HF 1510

1st Engrossment - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 03/05/2012 03:50pm

A bill for an act
relating to education; modifying certain alternative compensation and
professional development provisions for teachers; making alternative
compensation revenue available for principals and assistant principals; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 122A.413, subdivision 2; 122A.414,
subdivisions 1a, 2; 122A.60, subdivisions 1a, 3; Minnesota Statutes 2011
Supplement, section 123B.147, subdivision 3; proposing coding for new law
in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 122A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.413, subdivision 2, is amended to
read:

Subd. 2.

Plan components.

The new text begin school board must approve an new text end educational
improvement plan deleted text begin must be approved by the school board and have deleted text end new text begin that is consistent with
section 122A.40, subdivision 8, or 122A.41, subdivision 5, and has new text end at least these elements:

(1) assessment and evaluation tools to measure student performance and progress;

(2) performance goals and benchmarks for improvement;

(3) measures of student attendance and completion rates;

(4) a rigorous research and practice-based professional development system, based
on national and state standards of effective teaching practice and consistent with section
122A.60, that is aligned with educational improvement and designed to achieve ongoing
and schoolwide progress and growth in teaching practice;

(5) measures of student, family, and community involvement and satisfaction;

(6) a data system about students and their academic progress that provides parents
and the public with understandable information;

(7) a teacher induction and mentoring program for probationary teachers that
provides continuous learning and sustained teacher support; and

(8) substantial participation by the exclusive representative of the teachers in
developing the plan.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.414, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Transitional planning year.

(a) To be eligible to participate in an
alternative teacher professional pay system, a school district, intermediate school district,
or site, at least one school year before it expects to fully implement an alternative pay
system, must:

(1) submit to the department a letter of intent executed by the school district or
intermediate school district and the exclusive representative of the teachers to complete a
plan preparing for full implementation, consistent with subdivision 2, that may include,
among other activities, training to evaluate teacher performance new text begin consistent with section
122A.40, subdivision 8, or 122A.41, subdivision 5 new text end , a restructured school day to develop
integrated ongoing site-based professional development activities, release time to develop
an alternative pay system agreement, and teacher and staff training on using multiple
data sources; and

(2) agree to use up to two percent of basic revenue for staff development purposes,
consistent with sections 122A.60 and 122A.61, to develop the alternative teacher
professional pay system agreement under this section.

(b) To be eligible to participate in an alternative teacher professional pay system, a
charter school, at least one school year before it expects to fully implement an alternative
pay system, must:

(1) submit to the department a letter of intent executed by the charter school and the
charter school board of directors;

(2) submit the record of a formal vote by the teachers employed at the charter
school indicating at least 70 percent of all teachers agree to implement the alternative
pay system; and

(3) agree to use up to two percent of basic revenue for staff development purposes,
consistent with sections 122A.60 and 122A.61, to develop the alternative teacher
professional pay system.

(c) The commissioner may waive the planning year if the commissioner determines,
based on the criteria under subdivision 2, that the school district, intermediate school
district, site or charter school is ready to fully implement an alternative pay system.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.414, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Alternative teacher professional pay system.

(a) To participate in this
program, a school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school must
have an educational improvement plan under section 122A.413 and an alternative teacher
professional pay system agreement under paragraph (b). A charter school participant also
must comply with subdivision 2a.

(b) The alternative teacher professional pay system agreement must new text begin be consistent
with section 122A.40, subdivision 8, or 122A.41, subdivision 5, and must new text end :

(1) describe how teachers can achieve career advancement and additional
compensation;

(2) describe how the school district, intermediate school district, school site, or
charter school will provide teachers with career advancement options that allow teachers
to retain primary roles in student instruction and facilitate site-focused professional
development that helps other teachers improve their skills;

(3) reform the "steps and lanes" salary schedule, prevent any teacher's compensation
paid before implementing the pay system from being reduced as a result of participating
in this system, and base at least 60 percent of any compensation increase on teacher
performance using:

(i) schoolwide student achievement gains under section 120B.35 or locally selected
standardized assessment outcomes, or both;

(ii) measures of student achievement; and

(iii) an objective evaluation program that includes:

(A) individual teacher evaluations aligned with the educational improvement plan
under section 122A.413 and the staff development plan under section 122A.60; and

(B) objective evaluations using multiple criteria conducted by a locally selected and
periodically trained deleted text begin evaluation team that deleted text end new text begin evaluator who new text end understands teaching and learning;

(4) provide integrated ongoing site-based professional development activities to
improve instructional skills and learning that are aligned with student needs under section
122A.413, consistent with the staff development plan under section 122A.60 and led
during the school day by trained teacher leaders such as master or mentor teachers;

(5) allow any teacher in a participating school district, intermediate school district,
school site, or charter school that implements an alternative pay system to participate in
that system without any quota or other limit; and

(6) encourage collaboration rather than competition among teachers.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment
and applies to all applications to participate in the alternative teacher professional pay
system submitted to the commissioner of education after that date.
new text end

Sec. 4.

