SF 1124

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 04/08/2015 09:19am

A bill for an act
relating to education; providing for teacher development and evaluation
revenue and equalized levy; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2014, sections 122A.40, subdivisions 5, 8; 122A.41, subdivisions 2, 5;
proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 122A; repealing
Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 122A.413; 122A.414; 122A.4144; 122A.415,
subdivisions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6; 122A.4155; 122A.416.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Probationary period.

(a) The first three consecutive years of a teacher's
first teaching experience in Minnesota in a single district is deemed to be a probationary
period of employment, and, the probationary period in each district in which the teacher is
thereafter employed shall be one year. The school board must adopt a plan for written
deleted text begin evaluation deleted text end new text begin formative evaluations new text end of new text begin and feedback on new text end teachers during the probationary
period that is consistent with subdivision 8. Evaluation must occur at least three times
periodically throughout each school year for a teacher performing services during
that school year; the first evaluation must occur within the first 90 days of teaching
service. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops, and other
staff development opportunities and days on which a teacher is absent from school must
not be included in determining the number of school days on which a teacher performs
services. new text begin The adopted plan must include a summative evaluation at the end of each of the
three years of the probationary period of employment. new text end Except as otherwise provided in
paragraph (b), during the probationary period any annual contract with any teacher may
or may not be renewed as the school board shall see fit. However, the board must give
any such teacher whose contract it declines to renew for the following school year written
notice to that effect before July 1. If the teacher requests reasons for any nonrenewal
of a teaching contract, the board must give the teacher its reason in writing, including
a statement that appropriate supervision was furnished describing the nature and the
extent of such supervision furnished the teacher during the employment by the board,
within ten days after receiving such request. The school board may, after a hearing held
upon due notice, discharge a teacher during the probationary period for cause, effective
immediately, under section 122A.44.

(b) A board must discharge a probationary teacher, effective immediately, upon
receipt of notice under section 122A.20, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), that the teacher's
license has been revoked due to a conviction for child abuse or sexual abuse.

(c) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for active military service and who promptly resumes teaching consistent with
federal reemployment timelines for uniformed service personnel under United States
Code, title 38, section 4312(e), is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a).

(d) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for maternity, paternity, or medical leave and who resumes teaching within 12
months of when the leave began is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a) if the probationary teacher completes a combined total of
three years of teaching service immediately before and after the leave.

(e) A probationary teacher must complete at least 120 days of teaching service each
year during the probationary period. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers'
workshops, and other staff development opportunities and days on which a teacher is
absent from school do not count as days of teaching service under this paragraph.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.40, subdivision 8, is amended to read:

Subd. 8.

Development, evaluation, and peer coaching for continuing contract
teachers.

(a) To improve student learning and success, a school board and an exclusive
representative of the teachers in the district, consistent with paragraph (b), may develop
a teacher evaluation and peer review process for probationary and continuing contract
teachers through joint agreement. If a school board and the exclusive representative
of the teachers do not agree to an annual teacher evaluation and peer review process,
then the school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers must implement
the state teacher evaluation plan under paragraph (c). The process must include having
trained observers serve as peer coaches or having teachers participate in professional
learning communities, consistent with paragraph (b). new text begin For the purposes of this subdivision,
"teacher" has the meaning given in section 122A.06, subdivision 2.
new text end

(b) To develop, improve, and support qualified teachers and effective teaching
practices and improve student learning and success, the annual evaluation process for
teachers:

(1) must, for probationary teachers, provide for all evaluations required under
subdivision 5;

(2) must establish a three-year professional review cycle for each teacher that
includes an individual growth and development plan, a peer review process, and at least
one summative evaluation performed by a qualified and trained evaluator such as a school
administrator. For the years when a tenured teacher is not evaluated by a qualified and
trained evaluator, the teacher must be evaluated by a peer review new text begin . A probationary teacher
enters the three-year professional review cycle at the beginning of the fourth year of
employment in the district new text end ;

(3) must be based on professional teaching standards established in rule;

(4) must coordinate staff development activities under sections 122A.60 and
122A.61 with this evaluation process and teachers' evaluation outcomes;

(5) may provide time during the school day and school year for peer coaching and
teacher collaboration;

(6) may include job-embedded learning opportunities such as professional learning
communities;

(7) may include mentoring and induction programs;

