|
least once in the course of every 2 school years. However, |
any teacher in contractual continued service whose |
performance is rated as either "needs improvement" or |
"unsatisfactory" must be evaluated at least once in the |
school year following the receipt of such rating. |
No later than September 1, 2022, each school district must |
establish a teacher evaluation plan that ensures that each |
teacher in contractual continued service whose performance is |
rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" is evaluated at |
least once in the course of the 3 school years after receipt of |
the rating and implement an informal teacher observation plan |
established by agency rule and by agreement of the joint |
committee established under subsection (b) of Section 24A-4 of |
this Code 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. |
For the 2022-2023 school year only, if the Governor has |
declared a disaster due to a public health emergency pursuant |
to Section 7 of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, |
a school district may waive the evaluation requirement of all |
teachers in contractual continued service whose performances |
were rated as either "excellent" or "proficient" during the |
last school year in which the teachers were evaluated under |
this Section. |
|
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section |
or any other Section of this Code, a principal shall not be |
prohibited from evaluating any teachers within a school during |
his or her first year as principal of such school. If a |
first-year principal exercises this option in a school |
district where the evaluation plan provides for a teacher in |
contractual continued service to be evaluated once in the |
course of every 2 or 3 school years, as applicable, then a new |
2-year or 3-year evaluation plan must be established. |
The evaluation plan shall comply with the requirements of |
this Section and
of any rules adopted by the State Board of |
Education pursuant to this Section. |
The plan shall include a description of each teacher's |
duties
and responsibilities and of the standards to which that |
teacher
is expected to conform, and shall include at least the |
following components: |
(a) personal observation of the teacher in the |
classroom by the evaluator, unless
the teacher has no |
classroom duties. |
(b) consideration of the teacher's attendance, |
planning,
instructional methods, classroom management, |
where relevant, and
competency in the subject matter |
taught. |
(c) by no later than the applicable implementation |
date, consideration of student growth as a significant |
factor in the rating of the teacher's performance. |
|
(d) prior to September 1, 2012, rating of the |
performance of teachers in contractual continued service |
as either: |
(i) "excellent",
"satisfactory" or |
"unsatisfactory"; or |
(ii) "excellent", "proficient", "needs |
improvement" or "unsatisfactory". |
(e) on and after September 1, 2012, rating of the |
performance of all teachers as "excellent", "proficient", |
"needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory". |
(f) specification as to the teacher's strengths and |
weaknesses, with
supporting reasons for the comments made. |
(g) inclusion of a copy of the evaluation in the |
teacher's personnel
file and provision of a copy to the |
teacher. |
(h) within 30 school days after the completion of an |
evaluation rating a teacher in contractual continued |
service as "needs improvement", development by the |
evaluator, in consultation with the teacher, and taking |
into account the teacher's on-going professional |
responsibilities including his or her regular teaching |
assignments, of a professional development plan directed |
to the areas that need improvement and any supports that |
the district will provide to address the areas identified |
as needing improvement. |
(i) within 30 school days after completion of an |
|
evaluation rating a teacher
in contractual continued |
service as "unsatisfactory", development and commencement |
by the district of a remediation plan designed to correct |
deficiencies
cited, provided the deficiencies are deemed |
remediable.
In all school districts the
remediation plan |
for unsatisfactory, tenured teachers shall
provide for 90 |
school days of remediation within the
classroom, unless an |
applicable collective bargaining agreement provides for a |
shorter duration. In all school districts evaluations |
issued pursuant
to
this Section shall be
issued within 10 |
days after the conclusion of the respective remediation |
plan.
