BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 5
AUTHOR: Fuentes
AMENDED: June 9, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 15, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Teachers: teacher evaluations.
SUMMARY
This bill requires school districts to implement a best
practices teacher evaluation system, as specified, by July 1
of the first fiscal year following the fiscal year in which
the deficit factor is reduced to zero.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the Stull Act, expresses Legislative intent
that governing boards establish a uniform system of
evaluation and assessment of certificated personnel within
each school district, including schools conducted or
maintained by county superintendents of education and
requires school districts to evaluate and assess teacher
performance as it reasonably relates to the progress of
pupils toward district-adopted standards of pupil achievement
and pupil performance on criterion referenced tests;
instructional techniques and strategies used by the employee;
the employee's adherence to curricular objectives; and the
establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning
environment within the scope of the employee's
responsibilities. The Stull Act does not apply to
certificated personnel who are employed on an hourly basis in
adult education classes.
(Education Code § 44660 et. seq.)
In developing guidelines and procedures for evaluating
certificated personnel, existing law requires governing
boards to avail themselves of the advice of the certificated
instructional personnel in the district's organization of
certificated personnel pursuant to collective bargaining
statutes. A school district may, by mutual agreement between
the exclusive representatives of the certificated employees
AB 5
Page 2
of the district, include any objective standards from the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) or
any objective standards from the California Standards for the
Teaching Profession (CSTP). (EC § 44661.5)
Existing law requires an evaluation and assessment of the
performance of each certificated employee to be made at least
once each school year for probationary personnel, at least
every other year for personnel with permanent status, and at
least every five years for permanent employees who have been
employed with the district at least 10 years and were rated
as meeting or exceeding standards in their previous
evaluation. Employees who receive an unsatisfactory rating
may be required to participate in a program designed to
improve the employee's performance and to further pupil
achievement and the instructional objectives of the district.
Teachers who receive an unsatisfactory rating are required
to participate in the Peer Assistance and Review Program if
their district offers such a program. (EC § 44664)
Existing law establishes the Peer Assistance and Review
Program for Teachers (PAR) by authorizing school districts
and the exclusive representative of the certificated
employees to develop and implement the program locally.
Under current law, PAR programs are to include multiple
observations of a teacher during periods of classroom
instruction and sufficient staff development activities to
assist a teacher in improving his or her skills and
knowledge. The final evaluation of a teacher's participation
in the program is made available for placement in his or her
personnel file. (EC § 44505)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Requires the following sections of the Stull Act to
become inoperative on July 1 of the first fiscal year
following the fiscal year in which the deficit factor is
reduced to zero:
a) Legislative intent that governing boards
establish a uniform system for evaluation and
assessment. (EC § 44660)
b) The requirement that a governing board, in
developing and adopting guidelines, avail itself of
AB 5
Page 3
the advice of the certificated instructional
personnel in the district as part of a locally
negotiated collective bargaining agreement. (EC §
44661)
c) The authorization that a school district may
include objective standards from the NBPTS or the
CSTP in its guidelines.
(EC § 44661.5)
d) The requirement that each school district
establish standards of expected pupil achievement
at each grade level in each area of study and to
evaluate certificated employee performance as it
reasonably relates to specified criteria. (EC §
44662)
e) The requirement that evaluation and assessment
of the performance of certificated employees be
conducted every year for probationary employees, at
least every two years for personnel with permanent
status and at least every five years for personnel
with permanent status who have been employed with
the district at least 10 years were rated as
meeting or exceeding standards at their last
evaluation. (EC § 44664)
2) Requires the governing board of each school district to
adopt and implement a best practices teacher evaluation
by July 1 of the first fiscal year following the fiscal
year in which the deficit factor is reduced to zero; the
teacher evaluation system to be locally negotiated;
specifies that if the certificated employees of the
school district do not have an exclusive bargaining
representative, the governing board of the school
district shall adopt objective evaluation and support
components, as applicable. Specifies that a best
practices teacher evaluation system has the following
attributes:
a) Each teacher is evaluated on the degree to
which he or she accomplishes the following
objectives:
i) Engages and supports all pupils in
learning, evidence of which may include, but
is not limited to, evidence of high
AB 5
Page 4
expectations and active pupil engagement for
each pupil.