(8) must include an option for teachers to develop and present a portfolio
demonstrating evidence of reflection and professional growth, consistent with section
122A.18, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), and include teachers' own performance assessment
based on student work samples and examples of teachers' work, which may include video
among other activities for the summative evaluation;

(9) must use data from valid and reliable assessments aligned to state and local
academic standards and must use state and local measures of student growth and literacy
that may include value-added models or student learning goals to determine 35 percent of
teacher evaluation results;

(10) must use longitudinal data on student engagement and connection, and other
student outcome measures explicitly aligned with the elements of curriculum for which
teachers are responsible, including academic literacy, oral academic language, and
achievement of content areas of English learners;

(11) must require qualified and trained evaluators such as school administrators to
perform summative evaluations and ensure school districts and charter schools provide for
effective evaluator training specific to teacher development and evaluation;

(12) must give teachers not meeting professional teaching standards under clauses
(3) through (11) support to improve through a teacher improvement process that includes
established goals and timelines; and

(13) must discipline a teacher for not making adequate progress in the teacher
improvement process under clause (12) that may include a last chance warning,
termination, discharge, nonrenewal, transfer to a different position, a leave of absence, or
other discipline a school administrator determines is appropriate.

Data on individual teachers generated under this subdivision are personnel data
under section 13.43. The observation and interview notes of peer coaches may only be
disclosed to other school officials with the consent of the teacher being coached.

(c) The department, in consultation with parents who may represent parent
organizations and teacher and administrator representatives appointed by their respective
organizations, representing the Board of Teaching, the Minnesota Association of School
Administrators, the Minnesota School Boards Association, the Minnesota Elementary
and Secondary Principals Associations, Education Minnesota, and representatives of
the Minnesota Assessment Group, the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Minnesota
Chamber of Commerce, and Minnesota postsecondary institutions with research expertise
in teacher evaluation, must create and publish a teacher evaluation process that complies
with the requirements in paragraph (b) and applies to all teachers under this section and
section 122A.41 for whom no agreement exists under paragraph (a) for an annual teacher
evaluation and peer review process. The teacher evaluation process created under this
subdivision does not create additional due process rights for probationary teachers under
subdivision 5.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.41, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Probationary period; discharge or demotion.

(a) All teachers in
the public schools in cities of the first class during the first three years of consecutive
employment shall be deemed to be in a probationary period of employment during which
period any annual contract with any teacher may, or may not, be renewed as the school
board, after consulting with the peer review committee charged with evaluating the
probationary teachers under subdivision 3, shall see fit. The school site management
team or the school board if there is no school site management team, shall adopt a plan
for deleted text begin a deleted text end written deleted text begin evaluation deleted text end new text begin formative evaluations new text end of new text begin and feedback on new text end teachers during the
probationary period according to subdivisions 3 and 5. Evaluation by the peer review
committee charged with evaluating probationary teachers under subdivision 3 shall occur
at least three times periodically throughout each school year for a teacher performing
services during that school year; the first evaluation must occur within the first 90 days of
teaching service. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers' workshops, and
other staff development opportunities and days on which a teacher is absent from school
shall not be included in determining the number of school days on which a teacher performs
services. new text begin The adopted plan must include a summative evaluation at the end of each of the
three years of the probationary period of employment. new text end The school board may, during such
probationary period, discharge or demote a teacher for any of the causes as specified in
this code. A written statement of the cause of such discharge or demotion shall be given to
the teacher by the school board at least 30 days before such removal or demotion shall
become effective, and the teacher so notified shall have no right of appeal therefrom.

(b) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for active military service and who promptly resumes teaching consistent with
federal reemployment timelines for uniformed service personnel under United States
Code, title 38, section 4312(e), is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a).

(c) A probationary teacher whose first three years of consecutive employment are
interrupted for maternity, paternity, or medical leave and who resumes teaching within 12
months of when the leave began is considered to have a consecutive teaching experience
for purposes of paragraph (a) if the probationary teacher completes a combined total of
three years of teaching service immediately before and after the leave.

(d) A probationary teacher must complete at least 120 days of teaching service each
year during the probationary period. Days devoted to parent-teacher conferences, teachers'
workshops, and other staff development opportunities and days on which a teacher is
absent from school do not count as days of teaching service under this paragraph.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.41, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Development, evaluation, and peer coaching for continuing contract
teachers.

