BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 48
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 48 (John A. Perez) - As Amended: April 26, 2011
SUBJECT : School personnel: evaluation and assessment.
SUMMARY : Authorizes school districts to implement a best
practices teacher evaluation system; and, specifies that school
districts that implement a best practices teacher evaluation
system are authorized to continue the existing categorical
funding flexibility beyond the 2014-15 fiscal year and must also
provide teachers with peer assistance and review before
initiating a dismissal proceeding. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that a best practices teacher evaluation system,
which is negotiated with the local collective bargaining unit,
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 students in learning,
evidence of which may include, but is not limited to,
high expectations and active student engagement for each
student.
ii) Creates and maintains effective environments for
student learning.
iii) Understands and organizes subject matter for student
learning, evidence of which may include, but is not
limited to, extensive subject matter, content standards,
and curriculum competence.
iv) Plans instruction and designing learning experiences
for all students, evidence of which may include, but is
not limited to, use of differentiated instruction and
practices based on student progress and use of culturally
responsive instruction to eliminate the achievement gap.
v) Uses student assessment information to inform
instruction and improve learning, evidence of which may
include, but is not limited to, use of formative
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assessments to adjust instructional practices to meet the
needs of individual students.
vi) Develops as a professional educator, evidence of
which may include, but is not limited to, consistent and
positive relationships with students, parents, staff and
administrators, use of collaborative professional
practices for improving instructional strategies, use of
participation in identified professional growth
opportunities, and use of meaningful self-assessment to
improve as a professional educator.
vii) Assesses student academic growth based on multiple
measures which are valid and reliable for the purpose of
teacher evaluation and may include, but are not limited
to, classroom work, local and state academic assessments,
student grades, classroom participation, student
presentations and performance, and student projects and
portfolios; and, specifies that student data used for
purposes of teacher evaluation shall be confidential.
b) Multiple observations of instructional and other
professional practices conducted by evaluators who have
received appropriate training and who have demonstrated
competence in teacher evaluation.
i) Specifies that multiple observations may include,
but are not limited to, classroom observations,
one-on-one discussions, and review of classroom materials
and course of study.
ii) Specifies the observations shall be conducted using
a uniform tool for use in observing the teacher for the
purpose of conducting an evaluation.
iii) Specifies that prior to each observation, the
observer shall meet with the teacher to discuss the
purpose of the observation and after each observation,
the observer shall meet with the teacher to discuss
recommendations, as necessary, with regard to areas of
improvement in the performance of the teacher.
c) Evaluations at least once each school year for
probationary personnel; at least every other year for
personnel with permanent status; and, at least every five
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years for personnel with permanent status who have been
employed at least 10 years with the school district, and
are highly qualified under the federal No Child Left Behind
Act.
d) Authorizes a locally negotiated evaluation process to
designate teachers to conduct, or participate in,
evaluations of other teachers.
2)Requires the results of the best practices teacher evaluation
to be reduced to writing and a copy thereof shall be provided
to the teacher at a time and in a manner determined pursuant
to the local collective bargaining agreement; specifies that
the teacher shall have the right to initiate a written
reaction or response to the evaluation; specifies this
response shall become a permanent attachment to the teacher's
personnel file; and, specifies the teacher shall be entitled
to a meeting with the evaluator to discuss the evaluation at
a time and in a manner determined pursuant to the local
collective bargaining agreement.
3)Authorizes a school district that implements a best practices
teacher evaluation system to use categorical budget
flexibility, as authorized on May 1, 2011, in any fiscal year
in which a best practices teacher evaluation system is
operative in that district; and, specifies that a school
district that implements a best practices teacher evaluation
system shall not be subject to the Stull Act.
4)Prohibits a school district that implements a best practices
teacher evaluation system from initiating dismissal charges
based on unsatisfactory performance unless the teacher is
given the opportunity to participate in a peer assistance and
review process established pursuant to a local collective
bargaining agreement that is consistent with the peer
assistance and review program (PAR).
5)Makes Legislative findings and declarations that:
a) Teaching is a professional endeavor, one in which
effective practice is driven by an understanding of
knowledge in the field and a commitment to all students and
their families.
b) Excellent teaching requires knowledge, skills, artistry,
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passion, and commitment.
c) Effective teachers integrate ethical concern for
children and society; extensive subject matter competence;
thoughtfully selected pedagogical practices; a depth of
knowledge about their students, including knowledge of
child and adolescent development and learning; an
understanding of their individual strengths, interests, and
needs; and, knowledge about their families and communities.
d) Effective teachers share a common set of professional
and ethical obligations that includes a profound and
fundamental commitment to the growth and success of the
individual students within their care as well as to the
strengthening and continual revitalization of our
democratic society.