ii) Creates and maintains effective
environments for pupil learning, to the extent
that those environments are within the
teacher's control.
iii) Understands and organizes subject
matter for pupil learning, evidence of which
may include, but is not limited to, extensive
subject matter, content standards, and
curriculum competence.
iv) Plans instruction and designs
learning experiences for all pupils, evidence
of which may include but is not limited to,
use of differential instruction and practices
based upon pupil progress and use of
culturally responsive instruction, including,
but not limited to, incorporation of
multicultural information and content into the
delivery of curriculum, to eliminate the
achievement gap.
v) Uses pupil assessment information to
inform instruction and to improve learning,
evidence of which shall include, but is not
limited to, use of formative and summative
assessments to adjust instructional practices
to meet the needs of individual pupils. For
certificated employees who directly instruct
English learner pupils in acquiring English
language fluency, the assessment information
shall include the results of the English
language development test.
vi) Develops as a professional educator,
evidence of which may include, but is not
limited to, consistent and positive
relationships with pupils, parents, staff, and
administrators, use of collaborative
professional practices for improving
instructional strategies, participation in
identified professional growth opportunities,
and use of meaningful self-assessment to
improve as a professional educator.
AB 5
Page 5
vii) Contributes to pupil academic growth
based upon multiple measures, which may
include but are not limited to, classroom
work, local and state academic assessments,
pupil grades, classroom participation,
presentations and performances, and projects
and portfolios. Measures used for assessing
pupil academic growth shall be valid and
reliable for the purpose of teacher
evaluation, provided that the evaluation and
assessment of certificated employee
performance pursuant to this section shall not
include the use of publisher's norms
established by standardized tests. For
certificated employees who directly instruct
English learner pupils in acquiring English,
measures shall include the degree to which
pupils acquire the English language
development standards adopted by the State
Board of Education. Pupil data used for
purposes of teacher evaluation shall be
confidential in the same manner as all other
elements of a teacher's personnel file.
b) Multiple observations of instructional and
other professional practices are conducted by
evaluators who have received appropriate training
and who have demonstrated competence in teaching
evaluation, as determined by the school district.
i) Specifies that the multiple
observations may include but are not limited
to classroom observations, one-on-one
discussions, and review of classroom materials
and course of study, and requires observations
to be conducted using a uniform observational
tool that is appropriate to the teacher's
assignment.
ii) Specifies that the observer shall
meet with the teacher to discuss the purpose
of the observation prior to each observation
and meet with the teacher after each
observation to discuss recommendations as
necessary, with regard to areas of improvement
in the performance of the teacher.
AB 5
Page 6
3) Specifies that the requirement for a teacher evaluation
system is not to be interpreted to prohibit a locally
negotiated evaluation process from designating
certificated employees to conduct, or participate in,
evaluations of other certificated employees for purposes
of determining needs for professional development or
providing corrective advice for the certificated
employee being evaluated. Specifies that a
non-supervisory certificated employee who conducts or
participates in an evaluation shall not be deemed to be
exercising a management or supervisory function, as
specified.
4) Requires, by July 1 of the first fiscal year following
the fiscal year in which the deficit factor is reduced
to zero, a school district governing board to establish
and define job responsibilities for certificated
non-instructional personnel, including, but not limited
to, supervisory and administrative personnel, whose
responsibilities cannot be evaluated appropriately under
the best practices teacher evaluation system and to
evaluate and assess the performance of non-instructional
certificated employees as it reasonably relates to the
fulfillment of those responsibilities.