(a) To improve student learning and success, a school board and an exclusive
representative of the teachers in the district, consistent with paragraph (b), may develop an
annual teacher evaluation and peer review process for probationary and nonprobationary
teachers through joint agreement. If a school board and the exclusive representative of
the teachers in the district do not agree to an annual teacher evaluation and peer review
process, then the school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers must
implement the state teacher evaluation plan developed under paragraph (c). The process
must include having trained observers serve as peer coaches or having teachers participate
in professional learning communities, consistent with paragraph (b). new text begin For the purposes of
this subdivision, "teacher" has the meaning given in section 122A.06, subdivision 2.
new text end

(b) To develop, improve, and support qualified teachers and effective teaching
practices and improve student learning and success, the annual evaluation process for
teachers:

(1) must, for probationary teachers, provide for all evaluations required under
subdivision 2;

(2) must establish a three-year professional review cycle for each teacher that
includes an individual growth and development plan, a peer review process, and at least
one summative evaluation performed by a qualified and trained evaluator such as a school
administrator new text begin . A probationary teacher enters the three-year professional review cycle at
the beginning of the fourth year of employment in the district new text end ;

(3) must be based on professional teaching standards established in rule;

(4) must coordinate staff development activities under sections 122A.60 and
122A.61 with this evaluation process and teachers' evaluation outcomes;

(5) may provide time during the school day and school year for peer coaching and
teacher collaboration;

(6) may include job-embedded learning opportunities such as professional learning
communities;

(7) may include mentoring and induction programs;

(8) must include an option for teachers to develop and present a portfolio
demonstrating evidence of reflection and professional growth, consistent with section
122A.18, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), and include teachers' own performance assessment
based on student work samples and examples of teachers' work, which may include video
among other activities for the summative evaluation;

(9) must use data from valid and reliable assessments aligned to state and local
academic standards and must use state and local measures of student growth and literacy
that may include value-added models or student learning goals to determine 35 percent of
teacher evaluation results;

(10) must use longitudinal data on student engagement and connection and other
student outcome measures explicitly aligned with the elements of curriculum for which
teachers are responsible, including academic literacy, oral academic language, and
achievement of English learners;

(11) must require qualified and trained evaluators such as school administrators to
perform summative evaluations and ensure school districts and charter schools provide for
effective evaluator training specific to teacher development and evaluation;

(12) must give teachers not meeting professional teaching standards under clauses
(3) through (11) support to improve through a teacher improvement process that includes
established goals and timelines; and

(13) must discipline a teacher for not making adequate progress in the teacher
improvement process under clause (12) that may include a last chance warning,
termination, discharge, nonrenewal, transfer to a different position, a leave of absence, or
other discipline a school administrator determines is appropriate.

Data on individual teachers generated under this subdivision are personnel data
under section 13.43. The observation and interview notes of peer coaches may only be
disclosed to other school officials with the consent of the teacher being coached.

(c) The department, in consultation with parents who may represent parent
organizations and teacher and administrator representatives appointed by their respective
organizations, representing the Board of Teaching, the Minnesota Association of School
Administrators, the Minnesota School Boards Association, the Minnesota Elementary
and Secondary Principals Associations, Education Minnesota, and representatives of
the Minnesota Assessment Group, the Minnesota Business Partnership, the Minnesota
Chamber of Commerce, and Minnesota postsecondary institutions with research expertise
in teacher evaluation, must create and publish a teacher evaluation process that complies
with the requirements in paragraph (b) and applies to all teachers under this section and
section 122A.40 for whom no agreement exists under paragraph (a) for an annual teacher
evaluation and peer review process. The teacher evaluation process created under this
subdivision does not create additional due process rights for probationary teachers under
subdivision 2.

