Senate Bill No. 457
(By Senators Edgell, Minear, Mitchell, Kessler, Unger, Hunter,
Caldwell, Fanning, McKenzie, Minard and Sprouse)
____________
[Introduced January 31, 2002; referred to the Committee
on Education.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article two-e, chapter
eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact section
eighteen-b, article five of said chapter; and to amend and
reenact section twelve, article two, chapter eighteen-a of
said code, all relating to public education generally;
consolidating plans within the unified school improvement
plan; prohibiting office of education performance audits from
using more stringent requirements than expert inspection
standards; requiring five days' notice before on-site reviews;
allowing use of the national standards for school counseling
programs to define the role of school counselors; providing
training to implement the national standards; requiring use of
observation in lieu of written records for evaluation purposes
when feasible; and reducing frequency of required evaluations for certain school employees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article two-e, chapter eighteen of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that section eighteen-b, article five of
said chapter be amended and reenacted; and that section twelve,
article two, chapter eighteen-a of said code be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 2E. HIGH QUALITY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS.
§18-2E-5. Process for improving education; office of education
performance audits; education standards; school
accreditation and school system approval;
intervention to correct impairments.
(a) Legislative intent. -- The purpose of this section is to
establish a process for improving education that includes
standards, assessment, accountability and capacity building to
provide assurances that a thorough and efficient system of schools
is being provided for all West Virginia public school students on
an equal education opportunity basis and that the high quality
standards are, at a minimum, being met.
(b) State board rules Unified county and school improvement
plans. -- The state board shall promulgate rules in accordance with
article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code establishing a unified county improvement plan for each county board and a unified
school improvement plan for each public school in this state. The
state board is not required to promulgate new rules if legislative
rules meeting the requirements of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code have been filed with the office of the
secretary of state before the effective date of this section. The
rules shall specify that the unified school improvement plan shall
include all appropriate plans required by law including, but not
limited to, plans in areas such as safe schools, technology,
preventive discipline, and to the extent permitted by federal law,
inclusion and Title I.
(c) High quality education standards and efficiency standards.
-- The state board shall, in accordance with the provisions of
article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, adopt and
periodically review and update high quality education standards for
student, school and school system performance and processes in the
following areas:
(1) Curriculum;
(2) Workplace readiness skills;
(3) Finance;
(4) Transportation;
(5) Special education;
(6) Facilities;
(7) Administrative practices;
(8) Training of county board members and administrators;
(9) Personnel qualifications;
(10) Professional development and evaluation;
(11) Student and school performance;
(12) A code of conduct for students and employees;
(13) Indicators of efficiency; and
(14) Any other areas determined by the state board.
(d) Performance measures. -- The standards shall assure that
all graduates are prepared for gainful employment or for continuing
postsecondary education and training and that schools and school
districts are making progress in achieving the education goals of
the state.
The standards shall include measures of student performance to
indicate when a thorough and efficient system of schools is being
provided and of school and school system performance and processes
that enable student performance. The measures of student
performance and school and school system performance and processes
shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) The acquisition of student proficiencies as indicated by
student performance by grade level measured, where possible, by a
uniform statewide assessment program;
(2) School attendance rates;
(3) Student dropout rate;
(4) Percent of students promoted to the next grade;
(5) Graduation rate;
(6) Average class size;
(7) Pupil-teacher ratio and number of exceptions to ratio
requested by county boards and the number granted;
(8) Number of split-grade classrooms;
(9) Percentage of graduates who enrolled in college; the
percentage of graduates who enrolled in other postsecondary
education; and the percentage of graduates who become fully
employed within one year of high school graduation all as reported
by the graduates on the assessment form attached to their
individualized student transition plan, pursuant to section eight
of this article and the percentage of graduates reporting;
(10) Pupil-administrator ratio;
(11) Parent involvement;
(12) Parent, teacher and student satisfaction;
(13) Operating expenditures per pupil;
(14) Percentage of graduates who attain the minimum level of
performance in the basic skills recognized by the state board as
laying the foundation for further learning and skill development
for success in college, other postsecondary education and gainful
employment and the grade level distribution in which the minimum
level of performance was met;
(15) Percentage of graduates who received additional
certification of their skills, competence and readiness for
college, other postsecondary education or employment above the
minimum foundation level of basic skills; and
(16) Percentage of students in secondary and middle schools who are enrolled in advanced placement or honors classes,
respectively.
(e) Indicators of efficiency. -- The state board shall, in
accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, adopt and periodically review and
update indicators of efficiency for student and school system
performance and processes in the following areas:
(A) Curriculum delivery including, but not limited to, the use
of distance learning;
(B) Transportation;
(C) Facilities;
(D) Administrative practices;
(E) Personnel;
(F) Utilization of regional educational service agency
programs and services, including programs and services that may be
established by their assigned regional educational service agency,
or other regional services that may be initiated between and among
participating county boards; and
(G) Any other indicators as determined by the state board.