5) Requires, by July 1 of the first fiscal year in which
the deficit factor is reduced to zero, the following:
a) The evaluation and assessment of the
performance of each certificated employee to be
made on a continuing basis as follows:
i) At least once each school year for
probationary personnel.
ii) At least every other year for
personnel with permanent status.
iii) Except as provided in the locally
negotiated best practices teacher evaluation
system, at least every three years for
employees with permanent status who have been
employed at least 10 years with the school
district and were rated as meeting or
exceeding standards at the previous
evaluation.
AB 5
Page 7
b) Requires the employing authority to notify an
employee in writing if the employee is not
performing his or her duties in a satisfactory
manner and to describe the unsatisfactory
performance. Requires the employing authority to
confer with the employee and make specific
recommendations as to areas of improvement, and
requires an annual evaluation until the employee
achieves a positive evaluation or is separated from
the district.
c) Specifies an employee evaluation that contains
an unsatisfactory rating of an employee's
performance may include a requirement that the
certificated employee participate in a program
designed to improve appropriate areas of the
employee's performance, as specified, and requires
any certificated employee who receives an
unsatisfactory rating on an evaluation to
participate in PAR if the district has such a
program.
6) Specifies that hourly and temporary hourly employees,
other than those employed in adult education classes who
are excluded by the provisions of EC § 44660, are
excluded by the provisions governing the teacher
evaluation system, and provides that substitute teachers
may be excluded at the discretion of the governing
board.
7) Specifies that local agencies and school districts shall
be reimbursed for costs if the Commission on State
Mandates determines that the act contains costs mandated
by the state.
8) Makes findings and declarations regarding teaching, the
characteristics of effective teaching, and the
importance of teachers in influencing student academic
success. Declares that the primary purpose of an
evaluation system is to ensure that teachers meet the
highest professional standards of effective teaching,
thereby resulting in higher levels of pupil learning.
STAFF COMMENTS
AB 5
Page 8
1) Need for the bill : Several research studies document
the correlation between teacher quality and student
achievement. According to information provided by the
author, research indicates "differential teacher
effectiveness is a strong determinant of differences in
student learning, far outweighing the effects of
differences in class size and heterogeneity. Students
who are assigned to several ineffective teachers in a
row have significantly lower achievement and gains in
achievement than those who are assigned to several
highly effective teachers."
The author's office notes that the state's current teacher
evaluation system is inconsistent, unclear, and does
little to foster a culture of continuous improvement for
teachers. Several studies have noted that California's
current approach to teacher evaluation serves neither
schools nor teachers well. A January 2011 report by the
Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL)
notes that evaluations pay "scarce attention to student
learning or do not connect that learning to elements of
teacher content knowledge or instructional skills that
could be improved." According to a 2010 report released
by the National Board Resource Center at Stanford
University, "While evaluation processes across the state
vary widely, many of them look very much the same as
they did in 1971?Comments from Accomplished California
Teachers indicates that current approaches to teacher
evaluation results in a system that teachers do not
trust, that rarely offers clear direction for improving
practice, and often charges school leaders to implement
without preparation or resources.
This bill addresses the need for a more meaningful evaluation
system. The CFTL has recommended making teacher
evaluation multi-dimensional, strengthening the training
of those who conduct evaluations, and tying evaluation
results directly to substantive feedback to teachers.
The National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality
argues a strong evaluation system must "involve teachers
and stakeholders in developing the system; use multiple
indicators; and give teachers opportunities to improve
in the areas in which they score poorly." Likewise, the
New Teacher Project states "evaluations should provide
all teachers with regular feedback that helps them grow
as professionals, no matter how long they have been in
AB 5
Page 9
the classroom. The primary purpose of evaluations
should not be punitive. Good evaluations identify
excellent teachers and help teachers of all skill levels
understand how they can improve."
