HB2851 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB098 07730 NHT 37808 b

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2013 and 2014
HB2851

Introduced , by Rep. Deborah Conroy

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/24A-7.1
105 ILCS 5/24A-20
105 ILCS 5/34-85c

Amends the School Code. Provides that, upon the request of the parents or legal guardian of a student, a school district shall fully disclose and release to the parents or legal guardian, in any manner, including by phone or in person, the performance evaluation for each of the teachers and for the principal of the school building to which the student is assigned for the current school year. Sets forth district requirements with respect to this disclosure. With respect to the State Board of Education's system to annually collect and publish data on teacher and administrator performance evaluation outcomes, adds additional data to be collected and published. Effective July 1, 2013.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Sections 24A-7.1, 24A-20, and 34-85c as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/24A-7.1)

Sec. 24A-7.1. Teacher, principal, and superintendent performance evaluations; disclosure. Except as otherwise provided under this Article Act, disclosure of public school teacher, principal, and superintendent performance evaluations is prohibited. Upon the request of the parents or legal guardian of a student, a school district shall fully disclose and release to the parents or legal guardian, in any manner, including by phone or in person, the performance evaluation for each of the teachers and for the principal of the school building to which the student is assigned for the current school year. With respect to this disclosure, the school district shall do all of the following:

(1) Give all parents and legal guardians conspicuous notice of their right to obtain this information.

(2) Explain the performance evaluations to parents and legal guardians orally or in writing.

(3) Offer parents and legal guardians opportunities to understand the performance evaluations in the context of teacher and principal evaluation and student performance.

(4) Make reasonable efforts to verify that any review request is a bona fide request by a parent or legal guardian entitled to review and to receive the requested data.

(Source: P.A. 96-861, eff. 1-15-10.)

(105 ILCS 5/24A-20)

Sec. 24A-20. State Board of Education data collection and evaluation assessment and support systems.

(a) On or before the date established in subsection (b) of this Section, the State Board of Education shall, through a process involving collaboration with the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council, develop or contract for the development of and implement all of the following data collection and evaluation assessment and support systems:

(1) A system to annually collect and publish data by district and school on teacher and administrator performance evaluation outcomes by district, school, class, subject, and grade, as well as by region, district wealth, district-need category, student enrollment, type of school (i.e., elementary, middle, or high school), student need (e.g., poverty level), and district spending. The system shall also annually collect and publish data on the percentage or number of teachers and principals in each performance evaluation rating category, the percentage or number moving to a higher rating category than the previous year, the percentage or number moving to a lower rating category than the previous year, and the percentage or number retained in each rating category and data on tenure granting and denial based on performance evaluations. The system must ensure that no teacher or administrator can be personally identified by publicly reported data.

(2) Both a teacher and principal model evaluation template. The model templates must incorporate the requirements of this Article and any other requirements established by the State Board by administrative rule, but allow customization by districts in a manner that does not conflict with such requirements.

(3) An evaluator pre-qualification program based on the model teacher evaluation template.

(4) An evaluator training program based on the model teacher evaluation template. The training program shall provide multiple training options that account for the prior training and experience of the evaluator.

(5) A superintendent training program based on the model principal evaluation template.

(6) One or more instruments to provide feedback to principals on the instructional environment within a school.

(7) A State Board-provided or approved technical assistance system that supports districts with the development and implementation of teacher and principal evaluation systems.

(8) Web-based systems and tools supporting implementation of the model templates and the evaluator pre-qualification and training programs.

(9) A process for measuring and reporting correlations between local principal and teacher evaluations and (A) student growth in tested grades and subjects and (B) retention rates of teachers.