(f) Assessment and accountability of school and school system
performance and processes. -- The state board shall establish by
rule in accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, a system of education performance
audits which measures the quality of education and the preparation
of students based on the standards and measures of student, school and school system performance and processes, including, but not
limited to, the standards and measures set forth in subsections (c)
and (d) of this section. The system of education performance
audits shall assist the state board in ensuring that the standards
and measures established pursuant to this section are, at a
minimum, being met and that a thorough and efficient system of
schools is being provided. The system of education performance
audits shall include: (1) The assessment of student, school and
school system performance and the processes in place in schools and
school systems which enable student performance; (2) the review of
school and school system unified improvement plans; and (3) the
periodic random unannounced on-site review of school and school
system performance and compliance with the standards. An audit may
determine and report whether required reviews and inspections by
outside experts are current for any school or school system, but
may not mandate more stringent compliance measures than the expert
inspection standards. Such expert reviews include, but are not
limited to, state fire marshal safety compliance inspections and
state department of health inspections.
(g) Uses of school and school system assessment information.
-- The state board shall use information from the system of
education performance audits to assist it in ensuring that a
thorough and efficient system of schools is being provided and to
improve student, school and school system performance, including,
but not limited to, the following: (1) Determining school accreditation and school system approval status; (2) holding
schools and school systems accountable for the efficient use of
existing resources to meet or exceed the standards; and (3)
targeting additional resources when necessary to improve
performance. Primary emphasis in determining school accreditation
and school system approval status shall be based on student, school
and school system performance on measures selected by the state
board. The state board shall make accreditation information
available to the Legislature; the governor; and to the general
public and any individuals who request the information, subject to
the provisions of any act or rule restricting the release of
information. Based on the assessment of student, school and school
system performance, the state board shall establish early detection
and intervention programs to assist underachieving schools and
school systems in improving performance before conditions become so
grave as to warrant more substantive state intervention, including,
but not limited to, making additional technical assistance,
programmatic, monetary and staffing resources available where
appropriate.
(h) Office of education performance audits. -- To assist the
state board in the operation of the system of education performance
audits and in making determinations regarding the accreditation
status of schools and the approval status of school systems, the
state board shall establish an office of education performance
audits which shall be operated under the direction of the state board independently of the functions and supervision of the state
department of education and state superintendent. The office of
education performance audits shall report directly to and be
responsible to the state board in carrying out its duties under the
provisions of this section. The office shall be headed by a
director who shall be appointed by the state board and shall serve
at the will and pleasure of the state board. The salary of the
director shall not exceed the salary of the state superintendent of
schools. The state board shall organize and sufficiently staff the
office to fulfill the duties assigned to it by this section and the
state board. Employees of the state department of education who
are transferred to the office of education performance audits shall
retain their benefit and seniority status with the department of
education. Under the direction of the state board, the office of
education performance audits shall receive from the West Virginia
education information system staff research and analysis data on
the performance of students, schools and school systems, and shall
receive assistance from staff at the state department of education
and the state school building authority to carry out the duties
assigned to the office. In addition to other duties which may be
assigned to it by the state board or by statute, the office of
education performance audits also shall:
(1) Assure that all statewide assessments of student
performance are secure as required in section one-a of this
article;
(2) Administer all accountability measures as assigned by the
state board, including, but not limited to, processes for the
accreditation of schools and the approval of school systems, and
recommend to the state board appropriate action, including, but not
limited to, accreditation and approval action;
(3) Determine, in conjunction with the assessment and
accountability processes, what capacity may be needed by schools
and school systems to meet the standards established by the
Legislature and the state board, and recommend to the school,
school system and state board, plans to establish those needed
capacities;
(4) Determine, in conjunction with the assessment and
accountability processes, whether statewide system deficiencies
exist in the capacity to establish and maintain a thorough and
efficient system of schools, including the identification of
trends and the need for continuing improvements in education, and
report those deficiencies and trends to the state board;
(5) Determine, in conjunction with the assessment and
accountability processes, staff development needs of schools and
school systems to meet the standards established by the Legislature
and the state board, and make recommendations to the state board,
the center for professional development, regional educational
service agencies, higher education governing boards and county
boards; and
(6) Identify, in conjunction with the assessment and accountability processes, exemplary schools and school systems and
best practices that improve student, school and school system
performance, and make recommendations to the state board for
recognizing and rewarding exemplary schools and school systems and
promoting the use of best practices. The state board shall provide
information on best practices to county school systems and shall
use information identified through the assessment and
accountability processes to select schools of excellence.
