SENATE
HOUSE
JOINT
BILL STATUS
STATE LAW
REPORTS
EDUCATIONAL
CONTACT
home
home
Introduced Version House Bill 3350 History

   |  Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
H. B. 3350


(By Delegate Spencer)
[Introduced March 25, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact §18A-2-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to deleting the requirement that school personnel with five or more years of experience who have not received an unsatisfactory rating receive evaluations, except at the discretion of the principal; making lesson plans the property of the teacher; and prohibiting any requirement that teachers be required to implement agendas or objectives prescribed by others.

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 of Education 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 of Education 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 Professional Development Project of the Center for Professional Development created in section three, 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 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 a classroom teacher may exercise 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 standards and other criteria for evaluation for each professional position evaluated. Effective the first day of July, two thousand three 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 the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four, 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 the property of the teacher and are intended to serve as a daily guide for teachers the teacher and his or her substitutes substitute 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, or any part thereof 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 the teacher does not find necessary 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, write agendas, essential questions, objectives, or other items the classroom teacher finds unnecessary. Administrators may not be required to sign lesson plan books of tenured employees, who are not on a plan of improvement nor evaluate extra-curricular coaching positions on a yearly basis.
(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
delete the requirement that school personnel with five or more years of experience, who have not received an unsatisfactory rating, receive evaluations, except at the discretion of the principal. The bill also would make teacher's lesson plans the property of individual teachers while prohibiting any requirement that teachers be required to implement agendas or objectives prescribed by school administrators.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
This Web site is maintained by the West Virginia Legislature's Office of Reference & Information.  |  Terms of Use  |   Email WebmasterWebmaster   |   © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **


X

Print On Demand

Name:
Email:
Phone:

Print