First Regular Session Seventieth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 15-0573.01 Jane Ritter x4342 SENATE BILL 15-003 SENATE SPONSORSHIP Merrifield, HOUSE SPONSORSHIP (None), Senate Committees House Committees Education A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning the requirement that fifty percent of an educator's performance evaluation be determined by student academic growth. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) Senate Bill 10-191 concerning educator effectiveness included a requirement that at least 50% of a teacher's or principal's performance evaluation be determined by the academic growth of the teacher's students or the students in the principal's school. The bill eliminates that requirement. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-9-105.5, amend (2) (c) (I) and (3) (a) as follows: 22-9-105.5. State council for educator effectiveness - legislative declaration - membership - duties - recommendations - rules. (2) (c) The purpose of the council shall be the same as that of the governor's council for educator effectiveness established by executive order, and shall be to consider options and make recommendations to the state board and the general assembly that seek to ensure that all licensed personnel are: (I) Evaluated using multiple fair, transparent, timely, rigorous, and valid methods; at least fifty percent of which evaluation is determined by the academic growth of their students; (3) The council shall have the following duties: (a) On or before March 1, 2011, to provide the state board with recommendations that will ensure that every teacher is evaluated using multiple fair, transparent, timely, rigorous, and valid methods. The recommendations developed pursuant to this paragraph (a) shall require that at least fifty percent of the evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the teacher's students and that each teacher is provided with an opportunity to improve his or her effectiveness through a teacher development plan that links his or her evaluation and performance standards to professional development opportunities. The quality standards for teachers shall include measures of student longitudinal academic growth that are consistent with the measures set forth in section 22-11-204 (2) and may include interim assessment results or evidence of student work, provided that all are rigorous and comparable across classrooms and aligned with state model content standards and performance standards developed pursuant to article 7 of this title. For the purposes of quality standards, expectations of student academic growth shall take into consideration diverse factors, including but not limited to special education, student mobility, and classrooms with a student population in which ninety-five percent meet the definition of high-risk student as defined in section 22-7-604.5 (1.5). The quality standards for teachers shall be clear and relevant to the teacher's roles and responsibilities and shall have the goal of improving student academic growth. The council shall include in its recommendations a definition of effectiveness and its relation to quality standards. The definition of effectiveness shall include, but need not be limited to, criteria that will be used to differentiate between performance standards. The defined performance standards shall include, but need not be limited to, "highly effective", "effective", and "ineffective". The council shall consider whether additional performance standards should be established. SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-9-106, amend (1) (e) (II) and (7) introductory portion as follows: 22-9-106. Local boards of education - duties - performance evaluation system - compliance - rules - repeal. (1) All school districts and boards of cooperative services that employ licensed personnel, as defined in section 22-9-103 (1.5), shall adopt a written system to evaluate the employment performance of school district and board of cooperative services licensed personnel, including all teachers, principals, and administrators, with the exception of licensed personnel employed by a board of cooperative services for a period of six weeks or less. In developing the licensed personnel performance evaluation system and any amendments thereto, the local board and board of cooperative services shall comply with the provisions of subsection (1.5) of this section and shall consult with administrators, principals, and teachers employed within the district or participating districts in a board of cooperative services, parents, and the school district licensed personnel performance evaluation council or the board of cooperative services personnel performance evaluation council created pursuant to section 22-9-107. The performance evaluation system shall address all of the performance standards established by rule of the state board and adopted by the general assembly pursuant to section 22-9-105.5, and shall contain, but need not be limited to, the following information: (e) (II) The standards set by the local board for effective performance for licensed personnel and the criteria to be used to determine whether the performance of each licensed person meets such standards and other criteria for evaluation for each licensed personnel position evaluated. One of the standards for measuring teacher effectiveness shall be directly related to classroom instruction. and shall require that at least fifty percent of the evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the teacher's students. The district accountability committee shall provide input and recommendations concerning the assessment tools used to measure student academic growth as it relates to teacher evaluations. The standards shall include multiple measures of student performance in conjunction with student growth expectations. For the purposes of measuring effectiveness, expectations of student academic growth shall take into consideration diverse factors, including but not limited to special education, student mobility, and classrooms with a student population in which ninety-five percent meet the definition of high-risk student as defined in section 22-7-604.5 (1.5). The performance evaluation system shall also ensure that the standards and criteria are available in writing to all licensed personnel and are communicated and discussed by the person being evaluated and the evaluator prior to and during the course of the evaluation. This subparagraph (II) shall take effect at such time as the performance evaluation system based on quality standards established pursuant to this section and the rules promulgated by the state board pursuant to section 22-9-105.5 has completed the initial phase of implementation and has been implemented statewide. The commissioner shall provide notice of such implementation to the revisor of statutes on or before July 1, 2014, and each July 1 thereafter until statewide implementation occurs. (7) Every principal shall be evaluated using multiple fair, transparent, timely, rigorous, and valid methods. The recommendations developed pursuant to this subsection (7) shall require that at least fifty percent of the evaluation is determined by the academic growth of the students enrolled in the principal's school. For principals, the quality standards shall include, but need not be limited to: SECTION 3. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.