners, as they collect fees directly from participants.
- All NYC DOE instructors are advised to set the first date of their course at a point in the semester late enough where they will be able to reach the enrollment minimum of eighteen (18) before the first day of the course, so that the course is not canceled due to low enrollment when participants are actively participating. For this reason, the registration deadline must be before the first day of the course, even for asynchronous online courses.
Materials Fees
NYC DOE instructors may collect up to $50.00 per participant in fees for ASPDP course materials. Instructors must complete a Pre-Authorization to Collect Materials Fees form (may be found under Instructor documents on the ASPDP website) submitted to ASPDP along with the proposal application in SurveyMonkey Apply. These materials must be consumables used by the participants (e.g. books, hand-outs, arts supplies) and may not include equipment or materials for a school. The Pre-Authorization Form should be itemized by participant rather than the entire class of students so that each participant is only paying for his or her own supplies.
Material fee reimbursements may be collected from participants in cash or as a check. They cannot be used for any other purpose and a full accounting with original receipts must be submitted to ASPDP within one week after the last day of the course.
For more information, please contact our office:
After School Professional Development ProgramASPDP@schools.nyc.gov
718-935-5753