Senate Bill No. 681
(By Senator Plymale)
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[Introduced February 22, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-12 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to requiring that evaluations of
certain professional personnel be on an annual basis.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18A-2-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
§18A-2-12. Performance evaluations of school personnel;
professional personnel evaluation process.
(a) The state board shall adopt a written system for the
evaluation of the employment performance of personnel, which system
shall be applied uniformly by county boards of education in the
evaluation of the employment performance of personnel employed by
the board.
(b) The system adopted by the state board for evaluating the employment performance of professional personnel shall be in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
(c) For purposes of this section, "professional personnel",
"professional" or "professionals", means professional personnel as
defined in section one, article one of this chapter.
(d) In developing the professional personnel performance
evaluation system, and amendments thereto, the state board shall
consult with the Center for Professional Development created in
article three-a of this chapter. The center shall participate
actively with the state board in developing written standards for
evaluation which clearly specify satisfactory performance and the
criteria to be used to determine whether the performance of each
professional meets such standards.
(e) The performance evaluation system shall contain, but shall
not be limited to, the following information:
(1) The professional personnel positions to be evaluated,
whether they be teachers, substitute teachers, administrators,
principals or others;
(2) The frequency and duration of the evaluations, which shall
be on a regular an annual basis and of such frequency and duration
as to insure the collection of a sufficient amount of data from
which reliable conclusions and findings may be drawn; Provided,
That for school personnel with five or more years of experience,
who have not received an unsatisfactory rating, evaluations shall
be conducted no more than once every three years unless the principal determines an evaluation for a particular school employee
is needed more frequently: Provided, however, That for classroom
teachers with five or more years of experience who have not
received an unsatisfactory rating, an evaluation shall be conducted
or professional growth and development plan required only when the
principal determines it to be necessary for a particular classroom
teacher, or when a classroom teacher exercises the option of being
evaluated at more frequent intervals
(3) The evaluation shall serve the following purposes:
(A) Serve as a basis for the improvement of the performance of
the personnel in their assigned duties;
(B) Provide an indicator of satisfactory performance for
individual professionals;
(C) Serve as documentation for a dismissal on the grounds of
unsatisfactory performance; and
(D) Serve as a basis for programs to increase the professional
growth and development of professional personnel;
(4) The standards for satisfactory performance for
professional personnel and the criteria to be used to determine
whether the performance of each professional meets such those
standards and other criteria for evaluation for each professional
position evaluated. Effective July 1, 2003, and thereafter,
professional personnel, as appropriate, shall demonstrate
competency in the knowledge and implementation of the technology
standards adopted by the state board. If a professional fails to demonstrate competency, in the knowledge and implementation of
these standards, he or she will be subject to an improvement plan
to correct the deficiencies; and
(5) Provisions for a written improvement plan, which shall be
specific as to what improvements, if any, are needed in the
performance of the professional and shall clearly set forth
recommendations for improvements, including recommendations for
additional education and training during the professional's
recertification process.
(f) A professional whose performance is considered to be
unsatisfactory shall be given notice of deficiencies. A
remediation plan to correct deficiencies shall be developed by the
employing county board of education and the professional. The
professional shall be given a reasonable period of time for
remediation of the deficiencies and shall receive a statement of
the resources and assistance available for the purposes of
correcting the deficiencies.
(g) No person may evaluate professional personnel for the
purposes of this section unless the person has an administrative
certificate issued by the state superintendent and has successfully
completed education and training in evaluation skills through the
center for professional development, or equivalent education
training approved by the state board, which will enable the person
to make fair, professional, and credible evaluations of the
personnel whom the person is responsible for evaluating. After July 1, 1994, no person may be issued an administrative certificate
or have an administrative certificate renewed unless the state
board determines that the person has successfully completed
education and training in evaluation skills through the center for
professional development, or equivalent education and training
approved by the state board.
(h) Any professional whose performance evaluation includes a
written improvement plan shall be given an opportunity to improve
his or her performance through the implementation of the plan. If
the next performance evaluation shows that the professional is now
performing satisfactorily, no further action may be taken
concerning the original performance evaluation. If the evaluation
shows that the professional is still not performing satisfactorily,
the evaluator either shall make additional recommendations for
improvement or may recommend the dismissal of the professional in
accordance with the provisions of section eight of this article.
(i) Lesson plans are intended to serve as a daily guide for
teachers and substitutes for the orderly presentation of the
curriculum. Lesson plans may not be used as a substitute for
observations by an administrator in the performance evaluation
process. A classroom teacher, as defined in section one, article
one of this chapter, may not be required to post his or her lesson
plans on the Internet or otherwise make them available to students
and parents or to include in his or her lesson plans any of the
following:
(1) Teach and reteach strategies;
(2) Write to learn activities;
(3) Cultural diversity;
(4) Color coding; or
(5) Any other similar items which are not required to serve as
a guide to the teacher or substitute for daily instruction; and
(j) The Legislature finds that classroom teachers must be free
of unnecessary paper work so that they can focus their time on
instruction. Therefore, classroom teachers may not be required to
keep records or logs of routine contacts with parents or guardians.
(k) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit
prohibits classroom teachers from voluntarily posting material on
the Internet.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that evaluations
of certain professional personnel be on an annual basis.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.