e) The primary purpose of an evaluation system is to ensure
that teachers meet the highest professional standards of
effective teaching thereby resulting in high levels of
student learning.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Stull Act, enacted in 1971, which governs
certificated employee evaluations and requires school
districts to evaluate and assess teacher performance as it
reasonability relates to pupil performance on criterion
referenced tests, teacher technique and strategies, curricular
objectives, and the maintenance of a suitable learning
environment. Specifies that in the development and adoption
of evaluation guidelines and procedures, the governing board
shall avail itself of the advice of the certificated
instructional personnel in the district's organization of
certificated personnel pursuant to collective bargaining
statutes. Specifies that a school district may, by mutual
agreement between the exclusive representative of the
certificated employees of the school district and the
governing board of the school district, include any objective
standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching
Standards or any objective standards from the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession. Specifies that teacher
evaluations shall be made on a continuing basis at least once
each school year for probationary personnel; at least every
other year for personnel with permanent status; and, at least
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every five years for personnel with permanent status who have
been employed at least 10 years with the school district, are
highly qualified, if those personnel occupy positions that are
required to be filled by a highly qualified professional, and
whose previous evaluation rated the employee as meeting or
exceeding standards, if the evaluator and certificated
employee being evaluated agree. Specifies that an employee
who receives an unsatisfactory rating in the area of teaching
methods or instruction may be required to participate in a
program designed to improve appropriate areas of the
employee's performance; and, requires if a school district
participates in the PAR, employees who receive an
unsatisfactory rating shall participate in PAR. (Education
Code 44660 et. seq.)
2)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. Specifies that
assistance and review shall include multiple observations of a
teacher during periods of classroom instruction. Specifies
the program shall expect and strongly encourage a cooperative
relationship between the consulting teacher and the principal
with respect to the process of peer assistance and review.
Specifies the school district shall provide sufficient staff
development activities to assist a teacher to improve his or
her teaching skills and knowledge. Specifies the final
evaluation of a teacher's participation in the program shall
be made available for placement in the personnel file of the
teacher receiving assistance. (Education Code 44505)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal, however, the
Assembly Appropriations Committee has requested to hear this
bill. If this bill is passed by the Assembly Education
Committee, it will be referred to the Committee on
Appropriations to consider the fiscal implications.
COMMENTS : This bill authorizes school districts to implement a
best practices teacher evaluation system with specific
components, such as local and state assessment data and multiple
observations. While existing law authorizes school districts to
collectively bargain many of these elements, this bill defines
these as components of a best practices teacher evaluation
system and authorizes school districts that implement such a
teacher evaluation system to utilize the existing categorical
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funding flexibility, beyond the 2014-15 fiscal year, as long as
they also provide teachers with peer assistance and review that
is consistent with PAR before initiating a dismissal proceeding.
Research on the Current Teacher Evaluation System : 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?In sharing their own experiences with evaluations,
Accomplished California Teachers members revealed some common
challenges: a system that teachers do not trust, that rarely
offers clear direction for improving practice and that often
charges school leaders to implement without preparation or
resources."
Several research studies detail the essential principals and
components of a strong teacher evaluation system. 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 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."
The Use of Assessments in Evaluation : This bill authorizes
state assessments (Standardized Testing and Reporting program
(STAR)) to be used to evaluate teachers. While STAR tests
provide information about student performance at a point in
time, the tests do not provide information about performance
over time. In fact, STAR assessments were not developed to be
used to assess performance over time, and were not developed to
be vertically aligned across grade levels. With this in mind,
the committee should consider whether it is appropriate to use
STAR test results as part of teacher evaluations, and whether
this data will truly inform administrators about a teacher's
performance over time.
This bill authorizes locally developed assessments to be used to
evaluate teachers. Locally developed assessments include both
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formative and summative assessments. Formative assessments are
developed locally and are used by teachers to continually inform
instruction in the classroom throughout the school year.
Summative assessments can be developed locally or state-wide and
assess a student's performance at a point in time. Summative
assessments can include end of unit quizzes, end of course
tests, or standardized tests. Since these assessments are used
for disparate purposes, the committee should consider whether it
is appropriate to use them in teacher evaluations.
Funding Flexibility : There are approximately 60 categorical
programs that serve specific goals or specific programs. The
fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 budget had an important impact on
categorical programs. The budget agreement imposed a 20%
reduction on 39 programs and gave local education agencies
(LEAs) that received those funds in FY 2007-08 the flexibility
to use the funds for any educational purposes from FY 2008-09
through FY 2012-13. This flexibility was recently extended to
FY 2014-15 by SB 70 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 7, Statutes
of 2011. This reduction and flexibility provision is commonly
known as "Tier 3" flexibility, which essentially gives LEAs $4.5
billion in additional unrestricted funds. Tier 1 protected four
categorical programs from cuts and flexibility while 11
categorical programs sustained reductions but were given no
flexibility under Tier 2. For Tier 3 funds, school districts
receive their allocations for five years based on the applicable
percentage the programs received in FY 2007-08. As a result,
until 2015, LEAs are not required to justify or report average
daily attendance (ADA) in order to receive the specified
categorical funds.
