1. Welcome to the DTC life! A virtual oasis within the education world!

2. Let’s Take a Little Test You will have only 2 minutes to complete the following exam No cheating When I say go…open your envelopes and begin

3. A little about you… How many are brand new DTC’s? How many found out they were the DTC after school started? How many got a job and then someone said “oh yeah, you’re also the DTC”? How many of you have other responsibilities? Accountability? Curriculum? Federal Programs?

4. A little about me… Chris Cordell Director, Systemwide Testing Austin ISD 129 Schools – 87,000 students My lifelong ambition was to become a District Testing Coordinator…

5. I’m honored to be here! When the MATS called me and asked me if I would be willing to do a short introduction to the New District Testing Coordinator Training, I felt really honored. I didn’t understand why such an honor was bestowed upon me…

6. I’m honored to be here!

7. Let’s be honest…

8. Things you may not know about being a DTC You are lucky to be here! District Testing Coordinator is one of the most prestigious and sought after jobs in a school district…you will often hear people say things like: “Why doesn’t our district have job shadowing? I’d love to get a glimpse of your job!” “I wish I had your job!” “We should give the DTC a huge raise!”

9. Things you may not know about being a DTC You will receive a ton of praise and thank you’s at the end of each year from both campuses and central office staff

10. Things you may not know about being a DTC After doing this for a little while, you will never, ever need to “phone a friend”, call Pearson or call TEA to clarify anything…

11. Things you may not know about being a DTC Speaking of calling other DTCs, TEA or Pearson… If you do call people, you will always get the exact same answer no matter who you talk to – which will really help to clarify whatever question you’re calling about…

12. Things you may not know about being a DTC State assessments are pretty stable, once you learn the current system, there probably won’t be much need to pay much attention to TSNAP, regional group, TEA or Pearson postings.

13. Things you may not know about being a DTC Every CTC in your district will always follow your explicit instructions and will meet every deadline you set…

14. Things you may not know about being a DTC Calendar Shmalendar… You’ll rarely need a calendar or timeline to help you remember things…heck, there’s not that much to remember anyways…

15. Things you may not know about being a DTC TAMS will never cause you any frustrations, and online testing will work optimally at all times…

16. Things you may not know about being a DTC You will probably never receive late night/early morning phone calls from campuses with some of the strangest issues you’ve ever heard…

17. Things you may not know about being a DTC Yeah Summers! You’ll really enjoy all of the downtime that the summer can bring…

18. Things you may not know about being a DTC You will never utter the phrase…”I need a drink”, or wonder if anyone would ever find out if you had a stash in your secure room…

19. Welcome to the DTC life!