Signed by Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to repass a bill, after having concurred with House amendments thereto, that create an evaluation system in order to determine educator effectiveness.

Highlights:

-Establishes a system to evaluate licensed personnel that will be used to provide a basis for making decisions regarding hiring, compensation, promotion, assignment, professional development, earning and retaining nonprobationary status, dismissal, and non-renewal of contract (Sec. 1). -Defines "council" to mean the State Council for Educator Effectiveness, and outlines the following duties of the council (Secs. 2, 5):

-Ensuring that all personnel are evaluated fairly; -Ensuring that at least 50 percent of the evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the students; and -Ensuring that teachers have an opportunity to improve their effectiveness through a teacher development plan.

-Establishes that the state board shall work with the governor's council to develop a system to evaluate the effectiveness of licensed personnel (Sec. 3). -Requires the council to provide the State Board with recommendations that will ensure that every principal is evaluated in a fair manner (Sec. 5). -Requires the council to make sure that all evaluators and educators fully understand the evaluation system (Sec. 5). -Establishes the Great Teachers and Leaders Fund (Sec. 6). -Establishes that, for fiscal years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, if $250,000 is not credited to the fund through federal grants, the Commissioner shall notify the State Treasurer of the difference and the amount will be transferred to the fund from the contingency reserve fund (Sec. 6). -Requires teachers to receive a written evaluation at least 2 weeks before the last day of the school year (Sec. 7). -Specifies that evaluations will take into consideration diverse factors, such as special education, student mobility, and classrooms with 95 percent of the students being classified as "high risk" (Sec. 7). -Requires the council to participate with the local board in developing written standards for evaluation that clearly specify the standards that must be met to determine each licensed person meets the criteria (Sec. 7). -Specifies that a teacher or principle whose performance is deemed unsatisfactory shall be offered professional development opportunities so that they can bring up their rating for their next evaluation (Sec. 7). -Establishes that a teacher or principal who is deemed to be ineffective shall be given written notice that shows how his/her performance was rated and identifies deficiencies (Sec. 7). -Authorizes nonprobationary teachers to object to a rating of ineffectiveness by appealing to the superintendent (Sec. 7). -Specifies that principals will be evaluated on the academic growth of those students enrolled at the principal's school and on the number and percentage of licensed personnel in the school who are rated as ineffective but are improving in effectiveness (Sec. 7). -Requires each local board of education to develop an incentive program to encourage effective teachers in high-performing schools to move to jobs in schools that have low performance ratings (Sec. 7). -Establishes that a teacher may be assigned to a school only with the consent of the hiring principal and with input from a least two teachers at the school (Sec. 11). -Requires the Department of Human Resources for the school district to provide a nonprobationary teacher with a list of all vacant positions if that teacher is let go from his or her position (Sec. 11). -Specifies that any nonprobationary teacher who was deemed effective and has not secured a job be placed in a priority hiring pool so that he/she is able to find a position (Sec. 11). -Specifies that the provisions no longer apply when the teacher has been granted a nonprobationary status as a result of three consecutive years of demonstrated effectiveness (Sec. 13). -Requires that all teachers be evaluated in accordance with the new performance evaluation system by the 2013-2014 school year (Sec. 14).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that creates an evaluation system in order to determine educator effectiveness.

Highlights:

-Establishes a system to evaluate licensed personnel that will be used to provide a basis for making decisions regarding hiring, compensation, promotion, assignment, professional development, earning and retaining nonprobationary status, dismissal, and non-renewal of contract (Sec. 1). -Defines "council" to mean the State Council for Educator Effectiveness, and outlines the following duties of the council (Secs. 2, 5):

-Ensuring that all personnel are evaluated fairly; -Ensuring that at least 50 percent of the evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the students; and -Ensuring that teachers have an opportunity to improve their effectiveness through a teacher development plan.

