Florida Senate - 2013                                     SB 980
       
       
       
       By Senator Flores
       
       
       
       
       37-00879-13                                            2013980__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to educational personnel evaluations;
    3         amending s. 1012.34, F.S.; authorizing a school
    4         district to reduce the percentage of the performance
    5         evaluation of instructional personnel which is based
    6         on student performance if the school district uses
    7         specified, multiple measures of instructional
    8         practice; providing an effective date.
    9  
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
   13  1012.34, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         1012.34 Personnel evaluation procedures and criteria.—
   15         (3) EVALUATION PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA.—Instructional
   16  personnel and school administrator performance evaluations must
   17  be based upon the performance of students assigned to their
   18  classrooms or schools, as provided in this section. Pursuant to
   19  this section, a school district’s performance evaluation is not
   20  limited to basing unsatisfactory performance of instructional
   21  personnel and school administrators solely upon student
   22  performance, but may include other criteria approved to evaluate
   23  instructional personnel and school administrators’ performance,
   24  or any combination of student performance and other approved
   25  criteria. Evaluation procedures and criteria must comply with,
   26  but are not limited to, the following:
   27         (a) A performance evaluation must be conducted for each
   28  employee at least once a year, except that a classroom teacher,
   29  as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a), excluding substitute teachers,
   30  who is newly hired by the district school board must be observed
   31  and evaluated at least twice in the first year of teaching in
   32  the school district. The performance evaluation must be based
   33  upon sound educational principles and contemporary research in
   34  effective educational practices. The evaluation criteria must
   35  include:
   36         1. Performance of students.—At least 50 percent of a
   37  performance evaluation must be based upon data and indicators of
   38  student learning growth assessed annually by statewide
   39  assessments or, for subjects and grade levels not measured by
   40  statewide assessments, by school district assessments as
   41  provided in s. 1008.22(8). Each school district must use the
   42  formula adopted pursuant to paragraph (7)(a) for measuring
   43  student learning growth in all courses associated with statewide
   44  assessments and must select an equally appropriate formula for
   45  measuring student learning growth for all other grades and
   46  subjects, except as otherwise provided in subsection (7).
   47         a. For classroom teachers, as defined in s. 1012.01(2)(a),
   48  excluding substitute teachers, the student learning growth
   49  portion of the evaluation must include growth data for students
   50  assigned to the teacher over the course of at least 3 years. If
   51  less than 3 years of data are available, the years for which
   52  data are available must be used and the percentage of the
   53  evaluation based upon student learning growth may be reduced to
   54  not less than 40 percent.
   55         b. For instructional personnel who are not classroom
   56  teachers, the student learning growth portion of the evaluation
   57  must include growth data on statewide assessments for students
   58  assigned to the instructional personnel over the course of at
   59  least 3 years, or may include a combination of student learning
   60  growth data and other measurable student outcomes that are
   61  specific to the assigned position, provided that the student
   62  learning growth data accounts for not less than 30 percent of
   63  the evaluation. If less than 3 years of student growth data are
   64  available, the years for which data are available must be used
   65  and the percentage of the evaluation based upon student learning
   66  growth may be reduced to not less than 20 percent.
   67         c. For school administrators, the student learning growth
   68  portion of the evaluation must include growth data for students
   69  assigned to the school over the course of at least 3 years. If
   70  less than 3 years of data are available, the years for which
   71  data are available must be used and the percentage of the
   72  evaluation based upon student learning growth may be reduced to
   73  not less than 40 percent.
   74         2. Instructional practice.—Evaluation criteria used when
   75  annually observing classroom teachers, as defined in s.
   76  1012.01(2)(a), excluding substitute teachers, must include
   77  indicators based upon each of the Florida Educator Accomplished
   78  Practices adopted by the State Board of Education. For
   79  instructional personnel who are not classroom teachers,
   80  evaluation criteria must be based upon indicators of the Florida
   81  Educator Accomplished Practices and may include specific job
   82  expectations related to student support.
   83         3. Instructional leadership.—For school administrators,
   84  evaluation criteria must include indicators based upon each of
   85  the leadership standards adopted by the State Board of Education
   86  under s. 1012.986, including performance measures related to the
   87  effectiveness of classroom teachers in the school, the
   88  administrator’s appropriate use of evaluation criteria and
   89  procedures, recruitment and retention of effective and highly
   90  effective classroom teachers, improvement in the percentage of
   91  instructional personnel evaluated at the highly effective or
   92  effective level, and other leadership practices that result in
   93  student learning growth. The system may include a means to give
   94  parents and instructional personnel an opportunity to provide
   95  input into the administrator’s performance evaluation.
   96         4. Professional and job responsibilities.—For instructional
   97  personnel and school administrators, other professional and job
   98  responsibilities must be included as adopted by the State Board
   99  of Education. The district school board may identify additional
  100  professional and job responsibilities.
  101  
  102  A school district may reduce the percentage of the performance
  103  evaluation of instructional personnel described in sub
  104  subparagraphs a. and b. which is based on student performance to
  105  not less than 40 percent if the school district uses multiple
  106  measures of instructional practice, including principal
  107  observation, peer review, student surveys of instructional
  108  personnel performance, or other valid and reliable indicators of
  109  instructional practice.
  110         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.