However, the school board or other governing |
authority of the district
shall not lose
jurisdiction to |
discharge a teacher in the event the evaluation is not |
issued
within 10 days after the conclusion of the |
respective remediation plan. |
(j) participation in the remediation plan by the |
teacher in contractual continued service rated
|
"unsatisfactory", an evaluator and a consulting teacher |
selected by the evaluator of the teacher who was rated |
"unsatisfactory", which
consulting teacher is an |
educational employee as defined in the Educational
Labor |
Relations Act, has at least 5 years' teaching experience, |
and a
reasonable familiarity with the assignment of the |
teacher being evaluated,
and who received an "excellent" |
rating on his or her most
recent evaluation. Where no |
|
teachers who meet these criteria are available
within the |
district, the district shall request and the applicable |
regional office of education shall supply, to participate |
in the remediation process, an
individual who meets these |
criteria. |
In a district having a population of less than 500,000 |
with an
exclusive bargaining agent, the bargaining agent
|
may, if it so chooses, supply a roster of qualified |
teachers from whom the
consulting teacher is to be |
selected. That roster shall, however, contain
the names of |
at least 5 teachers, each of whom meets the criteria for
|
consulting teacher with regard to the teacher being |
evaluated, or the names
of all teachers so qualified if |
that number is less than 5. In the event of
a dispute as to |
qualification, the State Board shall determine |
qualification. |
(k) a mid-point and final evaluation by an evaluator |
during and at the end of the remediation period, |
immediately following receipt of a remediation plan |
provided for under subsections (i) and (j) of this |
Section. Each evaluation shall assess the teacher's |
performance during the time period since the prior |
evaluation; provided that the last evaluation shall also |
include an overall evaluation of the teacher's performance |
during the remediation period. A written copy of the |
evaluations and ratings, in which any deficiencies in |
|
performance and recommendations for correction are |
identified, shall be provided to and discussed with the |
teacher within 10 school days after the date of the |
evaluation, unless an applicable collective bargaining |
agreement provides to the contrary. These subsequent |
evaluations
shall be conducted by an evaluator. The |
consulting
teacher shall provide advice to the teacher |
rated "unsatisfactory" on how
to improve teaching skills |
and to successfully complete the remediation
plan. The |
consulting teacher shall participate in developing the
|
remediation plan, but the final decision as to the |
evaluation shall be done
solely by the evaluator,
unless |
an applicable collective bargaining agreement provides to |
the contrary.
Evaluations at the
conclusion of the |
remediation process shall be separate and distinct from |
the
required annual evaluations of teachers and shall not |
be subject to the
guidelines and procedures relating to |
those annual evaluations. The evaluator
may but is not |
required to use the forms provided for the annual |
evaluation of
teachers in the district's evaluation plan. |
(l)
reinstatement to the evaluation schedule set forth |
in the district's evaluation plan for any teacher in |
contractual continued service
who achieves a rating equal |
to or better than "satisfactory" or "proficient" in the |
school year following a rating of "needs improvement" or |
"unsatisfactory". |
|
(m) dismissal in accordance with subsection (d) of |
Section 24-12 or Section 24-16.5 or 34-85 of this
Code of |
any teacher who fails to complete any applicable |
remediation plan
with a rating equal to or better than a |
"satisfactory" or "proficient" rating. Districts and |
teachers subject to
dismissal hearings are precluded from |
compelling the testimony of
consulting teachers at such |
hearings under subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section |
24-16.5 or 34-85 of this Code, either
as to the rating |
process or for opinions of performances by teachers under
|
remediation. |
(n) After the implementation date of an evaluation |
system for teachers in a district as specified in Section |
24A-2.5 of this Code, if a teacher in contractual |
continued service successfully completes a remediation |
plan following a rating of "unsatisfactory" in an overall |
performance evaluation received after the foregoing |
implementation date and receives a subsequent rating of |
"unsatisfactory" in any of the teacher's overall |
performance evaluation ratings received during the |
36-month period following the teacher's completion of the |
remediation plan, then the school district may forego |
remediation and seek dismissal in accordance with |
subsection (d) of Section 24-12 or Section 34-85 of this |
Code. |
(o) 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. |
Nothing in this Section or Section 24A-4 shall be |
construed as preventing immediate
dismissal of a teacher for |
deficiencies which are
deemed irremediable or for actions |
which are injurious to or endanger the
health or person of |
students in the classroom or school, or preventing the |
dismissal or non-renewal of teachers not in contractual |
continued service for any reason not prohibited by applicable |
employment, labor, and civil rights laws. Failure to
strictly |
comply with the time requirements contained in Section 24A-5 |
shall
not invalidate the results of the remediation plan. |
Nothing contained in this amendatory Act of the 98th |
General Assembly repeals, supersedes, invalidates, or |
nullifies final decisions in lawsuits pending on the effective |
date of this amendatory Act of the 98th General Assembly in |
Illinois courts involving the interpretation of Public Act |
97-8. |
If the Governor has declared a disaster due to a public |
health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the Illinois |
|
Emergency Management Agency Act that suspends in-person |
instruction, the timelines in this Section connected to the |
commencement and completion of any remediation plan are |
waived. Except if the parties mutually agree otherwise and the |
agreement is in writing, any remediation plan that had been in |
place for more than 45 days prior to the suspension of |
in-person instruction shall resume when in-person instruction |
resumes and any remediation plan that had been in place for |
fewer than 45 days prior to the suspension of in-person |
instruction shall be discontinued and a new remediation period |
shall begin when in-person instruction resumes. The |
requirements of this paragraph apply regardless of whether |
they are included in a school district's teacher evaluation |
plan. |
(Source: P.A. 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 102-252, eff. 1-1-22; |
102-729, eff. 5-6-22.)