-Establishes that the state board shall work with the governor's council to develop a system to evaluate the effectiveness of licensed personnel (Sec. 3). -Requires the council to provide the State Board with recommendations that will ensure that every principal is evaluated in a fair manner (Sec. 5). -Requires the council to make sure that all evaluators and educators fully understand the evaluation system (Sec. 5). -Establishes the Great Teachers and Leaders Fund (Sec. 6). -Establishes that, for fiscal years 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, if $250,000 is not credited to the fund through federal grants, the Commissioner shall notify the State Treasurer of the difference and the amount will be transferred to the fund from the contingency reserve fund (Sec. 6). -Requires teachers to receive a written evaluation at least 2 weeks before the last day of the school year (Sec. 7). -Specifies that evaluations will take into consideration diverse factors, such as special education, student mobility, and classrooms with 95 percent of the students being classified as "high risk" (Sec. 7). -Requires the council to participate with the local board in developing written standards for evaluation that clearly specify the standards that must be met to determine each licensed person meets the criteria (Sec. 7). -Specifies that a teacher or principle whose performance is deemed unsatisfactory shall be offered professional development opportunities so that they can bring up their rating for their next evaluation (Sec. 7). -Establishes that a teacher or principal who is deemed to be ineffective shall be given written notice that shows how his/her performance was rated and identifies deficiencies (Sec. 7). -Authorizes nonprobationary teachers to object to a rating of ineffectiveness by appealing to the superintendent (Sec. 7). -Specifies that principals will be evaluated on the academic growth of those students enrolled at the principal's school and on the number and percentage of licensed personnel in the school who are rated as ineffective but are improving in effectiveness (Sec. 7). -Requires each local board of education to develop an incentive program to encourage effective teachers in high-performing schools to move to jobs in schools that have low performance ratings (Sec. 7). -Establishes that a teacher may be assigned to a school only with the consent of the hiring principal and with input from a least two teachers at the school (Sec. 11). -Requires the Department of Human Resources for the school district to provide a nonprobationary teacher with a list of all vacant positions if that teacher is let go from his or her position (Sec. 11). -Specifies that any nonprobationary teacher who was deemed effective and has not secured a job be placed in a priority hiring pool so that he/she is able to find a position (Sec. 11). -Specifies that the provisions no longer apply when the teacher has been granted a nonprobationary status as a result of three consecutive years of demonstrated effectiveness (Sec. 13). -Requires that all teachers be evaluated in accordance with the new performance evaluation system by the 2013-2014 school year (Sec. 14).

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that creates an evaluation system in order to determine educator effectiveness.

Highlights:

-Establishes that an evaluation system shall be used for making decisions regarding the hiring, compensation, promotion, assignment, professional development, earning, dismissal, and non-renewal of contracts for educators (Sec. 1). -Establishes that the state board shall work with the governor's council to develop a system to evaluate the effectiveness of licensed personnel (Sec. 3). -Establishes the State Council for Educator Effectiveness whose duties include ensuring that all personnel are evaluated fairly, that at least 50 oercent of the evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the students, and that teachers have an opportunity to improve their effectiveness through a teacher development plan (Sec. 5). -Specifies that evaluations will take into consideration diverse factors, such as special education, student mobility, and classrooms with 95 percent of the students being classified as "high risk" (Sec. 5). -Requires that the State Council for Educator Effectiveness provide the State Board with recommendations that define principal and teacher effectiveness based on demonstrated ability to produce improved student outcomes (Sec. 5) -Requires local boards of education to adopt a written system to evaluate the employment performance of licensed personnel (Sec. 7). -Requires that probationary teachers receive at least two documented observations each year and one evaluation that results in a written report (Sec. 7). -Requires that non-probationary teachers receive at least one documented observation each year and that at least one evaluation results in a written report (Sec. 7). -Authorizes that a non-probationary teacher given a rating of ineffectiveness will have an opportunity to appeal that rating under a fair, transparent process (Sec. 7). -Establishes that Principals will also undergo evaluations at least once a year as they must demonstrate their ability to select effective teachers with unique qualifications that support the instructional model of his or her school and are aligned with the school's culture and mission (Sec. 7, Sec. 11). -Defines a "probationary teacher" as one who has not completed 3 consecutive years of demonstrated effectiveness (Sec. 10). -Establishes that a teacher may be assigned to a particular school only with the consent of the receiving school (Sec. 11). -Specifies that any non-probationary teacher who was deemed effective and has not secured a job be placed in a priority hiring pool so that he/she is able to find a position (Sec. 11). -Permits the suspension of a teacher during the contractual period when there is a decrease in teaching positions (Sec 12). -Specifies that the evaluation system only apply to probationary teachers and shall no longer apply when the teacher has been granted non-probationary status as a result of three consecutive years of demonstrated effectiveness (Sec. 13).

Full Bill Text