Section 50.100  Plan Components Required for the Evaluation of Teachers

Each school district shall implement a performance evaluation plan for its teachers no later than the applicable date outlined in Section 50.20.  The plan shall address each of the components contained in this Section. 

a)         The plan shall provide for an evaluation at least once every three school years of each teacher in contractual continued service (i.e., tenured) unless otherwise specified in this Section;

1)         A tenured teacher who has obtained a "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory" rating on the previous year's evaluation shall be evaluated at least once in the school year following the receipt of that rating.  (See Section 24A-5 of the School Code.)

2)         No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each tenured teacher whose performance is rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at least once in the course of the three school years after the receipt of the rating. The school district must implement an informal teacher observation plan that ensures that each teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is informally observed at least once in the course of the 2 school years after receipt of the rating. (Section 24A-5 of the School Code.)

3)         Teachers who are due to be evaluated in the last year before they are set to retire shall be offered the opportunity to waive their evaluation and to retain their most recent rating, unless the teacher was last rated as "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory". The school district may still reserve the right to evaluate a teacher provided the district gives notice to the teacher at least 14 days before the evaluation and a reason for evaluating the teacher. (Sections 24A-5(o) and 34-84 of the School Code.)

b)         The plan shall provide for an evaluation at least once every school year of each teacher not in contractual continued service (i.e., nontenured).  (See Section 24A-5 of the School Code.)

c)         At the start of the school term (i.e., the first day students are required to be in attendance), the school district shall provide a written notice (either electronic or paper) that a performance evaluation will be conducted in that school term to each teacher affected or, if the affected teacher is hired after the start of the school term, then no later than 30 days after the contract is executed.  The written notice shall include:

1)         a copy of the rubric to be used to rate the teacher against identified standards and goals and other tools to be used to determine a performance evaluation rating; 

2)         a summary of the manner in which measures of student growth and professional practice to be used in the evaluation relate to the performance evaluation ratings of "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement", and "unsatisfactory" as set forth in Sections 24A-5(e) and 34-85c of the School Code; and

3)         a summary of the district's procedures related to the provision of professional development in the event a teacher receives a "needs improvement" or remediation in the event a teacher receives an "unsatisfactory" rating, to include evaluation tools to be used during the remediation period.

d)         Any professional development provided as part of a professional development or remediation plan under Section 24A-5 of the School Code shall align to Standards for Professional Learning (2022) published by Learning Forward, 504 South Locust Street, Oxford, Ohio 45056 and posted at https://standards.learningforward.org/standards-for-professional-learning.  No later amendments to or editions of these standards are incorporated by this Section.

(Source:  Amended at 48 Ill. Reg. 8582, effective May 29, 2024)