|
(105 ILCS 5/34-84) (from Ch. 122, par. 34-84)
|
Sec. 34-84. Appointments and promotions of teachers. |
Appointments and
promotions of teachers shall be made for |
merit
only, and after satisfactory service for a probationary |
period of 3 years
with respect to probationary employees |
employed as full-time teachers in the
public school system of |
the district before January 1, 1998 and 4 years with
respect to |
probationary employees who are first employed as full-time |
teachers
in the public school system of the district on or |
|
after January 1, 1998,
during which period the board may |
dismiss or discharge any
such probationary employee upon the |
recommendation, accompanied by the
written reasons therefor, |
of the general superintendent of schools and after which |
period
appointments of teachers shall become permanent, |
subject to removal for cause
in the manner provided by Section |
34-85.
|
For a probationary-appointed teacher in full-time service |
who is appointed on or after July 1, 2013 and who receives |
ratings of "excellent" during his or her first 3 school terms |
of full-time service, the probationary period shall be 3 |
school terms of full-time service.
For a |
probationary-appointed teacher in full-time service who is |
appointed on or after July 1, 2013 and who had previously |
entered into contractual continued service in another school |
district in this State or a program of a special education |
joint agreement in this State, as defined in Section 24-11 of |
this Code, the probationary period shall be 2 school terms of |
full-time service, provided that (i) the teacher voluntarily |
resigned or was honorably dismissed from the prior district or |
program within the 3-month period preceding his or her |
appointment date, (ii) the teacher's last 2 ratings in the |
prior district or program were at least "proficient" and were |
issued after the prior district's or program's PERA |
implementation date, as defined in Section 24-11 of this Code, |
and (iii) the teacher receives ratings of "excellent" during |
|
his or her first 2 school terms of full-time service. |
For a probationary-appointed teacher in full-time service |
who is appointed on or after July 1, 2013 and who has not |
entered into contractual continued service after 2 or 3 school |
terms of full-time service as provided in this Section, the |
probationary period shall be 4 school terms of full-time |
service, provided that the teacher receives a rating of at |
least "proficient" in the last school term and a rating of at |
least "proficient" in either the second or third school term. |
As used in this Section, "school term" means the school |
term established by the board pursuant to Section 10-19 of |
this Code, and "full-time service" means the teacher has |
actually worked at least 150 days during the school term. As |
used in this Article, "teachers" means and includes all |
members of
the teaching force excluding the general |
superintendent and principals. |
There shall be no reduction in teachers because of a |
decrease in
student membership or a change in subject |
requirements within the
attendance center organization after |
the 20th day following the first day
of the school year, except |
that: (1) this provision shall not apply to
desegregation |
positions, special education positions, or any other positions
|
funded by State or federal categorical funds, and (2) at |
attendance centers
maintaining any of grades 9 through 12, |
there may be a second reduction in
teachers on the first day of |
the second semester of the regular school
term because of a |
|
decrease in student membership or a change in subject
|
requirements within the attendance center organization.
|
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. |
The school principal shall make the decision
in selecting |
teachers to fill new and vacant positions consistent with
|
Section 34-8.1.
|
(Source: P.A. 97-8, eff. 6-13-11.)
|
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law.
|
