DTS ASSESSMENT & ACCREDITATION MANDATES

Academy of the Nations Assessment Mandates for DTS

Since June of 2018 our Discipleship Training School (DTS) program is officially liable to uphold the assessment mandates stipulated by our accreditation application. The official accreditation of our training programs will have huge implications for the future of how we run training at YWAM Muizenberg... It will also have huge implications for how our community can collectively serve this nation by providing more and more opportunity for high-quality-accredited-higher-education for South Africans of all backgrounds. It is our mandate collectively to steward well the doors that the Lord has opened for us though the countless hours of hard work the YWAM National Accreditation Team has put in to get us to this point. As a Training Team we invite you to help us break down barriers to higher-education across South Africa through holding your schools to the highest of standards and by diligently doing the assessment work our accreditation asks of us. 

ASSESSMENT & RECORDING IN THE DTS

It's worth noting that Campus Leadership, The Training Team & The DTS Department are currently exploring various ways to make the assessment and recording process for DTS Staff & Leaders as fluid and simple as possible. With that said please note that this will be an evolving journey as we try things quarter by quarter and make adjustments along the way. 

The assessment mandates for DTS are as follows:

Each enrolled student in the DTS must develop a PoE (Portfolio of Evidence) which records their "evidence of learning" as it pertains to the six modules of DTS core curriculum. Each students PoE must then be uploaded and archived for our records. 

Our current model for developing a student's PoE is through the recording process of these key areas:

  • Assessment Journaling - Weekly journals must be kept which highlight evidence of learning and coverage of all DTS six modules. These journals must be checked weekly by a staff member and signed off each week.

  • 3 Book Reports - Throughout the DTS students must produce three book reports from the official DTS Book List. School Leaders should pre-determine which books they would like to explore within their schools and make sure enough copies of said books are available for their students. Each book report must be 1000 words in length (approximately 2 full pages), they must name the Title & Author, and give reasonable evidence of understanding the main themes of the book.

  • One-on-Ones - The weekly recording of one-on-ones is mandatory for all students. We recognise that one-on-ones carry layers of purpose in the discipleship journey, so please note that the use of one-on-ones for the assessment process only pertains to the proof of learning. Each week students and staff will need to fill out a One-on-One Recording Form which names the student, the staff member, the date and the weeks topic. The form must bullet point what the student has learned this week as it pertains to the topic of learning (i.e. Character and Nature of God, etc). The form just then be signed weekly by both staff and student. We recommend that each one-on-one start by unpacking the weeks content and signing off on the one-on-one forms.

  • Work-Duties - At the end of the lecture phase season we will ask all student to complete a Work Duties Assessment Form and have it signed with comment by their work duties coordinator.

THE OFFICIAL YWAM MUIZENBERG DTS STUDENT WORKBOOK / MANUAL

To make the assessment process as simple and uniform as possible we have developed an official YWAM Muizenberg DTS Student Workbook/Manual which must be used by all DTS's going forward. 

Firstly the new DTS Workbook/Manual will hold within it weekly journal pages with standard questions, book report pages, the work duties form, as well as one-on-one recording forms for each week of the 11 lecture weeks. This will help us keep all necessary recording and assessment in a standard format and in one place per-student. Each week you will need to have one of your school staff (perhaps each students one-on-one) sign off on their workbook for the week. At the end of lecture phase you will need to scan each students workbook into a single PDF file (the printer in the office can be used) which we will archive in our Student PoE Database online (contact training@ywammuizenberg.org for more specifics of how and where to upload your students files). 

Secondly the new DTS Workbook/Manuals already contain within them all the of the legal information we MUST give each student as stipulated by our accreditation applications. We ask that going forward every DTS uses the same official DTS Workbook/Manual for the purpose of assessment and recording.

Each school will still need to develop a short school specific manual in which they can give any Focus-School Information & Values, DTS Leaders, Staff & Speaker bios, school specific weekly schedules and any other information you desire to give for your DTS.

Curriculum VitaeS DATABASE (CV'S)

The new accreditation protocol also mandates we keep a growing database of CV's for ALL School Leaders & ALL DTS Staff. We are currently hosting this database on our Training Google Drive Platform. Each school needs to provide the Training Team with individual CV's for themselves and all of their school staff (please email CV's in PDF format to training@ywammuizenberg.org). These CV's can be developed during Staff Training if necessary but must be in our database by the start date of your school. 

CV DATABASE FOR SPEAKERS

Our accreditation also stipulates the collection of CV's for ALL DTS Speakers. We are currently growing a database of regular Speaker CV's (see below) which is being updated on the regular. It is the responsibility of DTS School Leaders to make sure there is a CV listed in our database for every speaker on their school. In the event a speakers CV is NOT in the database (particularly for new or international speakers) you must obtain a CV and submit it to the Training Team for the database (email all new CV's in PDF format to training@ywammuizenberg.org). Speaker CV's need to prove appropriate experience & authority to teach on the topic speakers have been invited to teach in the DTS (example: a CV showing NO teaching experience but a degree in Chemical Engineering is NOT proof of authority to teach on Character & Nature of God). 

**above you can view our growing Speaker CV Database. If any of your speakers already have archived CV's you do not need to obtain another.