(10) A process for assessing whether school district evaluation systems developed pursuant to this Act and that consider student growth as a significant factor in the rating of a teacher's and principal's performance are valid and reliable, contribute to the development of staff, and improve student achievement outcomes. By no later than September 1, 2014, a research-based study shall be issued assessing such systems for validity and reliability, contribution to the development of staff, and improvement of student performance and recommending, based on the results of this study, changes, if any, that need to be incorporated into teacher and principal evaluation systems that consider student growth as a significant factor in the rating performance for remaining school districts to be required to implement such systems.

(b) If the State of Illinois receives a Race to the Top Grant, the data collection and support systems described in subsection (a) must be developed on or before September 30, 2011. If the State of Illinois does not receive a Race to the Top Grant, the data collection and support systems described in subsection (a) must be developed on or before September 30, 2012; provided, however, that the data collection and support systems set forth in items (3) and (4) of subsection (a) of this Section must be developed by September 30, 2011 regardless of whether the State of Illinois receives a Race to the Top Grant. By no later than September 1, 2011, if the State of Illinois receives a Race to the Top Grant, or September 1, 2012, if the State of Illinois does not receive a Race to the Top Grant, the State Board of Education must execute or contract for the execution of the assessment referenced in item (10) of subsection (a) of this Section to determine whether the school district evaluation systems developed pursuant to this Act have been valid and reliable, contributed to the development of staff, and improved student performance.

(c) Districts shall submit data and information to the State Board on teacher and principal performance evaluations and evaluation plans in accordance with procedures and requirements for submissions established by the State Board. Such data shall include, without limitation, (i) data on the performance rating given to all teachers in contractual continued service, (ii) data on district recommendations to renew or not renew teachers not in contractual continued service, and (iii) data on the performance rating given to all principals.

(d) If the State Board of Education does not timely fulfill any of the requirements set forth in Sections 24A-7 and 24A-20, and adequate and sustainable federal, State, or other funds are not provided to the State Board of Education and school districts to meet their responsibilities under this Article, the applicable implementation date shall be postponed by the number of calendar days equal to those needed by the State Board of Education to fulfill such requirements and for the adequate and sustainable funds to be provided to the State Board of Education and school districts. The determination as to whether the State Board of Education has fulfilled any or all requirements set forth in Sections 24A-7 and 24A-20 and whether adequate and sustainable funds have been provided to the State Board of Education and school districts shall be made by the State Board of Education in consultation with the P-20 Council.

(Source: P.A. 96-861, eff. 1-15-10.)

(105 ILCS 5/34-85c)

Sec. 34-85c. Alternative procedures for teacher evaluation, remediation, and removal for cause after remediation.

(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the board and the exclusive representative of the district's teachers are hereby authorized to enter into an agreement to establish alternative procedures for teacher evaluation, remediation, and removal for cause after remediation, including an alternative system for peer evaluation and recommendations; provided, however, that no later than September 1, 2012: (i) any alternative procedures must include provisions whereby student performance data is a significant factor in teacher evaluation and (ii) teachers are rated as "excellent", "proficient", "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory". Pursuant exclusively to that agreement, teachers assigned to schools identified in that agreement shall be subject to an alternative performance evaluation plan and remediation procedures in lieu of the plan and procedures set forth in Article 24A of this Code and alternative removal for cause standards and procedures in lieu of the removal standards and procedures set forth in Section 34-85 of this Code. To the extent that the agreement provides a teacher with an opportunity for a hearing on removal for cause before an independent hearing officer in accordance with Section 34-85 or otherwise, the hearing officer shall be governed by the alternative performance evaluation plan, remediation procedures, and removal standards and procedures set forth in the agreement in making findings of fact and a recommendation.

(b) The board and the exclusive representative of the district's teachers shall submit a certified copy of an agreement as provided under subsection (a) of this Section to the State Board of Education.

(c) With respect to teacher evaluations, the school district shall comply with Section 24A-7.1 of this Code and shall submit data and information to the State Board of Education to enable the State Board to comply with subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of Section 24A-20 of this Code.

(Source: P.A. 96-861, eff. 1-15-10; 97-8, eff. 6-13-11.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2013.