new text begin [122A.4152] ALTERNATIVE COMPENSATION REVENUE FOR
SCHOOL PRINCIPALS.
new text end

new text begin (a) Notwithstanding sections 122A.413, 122A.414, 122A.4144, 122A.415, or
other law to the contrary, alternative teacher compensation revenue is also available for
school principals and assistant principals who are employed in a school or district with
an approved plan for implementing an alternative teacher professional pay system. To
make principals and assistant principals eligible to receive alternative professional pay
under this section, a participating school or district must: submit a letter of intent to
the commissioner to participate under this section; develop a supplemental educational
improvement plan for principals that is consistent with the structure and terms of the
educational improvement plan for teachers currently in effect in the school or district
and section 123B.147, subdivision 3; and receive the commissioner's approval of the
supplemental plan. For participating districts under this section, the school board and the
exclusive representative of the principals also must agree to the plan.
new text end

new text begin (b) Consistent with paragraph (a), the department must develop and disseminate
model supplemental educational improvement plans based on the needs and characteristics
of school principals and assistant principals and section 123B.147, subdivision 3.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective September 1, 2012, and applies to
all alternative teacher professional pay system agreements entered into or modified after
that date.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.60, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Effective staff development activities.

(a) Staff development activities
must:

(1) focus on the school classroom and research-based strategies that improve student
learning;

(2) provide opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their instructional
skills over time;

(3) provide opportunities for teachers to use student data as part of their daily work
to increase student achievement;

(4) enhance teacher content knowledge and instructional skills;

(5) align with state and local academic standards;

(6) provide opportunities to build professional relationships, new text begin support entry-level
teachers through teacher induction programs that encourage principal participation, new text end foster
collaboration among principals and new text begin instruction new text end staff deleted text begin who provide instruction deleted text end , and provide
opportunities for teacher-to-teacher mentoring; and

(7) align with the plan of the district or site for an alternative teacher professional
pay system.

Staff development activities may include curriculum development and curriculum training
programs, and activities that provide teachers and other members of site-based teams
training to enhance team performance. The school district also may implement other
staff development activities required by law and activities associated with professional
teacher compensation models.

(b) Release time provided for teachers to supervise students on field trips and school
activities, or independent tasks not associated with enhancing the teacher's knowledge
and instructional skills, such as preparing report cards, calculating grades, or organizing
classroom materials, may not be counted as staff development time that is financed with
staff development reserved revenue under section 122A.61.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 122A.60, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Staff development outcomes.

The advisory staff development committee
must adopt a staff development plan for improving student achievement. The plan must
be consistent with education outcomes that the school board determines. The plan
must include ongoing staff development activities that contribute toward continuous
improvement in achievement of the following goals:

(1) improve student achievement of state and local education standards in all areas
of the curriculum by using best practices methods;

(2) effectively meet the needs of a diverse student population, including at-risk
children, children with disabilities, and gifted children, within the regular classroom
and other settings;

(3) provide an inclusive curriculum for a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse
student population that is consistent with the state education diversity rule and the district's
education diversity plan;

(4) improve staff collaboration deleted text begin and deleted text end new text begin , new text end develop mentoring and peer coaching programs
for teachers new to the school or district new text begin , and use teacher induction programs to provide
entry-level teachers with teaching and program management resources and opportunities
to analyze and reflect upon teaching in order to improve both teacher effectiveness and
retention new text end ;

(5) effectively teach and model violence prevention policy and curriculum that
address early intervention alternatives, issues of harassment, and teach nonviolent
alternatives for conflict resolution; and

(6) provide teachers and other members of site-based management teams with
appropriate management and financial management skills.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2011 Supplement, section 123B.147, subdivision 3, is
amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Duties; evaluation.

(a) The principal shall provide administrative,
supervisory, and instructional leadership services, under the supervision of the
superintendent of schools of the district and according to the policies, rules, and
regulations of the school board, for the planning, management, operation, and evaluation
of the education program of the building or buildings to which the principal is assigned.

(b) To enhance a principal's leadership skills and support and improve teaching
practices, school performance, and student achievement, a district must develop and
implement a performance-based system for annually evaluating school principals assigned
to supervise a school building within the district. The evaluation must be designed
to improve teaching and learning by supporting the principal in shaping the school's
professional environment and developing teacher quality, performance, and effectiveness.
The annual evaluation must:

(1) support and improve a principal's instructional leadership, organizational
management, and professional development, and strengthen the principal's capacity in the
areas of instruction, supervision, evaluation, and teacher development;

(2) include formative and summative evaluations;

(3) be consistent with a principal's job description, a district's long-term plans and
goals, and the principal's own professional multiyear growth plans and goals, all of which
must support the principal's leadership behaviors and practices, rigorous curriculum,
school performance, and high-quality instruction;

(4) include on-the-job observations and previous evaluations;

(5) allow surveys to help identify a principal's effectiveness, leadership skills and
processes, and strengths and weaknesses in exercising leadership in pursuit of school
success;

(6) use longitudinal data on student academic growth as an evaluation component
and incorporate district achievement goals and targets;

(7) be linked to professional development that emphasizes improved teaching and
learning, curriculum and instruction, student learning, and a collaborative professional
culture; and

(8) for principals not meeting standards of professional practice or other criteria
under this subdivision, implement a plan to improve the principal's performance and
specify the procedure and consequence if the principal's performance is not improved.

The provisions of this paragraph are intended to provide districts with sufficient
flexibility to accommodate district needs and goals related to developing, supporting,
and evaluating principals.

new text begin (c) For principals and assistant principals to be eligible to receive alternative
compensation revenue under section 122A.4152, the supplemental educational
improvement plan approved by the commissioner must be consistent with this subdivision.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective September 1, 2012.
new text end