The Tier 3 flexibility programs include: Adult Education,
Advanced Placement Programs, American Indian Early Childhood
Education Centers, American Indian Education Centers, Arts and
Music Block Grant, California Association of Student Councils,
CAHSEE - Instructional Support, California School Age Families
Education, Certificated Staff Mentoring, Charter School
Categorical Block Grant, Child Oral Health Assessments, Civic
Education, Class Size Reduction (9th Grade), Community Day
Schools, Community-Based English Tutoring Program, County Office
of Education: Williams Audit, Deferred Maintenance, Educational
Technology - CTAP, Gifted and Talented, Instructional Materials
Block Grant, Mathematics and Reading Professional Development,
National Board Certification Incentives, Peer Assistance and
Review, Physical Education Teacher Incentive Program, Principal
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Training Program, Professional Development Block Grant, Public
School Accountability Act, Pupil Retention Block Grant, Regional
Occupational Centers and Programs, Sanctions - High Priority
Schools Grant Program, School and Library Improvement Block
Grant, School Safety Block Grant (8-12), School Safety
Competitive Grants, Specialized Secondary Program Grants,
Supplemental Instruction (Summer School), Supplemental School
Counseling Program, Targeted Instructional Improvement Block
Grant, Teacher Credentialing Block Grant, and Teacher Dismissal
Apportionments.
This bill authorizes districts that implement and utilize a best
practices evaluation system to continue to receive Tier 3
categorical funding flexibility, indefinitely. This means that
in the districts that implement this type of evaluation system,
funds allocated to the 39 programs listed above could be used
for any education purpose, in perpetuity.
Professional Development : Existing law specifies that if a
school district has a PAR program in place, they must refer
teachers who receive an unsatisfactory review to the PAR program
for improvement. This bill specifies that a school district may
not initiate dismissal proceedings for a teacher that receives
an unsatisfactory review before providing peer assistance and
review that is consistent with the process established by the
PAR program. The author's intent is to provide professional
development, that is similar in concept to PAR (access to
experienced teachers to help improve instruction), to teachers
who receive an unsatisfactory review. It is unclear whether the
language in the bill is consistent with the author's intent to
allow districts to create their own professional development
that provides access to experienced teachers, and not
necessarily to require all of the elements of PAR be included in
such a program. As drafted, the bill could be interpreted to
require school districts to implement a peer review program with
all of the elements in PAR, at a minimum. Staff recommends the
bill be amended to clarify that that school districts shall give
an employee the opportunity to participate in peer assistance
and review that is similar in concept to PAR.
In years past, when PAR was funded at more than $50 million
annually by the state, many school districts created and
implemented PAR programs. Due to state budget cuts that now
fund PAR at approximately $24 million annually (and because PAR
is part of Tier 3 flexibility) many PAR programs have been
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discontinued in districts across the state. With this in mind,
it is unclear how many school districts will re-start PAR
programs district-wide. It is also unclear whether categorical
funding flexibility will motivate school districts to start or
re-start PAR programs, especially since school districts would
not receive PAR categorical funding, unless they participated in
the program in FY 2007-08.
Terminology & Clarifications : The bill uses terminology that
the committee should consider clarifying. The bill specifies
that teachers shall be evaluated on the use of differentiated
instruction and practices based on student progress and use of
"culturally responsive instruction" to eliminate the achievement
gap. It is unclear whether the term "culturally responsive
instruction" is a commonly used educational term. Researchers
define this as instruction that incorporates multicultural
information and resources into the delivery of routine content.
Staff recommends the bill be amended to clarify this term as it
is used in the bill.
The bill specifies that student assessment data used for
purposes of teacher evaluation shall be confidential. It is
unclear whether this means that during the evaluation discussion
between an administrator and a teacher, that individual student
assessment data cannot be reviewed and that individual student
assessment data must be kept confidential from the teacher and
the administrator. The author's intent is that student
assessment data, as it is used in teacher evaluation, shall be
kept confidential from the public. This means that that student
assessment data used in the evaluation of a teacher would be
part of the teacher's personnel file, and that personnel file
shall not be a public document. It is unclear, however, whether
this distinction is sufficient to allow a school district to
claim an exemption from disclosure to a public records act
request. The committee should consider clarifying the bill to
better reflect the intent of the author.
The bill further specifies that teachers be evaluated based on
multiple observations of instructional and other professional
practices conducted by evaluators who have received appropriate
training and "who have demonstrated competence in teacher
evaluation." The author's intent is not to create an official
evaluation competency certificate, but rather to specify that
the person has received proper training and has been authorized
to perform teacher evaluations by the school district. Staff
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recommends the bill be amended to clarify the bill to better
reflect the intent of the author.
Committee Amendments : Staff recommends the following
amendments:
1)Clarify that school districts shall give an employee the
opportunity to participate in peer assistance and review that
is similar in concept to PAR.
2)Clarify the term "culturally responsive instruction."
3)Clarify that individuals who evaluate teachers shall receive
proper training and be authorized to perform teacher
evaluations by the school district.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file.
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087