Bill Text: CT SB00440 | 2010 | General Assembly | Comm Sub
Bill Title: An Act Concerning School Districts And Teacher Performance Evaluation Programs.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-30 - Favorable Change of Reference, House to Committee on Appropriations [SB00440 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2010-SB00440-Comm_Sub.html
General Assembly |
||
February Session, 2010 |
*_____SB00440ED_APP032410____* |
AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND TEACHER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-10a of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2010):
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Educator" means any certified professional employee below the rank of superintendent employed by a local or regional board of education for at least ninety days in a position requiring a certificate issued by the State Board of Education;
(2) "Educator preparation program" means a planned sequence of experiences provided by colleges and universities designed to qualify an individual for professional certification as an educator, including, but not limited to, an alternate route to certification program.
[(a)] (b) The Department of Education shall develop and implement a state-wide public school information system. The system shall be designed for the purpose of establishing a standardized electronic data collection and reporting protocol that will facilitate compliance with state and federal reporting requirements, improve school-to-school and district-to-district information exchanges, and maintain the confidentiality of individual student and staff data. The initial design shall focus on student information, provided the system shall be created to allow for future compatibility with financial, facility and staff data. The system shall provide for the tracking of the performance of individual students on each of the state-wide mastery examinations under section 10-14n in order to allow the department to compare the progress of the same cohort of students who take each examination and to better analyze school performance. The department shall assign a unique student identifier to each student prior to tracking the performance of a student in the public school information system.
(c) On or before July 1, 2012, the department shall, within available appropriations, expand the state-wide public school information system to perform the following functions:
(1) Link high school student performance data to postsecondary school performance data to provide information about public school student performance in post-secondary education;
(2) Connect the state-wide public school information system with the data systems of public and independent institutions of higher education in the state;
(3) Assign unique identifiers to all public school educators for purposes of monitoring student performance in preschool, elementary and secondary schools;
(4) Assign unique identifiers to each educator preparation program and attach such unique identifier to the unique identifier for a public school educator who has completed such educator preparation program; and
(5) Collect student transcript information, such as information regarding courses completed and grades received.
[(b)] (d) The system database of student information shall not be considered a public record for the purposes of section 1-210. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of a full-time permanent employee of a nonprofit organization that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, and that is organized and operated for educational purposes, to obtain information in accordance with the provisions of subsection [(e)] (g) of this section.
[(c)] (e) All school districts shall participate in the system, provided the department provides for technical assistance and training of school staff in the use of the system.
[(d)] (f) Local and regional boards of education and preschool programs which receive state or federal funding shall participate, in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Education, in the state-wide public school information system described in subsection [(a)] (b) of this section. Participation for purposes of this subsection shall include, but not be limited to, reporting on (1) student experiences in preschool by program type and by numbers of months in each such program, and (2) the readiness of students entering kindergarten and student progress in kindergarten. Such reporting shall be done by October 1, 2007, and annually thereafter.
[(e)] (g) On and after August 1, 2009, upon receipt of a written request to access data maintained under this section by a full-time permanent employee of a nonprofit organization that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as from time to time amended, and that is organized and operated for educational purposes, the Department of Education shall provide such data to such requesting party not later than sixty days after such request, provided such requesting party shall be responsible for the reasonable cost of such request. The Department of Information Technology shall monitor the calculation of such fees charged for access to or copies of such records to ensure that such fees are reasonable and consistent with those charged by other state agencies. The Department of Education shall respond to written requests under this section in the order in which they are received.
Sec. 2. Section 10-151b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2010):
(a) The superintendent of each local or regional board of education shall continuously evaluate or cause to be evaluated each teacher, in accordance with (1) a program developed pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, or (2) guidelines established by the State Board of Education for the development of evaluation programs, pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, and such other guidelines as may be established by mutual agreement between the local or regional board of education and the teachers' representative chosen pursuant to section 10-153b. [, continuously evaluate or cause to be evaluated each teacher.] An evaluation pursuant to this [subsection] section shall include, but need not be limited to, strengths, areas needing improvement, [and] strategies for improvement and the academic growth of such teacher's students. Claims of failure to follow the established procedures of such evaluation programs shall be subject to the grievance procedure in collective bargaining agreements negotiated subsequent to July 1, 2004. The superintendent shall report the status of teacher evaluations to the local or regional board of education on or before June first of each year. For purposes of this section, the term "teacher" shall include each professional employee of a board of education, below the rank of superintendent, who holds a certificate or permit issued by the State Board of Education.
(b) Each local and regional board of education shall develop and implement (1) teacher evaluation programs, pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, or (2) teacher evaluation programs consistent with guidelines established by the State Board of Education, pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, and consistent with the plan developed in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 10-220a.
(c) On and after July 1, 2011, each local and regional board of education shall incorporate into the teacher evaluation program for the school district the use of data and indicators on student academic growth as a significant factor in evaluating teacher performance. Each local and regional board of education shall (1) develop a teacher evaluation program consistent with the model teacher evaluation program developed by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, or (2) adopt the model teacher evaluation program developed by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
(d) The State Board of Education shall develop, in consultation with the Performance Evaluation Advisory Council, established pursuant to section 3 of this act, model teacher evaluation program guidelines that may be incorporated in the teacher evaluation programs developed by local and regional boards of education. Such model teacher evaluation program guidelines shall incorporate the use of data and indicators on student academic growth as a significant factor in rating teacher performance. Such model teacher evaluation program guidelines shall include, but not be limited to: (1) Methods for measuring student academic growth, including, but not limited to, time limitations on data relevancy, the types and amount of data needed to reliably and validly measure student academic growth for purposes of teacher evaluations, and criteria for the use of state-wide mastery examinations, pursuant to section 10-14n; (2) a definition of significant factor for purposes of the evaluating teacher performance with student academic growth; (3) a consideration of control factors that may influence teacher performance ratings, including, but not limited to, student characteristics, student attendance and student mobility; and (4) minimum requirements for teacher evaluation instruments and procedures.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2010) There is established a Performance Evaluation Advisory Council within the Department of Education. Membership of the council shall consist of the Commissioner of Education, or his designee, the Commissioner of Higher Education, or his designee, a representative from the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, a representative from the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, and those persons selected by the Commissioner of Education who shall include, but not be limited to, teachers, representatives of the exclusive bargaining unit for teachers pursuant to section 10-153b of the general statutes, persons with expertise in performance evaluation processes and systems, and any other person the commissioner deems appropriate. The council shall be responsible for (1) (A) assisting in the State Board of Education in the development and implementation of the model teacher evaluation programs guidelines, pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-151b of the general statutes, as amended by this act, and (B) the data collection and evaluation support system, pursuant to subsection (g) of section 10-151b of the general statutes, as amended by this act; and (2) defining effective teacher, highly effective teacher, effective principal, highly effective principal and student academic growth for purposes of teacher performance evaluations pursuant to section 10-151b of the general statutes, as amended by this act. The council shall meet at least quarterly.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2010 |
10-10a |
Sec. 2 |
July 1, 2010 |
10-151b |
Sec. 3 |
July 1, 2010 |
New section |
ED |
Joint Favorable Subst. C/R |