BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 5
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 5 (Fuentes)
As Amended May 27, 2011
Majority vote
EDUCATION 8-2 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Butler, Carter, Eng, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Halderman, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Gatto, Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Buchanan, Wagner |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires school districts to implement a best practices
teacher evaluation system by July 1 of the fiscal year following the
fiscal year in which the deficit factor is reduced to zero, as
specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the governing board of each school district to adopt and
implement a best practices teacher evaluation system by July 1 of
the first fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the
deficit factor is reduced to zero; specifies the best practices
teacher evaluation system shall be negotiated with the local
collective bargaining unit; and, specifies 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.
2)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 students in learning, evidence
of which may include, but is not limited to, high
expectations and active student engagement for each student;
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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 designs 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, including, but not limited to, incorporation of
multicultural information and content into the delivery of
curriculum to eliminate the achievement gap;
v) Uses student assessment information to inform
instruction and improve learning, evidence of which shall
include, but is not limited to, the use of formative and
summative assessments to adjust instructional practices to
meet the needs of individual students; and, specifies that
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 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; and,
vii) Contributes to 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; specifies
that the evaluation and assessment of certificated employee
performance shall not include the use of publishers' norms
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established by standardized tests; specifies 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 for
the purpose of improving a pupil's English proficiency; and,
specifies that 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 conducted by evaluators who have
received appropriate training and who have demonstrated
competence in teacher evaluation, as determined by the school
district.
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; and,
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; or, except as may be provided in the best
practices teacher evaluation system that is negotiated with the
local collective bargaining unit, at least every three 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; and,
d) Authorizes a locally negotiated evaluation process to
designate teachers to conduct, or participate in, evaluations
of other teachers for the purposes of determining needs for
professional development or providing corrective advice for the
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teacher being evaluated.
3)Requires the following sections of the Stull Act to become
inoperative 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;
b) The requirement that the governing board shall, in
developing and adopting the guidelines, avail itself of the
advice of the certificated instructional personnel in the
district as part of a locally negotiated collective bargaining
agreement;
c) The authorization for a school district, by mutual agreement
between the local bargaining unit and the district, to include
objective standards from the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards or the California Standards for the Teaching
Profession; and,
d) The requirement that each school district shall establish
standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level in
each area of study and each teacher shall be evaluated pursuant
to specified criteria.
4)Makes legislative findings and declarations that 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; excellent teaching requires
knowledge, skills, artistry, passion, and commitment; 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; 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; and, the primary purpose
of an evaluation system is to ensure that teachers meet the
highest professional standards of effective teaching thereby
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resulting in high levels of student learning.
EXISTING LAW establishes the Stull Act, enacted in 1971, which
governs certificated employee evaluations and requires school
districts to evaluate and assess teacher performance as it
reasonably relates to pupil performance on criterion referenced
tests, teacher technique and strategies, curricular objectives, and
the maintenance of a suitable learning environment (Education Code
44660 et. seq.).
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1) Once the K-12 revenue limit deficit factor is paid off,
there will be General Fund/Proposition 98 (GF/98) state
mandated reimbursable costs, likely between $30 million and $60
million, to school districts to conduct evaluations pursuant to
this measure. According to the Center for the Future of
Teaching in Learning, there are approximately 300,000 teachers
in California. Of this number, 18,164 are first or second year
teachers (i.e., probationary).
2) GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, likely between $2
million and $4 million, to school districts to provide training
to personnel to conduct evaluations, as specified.
COMMENTS : This bill requires school districts to implement a best
practices teacher evaluation system with specific components, such
as local and state assessment data and multiple observations when
the deficit factor has been reduced to zero. This means that this
new teacher evaluation system will go into effect when all of the
current revenue limit reductions have been restored. While existing
law authorizes school districts to collectively bargain many of
these elements, this bill requires these as components of a best
practices teacher evaluation system.
Research on the current teacher evaluation system: 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
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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 requires both
formative and summative assessments to be included in teacher
evaluation. 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 Assembly should consider whether it
is appropriate to use them in teacher evaluations.
This bill authorizes state assessments (i.e., 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 Assembly 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.
Evaluation frequency: This bill requires probationary teachers to
be evaluated at least every year and permanent teacher to be
evaluated at least every other year; and, authorizes teachers with
more than 10 years experience to be evaluated every three years
pursuant to a local collective bargaining agreement. This
eliminates the current five year evaluation cycle for teachers with
more than 10 years experience. By eliminating the five year
evaluation cycle for experienced teachers, this bill will require
experienced teachers to be evaluated more frequently. It is unclear
how many teachers are currently evaluated every five years and thus
it is unclear how this bill will affect administrator work load to
complete the increased number of evaluations.
Confidentiality: The bill specifies that student assessment data
used for purposes of teacher evaluation shall be confidential in the
same manner as all other elements of a teacher's personnel file.
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This means that the teacher's 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0000871