Sec. 5.

new text begin [122A.411] TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION
REVENUE.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Basic teacher development and evaluation aid. new text end

new text begin (a) The basic
teacher development and evaluation allowance for a school district or site that received
revenue under Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.415, in fiscal year 2015 equals
$169. The basic teacher development and evaluation allowance for a school district or
site that did not receive revenue under Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.415,
in fiscal year 2015 equals $50.
new text end

new text begin (b) A school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school is
eligible for basic teacher development and evaluation aid. Basic teacher development
and evaluation aid for a school district or site equals the basic teacher development and
evaluation allowance times the number of pupils enrolled at the district or site on October
1 of the previous fiscal year.
new text end

new text begin (c) For a newly combined or consolidated district, the aid shall be computed using
the sum of pupils enrolled on October 1 of the previous year in the districts entering
into the combination or consolidation. The commissioner may adjust the aid computed
for a site using prior year data to reflect changes attributable to school closings, school
openings, or grade level reconfigurations between the prior year and the current year.
new text end

new text begin (d) Aid under this subdivision must be reserved for activities under section 122A.40,
subdivision 8, or 122A.41, subdivision 10.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Supplemental teacher development and evaluation revenue eligibility;
amount. new text end

new text begin (a) A school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school
that received revenue under Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 122A.415, in fiscal year
2015 is eligible for supplemental teacher development and evaluation revenue if the
agreed upon teacher development, evaluation, and peer review process under section
122A.40, subdivision 8, or 122A.41, subdivision 10, contains at least two of the following
components:
new text end

new text begin (1) teacher leadership positions, such as mentor, peer coach, instructional coach,
peer review, peer observer, professional learning community facilitator, or team leader;
new text end

new text begin (2) new teacher mentoring and induction support;
new text end

new text begin (3) additional job-embedded professional development;
new text end

new text begin (4) performance incentives at the school or individual teacher level based on student
outcomes or teacher performance or both; or
new text end

new text begin (5) reform of the salary schedule based on evaluation results.
new text end

new text begin (b) Supplemental teacher development and evaluation revenue equals $91 times the
number of pupils enrolled at the district or site on October 1 of the previous fiscal year, or
on October 1 of the current year for a charter school in the first year of operation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Supplemental teacher development and evaluation levy. new text end

new text begin The teacher
development and evaluation levy for a school district eligible for supplemental teacher
development and evaluation revenue under subdivision 2 equals its supplemental teacher
development and evaluation revenue times the lesser of: (1) one; or (2) the ratio of its
adjusted net tax capacity per adjusted pupil unit in the year preceding the year the levy is
certified to $6,100.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Supplemental teacher development and evaluation aid. new text end

new text begin (a)
Supplemental teacher development and evaluation aid for a school district equals the
difference between its supplemental teacher development and evaluation revenue and its
supplemental teacher development and evaluation levy. If a district does not levy the
entire amount permitted under subdivision 3, the aid under this paragraph must be reduced
in proportion to the actual amount levied.
new text end

new text begin (b) Supplemental teacher development and evaluation aid for an intermediate school
district or charter school equals its supplemental teacher development and evaluation
revenue, times the ratio of (1) the sum of the supplemental teacher development and
evaluation aid and supplemental teacher development and evaluation levy for all
participating school districts to (2) the maximum supplemental teacher development and
evaluation revenue for those districts under subdivision 2.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective for revenue for fiscal year 2016
and later.
new text end

Sec. 6.

new text begin [122A.412] TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION;
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
new text end

new text begin A school district, intermediate school district, school site, or charter school may
request that the department provide it with technical assistance related to its agreed
upon teacher evaluation and peer review process. Technical assistance includes, but is
not limited to:
new text end

new text begin (1) support and training for evaluators;
new text end

new text begin (2) creating materials that allow districts or schools to perform self-review and
engage in continuous improvement;
new text end

new text begin (3) creating materials that help districts or schools align their locally developed
process with other plans such as world's best workforce plans under section 120B.11, and
staff development plans under section 122A.60; and
new text end

new text begin (4) support for districts and charter schools in reporting on their local use of state
funding for teacher development and evaluation.
new text end

Sec. 7. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Department of Education. new text end

new text begin The sums indicated in this section are
appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education for the fiscal years
designated.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Basic teacher development and evaluation aid. new text end

new text begin For basic teacher
development and evaluation aid under Minnesota Statutes, section 122A.411, subdivision 1:
new text end

	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2016 new text end
	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2017 new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Supplemental teacher development and evaluation aid. new text end

new text begin For
supplemental teacher development and evaluation aid under Minnesota Statutes, section
122A.411, subdivision 4:
new text end

	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2016 new text end
	new text begin $ new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin ..... new text end	new text begin 2017 new text end

Sec. 8. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 122A.413; 122A.414; 122A.4144; 122A.415,
subdivisions 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6; 122A.4155; and 122A.416, new text end new text begin are repealed effective July
1, 2015.
new text end