82R10348 PAM-D
By: Villarreal H.B. No. 3058
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program for developing alternative local models for
the appraisal and professional development of public school
teachers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter H-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H-1. LOCAL APPRAISAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM
Sec. 21.381. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "program"
means the local appraisal and professional development program.
Sec. 21.382. LOCAL APPRAISAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM. (a) To promote the rapid development of models for
improved approaches to teacher appraisal and professional
development, the commissioner by rule shall establish a local
appraisal and professional development program under which school
districts receive program grants from the agency funded with agency
money that may be used for the purpose, including any such
appropriated money, to use in planning and conducting trials of
models of teacher appraisal and professional development as an
alternative to the recommended appraisal process under Section
21.351.
(b) In establishing the program, the commissioner, in
consultation with the committee established under Subsection (c),
shall adopt program guidelines for a school district to follow in
developing a local plan in accordance with the criteria established
under Section 21.383.
(c) The commissioner shall appoint a committee of
interested persons, including classroom teachers with appropriate
experience, as determined by the commissioner, agency staff,
education policy makers, representatives of educator preparation
programs and educator associations, and educators with appropriate
experience, as determined by the commissioner, in teacher
development and evaluation, to assist the commissioner in
developing the program guidelines.
Sec. 21.383. LOCAL PLANS. (a) With respect to the content
of a local plan developed by a school district under this
subchapter, a local plan must define:
(1) professional standards of teaching practice,
including:
(A) planning and preparation;
(B) instruction;
(C) managing a classroom;
(D) communicating with families;
(E) collaborating with professional colleagues;
and
(F) other aspects of discharging professional
responsibilities;
(2) standards for assessing teaching practices using
multiple measures of teacher performance, including student
learning, with no single measure given predominant weight;
(3) standards for teaching and learning conditions,
including:
(A) preparation and collaboration time;
(B) facility and resource availability;
(C) teacher autonomy;
(D) school safety and discipline; and
(E) community support services availability for
students and families of students;
(4) standards for professional development support
systems that provide opportunities for teachers at all levels of
experience to continuously improve, including mentoring, coaching,
and other forms of peer support; and
(5) standards for implementing the local plan,
including:
(A) providing definitions of teacher
performance, including excellent, acceptable, and less than
competent performance;
(B) providing training requirements for
evaluators;
(C) providing opportunities for teacher
self-evaluation;
(D) providing prompt assessments based on
reliable measurements;
(E) providing frequent collaboration between
teacher and evaluator designed to enhance professional
improvement; and
(F) ensuring data integrity and transparency.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (a)(2), in using student
learning as one measure of teacher performance, student learning
must be measured using multiple, research-based measures, with no
single measure given predominant weight.
(c) With respect to the process for developing a local plan
under this subchapter, the school district must:
(1) develop the plan in consultation with interested
persons, including district classroom teachers who may be subject
to the plan's appraisal and professional development process,
students and parents of students in the district, community
representatives, and faculty members of local educator preparation
programs;
(2) establish teacher participation in and approval of
the development of the plan by documenting a vote of approval of at
least two-thirds of the classroom teachers at each campus that
intends to participate in the local plan; and
(3) provide notice to classroom teachers described by
Subdivision (2), before any vote under Subdivision (2), of specific
criteria and any performance measures, including formulas, on which
teacher appraisals will be based.
Sec. 21.384. APPROVAL; CONDITIONS. (a) A school district
shall submit the district's local plan to the agency for approval.
The plan must be submitted with documentation of teacher
involvement in development of the plan as described by Section
21.383(c).
(b) The agency may approve only local plans that meet
program guidelines adopted by the commissioner and that satisfy the
criteria established by Section 21.383.
(c) A school district whose local plan is approved by the
agency to receive a program grant under this subchapter may renew
the plan for not more than two consecutive years.
(d) As a condition of approval, the school district must
agree to evaluation of the district's local plan as provided by
Section 21.386.
Sec. 21.385. PRIVATE FUNDING. The commissioner may accept
gifts, grants, or donations to fund a grant administered under this
subchapter.
Sec. 21.386. EVALUATION OF PROGRAM. Using agency money
that may be used for the purpose, including any such appropriated
money, the agency shall contract with an impartial, independent
entity to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the program. The
evaluation must include:
(1) a descriptive analysis of the development and
implementation of the program at participating campuses or school
districts, including detailed descriptions of the models used by
the campuses or districts for teacher appraisal and professional
development;
(2) detailed information regarding standards for
assessing teaching practices under the program, including measures
for teacher performance used by the campuses in assessing teaching
practices;
(3) a comprehensive, quantitative analysis of the
impact of the program at participating campuses or districts,
including the impact of the various models used by the campuses or
districts on key outcomes in the program; and
(4) a summary of the models used by participating
campuses or districts for teacher appraisal and professional
development and an assessment of whether those models are used
effectively by the participating campuses or districts.
Sec. 21.387. REPORT. Not later than December 1, 2016, the
agency shall prepare and deliver to each member of the legislature a
report describing the results of the program under this subchapter,
including the results of the evaluation conducted in accordance
with Section 21.386.
Sec. 21.388. RULES. The commissioner shall adopt rules as
necessary to administer this subchapter.
Sec. 21.389. EXPIRATION. This subchapter expires June 1,
2017.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.