This bill addresses the same policy issue as SB 257 (Liu) and
SB 355 (Huff), which were previously heard in this
Committee. In contrast to SB 257 and SB 355 however,
this bill would require, rather than authorize,
districts to implement a best practices teacher
evaluation system once the deficit factor is reduced to
zero. Where SB 257 authorizes pupil progress data to
comprise no more than 25% of a teacher's evaluation, and
SB 355 would have required such data to constitute at
least 30% of the measure of teacher effectiveness, this
bill this bill does not specify how pupil academic
growth measures should be used in the evaluation system,
allowing local districts to determine the weight, if
any, to assign to the components of the evaluation
system.
2) Training and calibration of evaluators . Performance
evaluations play a critical role in human resource
management for most organizations. They provide a basis
for helping employees and employers identify
professional growth opportunities and establishing
performance objectives. Although school districts often
adopt common evaluation forms and rubrics, teachers
often complain that evaluators may not be consistent in
their use of those forms, raising questions of fairness
and equity across schools within the district. As
pressure increases to improve teacher quality, it will
be critical for governing boards to ensure that each
component of a multiple measures evaluation system is
valid and reliable for gauging teacher effectiveness.
This bill requires the observation of instructional and
other professional practices to be conducted by
evaluators who have received appropriate training and
have demonstrated competence in evaluating teaching. To
ensure that a satisfactory rating in one school within
the district is equal to a satisfactory rating in
another school, districts should also ensure that
evaluators are calibrated and demonstrate inter-rater
reliability. Staff recommends the bill be amended to
require evaluators to be calibrated as determined by the
district.
AB 5
Page 10
3) Technical amendments . Current law exempts certificated
personnel who are employed on an hourly basis in adult
education classes from the Stull Act. This bill deletes
that exemption as of July 1 of the first fiscal year
following the fiscal year in which the deficit factor is
reduced to zero, but appears to reference that exemption
in Section 8 of the bill. To be consistent with current
law and the author's intent, staff recommends a
technical amendment to maintain the exemption of
certificated personnel who are employed on an hourly
basis in adult education.
To clarify the Legislature's intent that pupil assessment
data used in the evaluation process be valid and
reliable for the purpose of teacher evaluation and to
clarify the data to be used for certificated employees
who directly instruct English learner pupils, staff
recommends a technical amendment that would move all but
the first sentence of paragraph (G) of Section 44662
(a)(1) into a new subparagraph within paragraph (G).
4) Related and prior legislation .
SB 257 (Liu) encourages school districts to include in its
evaluation and assessment guidelines, specific
information relating to current best teaching practices
in all subject areas and authorizes a school district to
include additional criteria into the evaluation and
assessment of certificated employees for the purpose of
improving instruction. For districts that include
additional criteria into their evaluation systems, this
bill would limit pupil progress data to no more than 25%
of a teacher's evaluation. This bill was passed by this
Committee on April 27, 2011 on a 9-0 vote.
SB 355 (Huff) authorizes the governing board of a school
district to evaluate and assess the performance of
certificated employees using a multiple-measures
evaluation system, authorizes a school district, county
office of education, or charter school to assign,
reassign, and transfer teachers and administrators based
on effectiveness and subject matter needs without regard
to years of service, and expands the reasons districts
may deviate from the order of seniority in terminating
and reappointing teachers, as specified. Requires a
school district evaluation system adopted pursuant to SB
AB 5
Page 11
355 to include a quantitative pupil academic growth
component of at least 30% of the evaluation. This
measure failed passage in this Committee on a 3-2 vote.
SB 955 (Huff, 2010) would have made various changes to
statutes governing staffing notification deadlines,
layoff and dismissal procedures, and reemployment
preferences pertaining to certificated educators. This
bill was heard and passed by this Committee on a 5-4
vote and was subsequently held by the Senate Rules
Committee.
SB 1655 (Scott, Chapter 518 2006) prohibits a school
district from transferring a teacher who requests to be
transferred to a school that is ranked in deciles 1 to 3
inclusive, on the Academic Performance Index if the
principal of the school refuses to accept the transfer.
This measure was passed by this Committee on an 11-0
vote.
SUPPORT
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
OPPOSITION
None received.