(i) On-site reviews. -- At the direction of the state board or
by weighted, random selection by the office of education
performance audits, an unannounced on-site review shall be
conducted by the office of education performance audits of any
school or school system for purposes, including, but not limited
to, the following: (1) Verifying data reported by the school or
county board; (2) documenting compliance with policies and laws;
(3) evaluating the effectiveness and implementation status of
school and school system unified improvement plans; (4)
investigating official complaints submitted to the state board that
allege serious impairments in the quality of education in schools
or school systems; and (5) investigating official complaints
submitted to the state board that allege that a school or county
board is in violation of policies or laws under which schools and
county boards operate. The random selection of schools and school
systems for an on-site review shall use a weighted random sample so
that those with lower performance indicators and those that have not had a recent on-site review have a greater likelihood of being
selected. Any school or school system shall be notified of a visit
by the office of education performance audits five days in advance
of the visit. Under the direction of the state board, the office
of education performance audits shall appoint an education
standards compliance review team to assist it in conducting on-site
reviews. The teams shall be composed of an adequate number of
persons who possess the necessary knowledge, skills and experience
to make an accurate assessment of education programs and who are
drawn from a trained cadre established by the office of education
performance audits. The state board shall have discretion in
determining the number of persons to serve on a standards
compliance review team based on the size of the school or school
system as applicable. The teams shall be led by a member of the
office of education performance audits. The state board shall
reimburse a county board for the costs of substitutes required to
replace county board employees while they are serving on an
education standards compliance review team. The office of
education performance audits shall report the findings of the
on-site reviews to the state board for inclusion in the evaluation
and determination of a school's or county board's accreditation or
approval status as applicable.
(j) School accreditation. -- The state board annually shall
review the information from the system of education performance
audits submitted for each school and shall issue to every school: Exemplary accreditation status, full accreditation status,
temporary accreditation status, conditional accreditation status,
or shall declare the education programs at the school to be
seriously impaired.
(1) Full accreditation status shall be given to a school when
the school's performance on the standards adopted by the state
board pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of this section is at a
level which would be expected when all of the high quality
education standards are being met.
(2) Temporary accreditation status shall be given to a school
when the measure of the school's performance is below the level
required for full accreditation status. Whenever a school is given
temporary accreditation status, the county board shall ensure that
the school's unified improvement plan is revised to increase the
performance of the school to a full accreditation status level.
The revised unified school improvement plan shall include
objectives, a time line, a plan for evaluation of the success of
the improvements, cost estimates, and a date certain for achieving
full accreditation. The revised plan shall be submitted to the
state board for approval.
(3) Conditional accreditation status shall be given to a
school when the school's performance on the standards adopted by
the state board is below the level required for full accreditation,
but the school's unified improvement plan has been revised to
achieve full accreditation status by a date certain, the plan has been approved by the state board and the school is meeting the
objectives and time line specified in the revised plan.
(4) Exemplary accreditation status shall be given to a school
when the school's performance on the standards adopted by the state
board pursuant to subsections (c) and (d) of this section
substantially exceeds the minimal level which would be expected
when all of the high quality education standards are being met.
The state board shall propose legislative rules in accordance with
the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a,
designated to establish standards of performance to identify
exemplary schools.
(5) The state board shall establish and adopt standards of
performance to identify seriously impaired schools and the state
board may declare a school seriously impaired whenever
extraordinary circumstances exist as defined by the state board.
(A) These circumstances shall include, but are not limited to:
(i) The failure of a school on temporary accreditation status to
obtain approval of its revised unified school improvement plan
within a reasonable time period as defined by the state board; (ii)
the failure of a school on conditional accreditation status to meet
the objectives and time line of its revised unified school
improvement plan; or (iii) the failure to achieve full
accreditation by the date specified in the revised plan.
(B) Whenever the state board determines that the quality of
education in a school is seriously impaired, the state board shall appoint a team of improvement consultants to make recommendations
within sixty days of appointment for correction of the impairment.
Upon approval of the recommendations by the state board, the
recommendations shall be made to the county board. If progress in
correcting the impairment as determined by the state board is not
made within six months from the time the county board receives the
recommendations, the state board shall place the county board on
temporary approval status and provide consultation and assistance
to the county board to: (i) Improve personnel management; (ii)
establish more efficient financial management practices; (iii)
improve instructional programs and rules; or (iv) make any other
improvements that are necessary to correct the impairment.
(C) If the impairment is not corrected by a date certain set
by the state board the state board shall appoint a monitor who
shall be paid at county expense to cause improvements to be made at
the school to bring it to full accreditation status within a
reasonable time period as determined by the state board. The
monitor's work location shall be at the school and the monitor
shall work collaboratively with the principal. The monitor shall,
at a minimum, report monthly to the state board on the measures
being taken to improve the school's performance and the progress
being made. The reports may include requests for additional
assistance and recommendations required in the judgment of the
monitor to improve the school's performance, including, but not
limited to, the need for targeting resources strategically to eliminate deficiencies. If the state board determines that the
improvements necessary to provide a thorough and efficient
education to the students at the school cannot be made without
additional targeted resources, it shall establish a plan in
consultation with the county board that includes targeted resources
from sources under the control of the state board and the county
board to accomplish the needed improvements. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to allow a change in personnel at the
school to improve school performance, except as provided by law.
(k) Transfers from seriously impaired schools. -- Whenever a
school is determined to be seriously impaired and fails to improve
its status within one year, any student attending the school may
transfer once to the nearest fully accredited school, subject to
approval of the fully accredited school and at the expense of the
school from which the student transferred.
(l) School system approval. -- The state board annually shall
review the information submitted for each school system from the
system of education performance audits and issue one of the
following approval levels to each county board: Full approval,
temporary approval, conditional approval, or nonapproval.
(1) Full approval shall be given to a county board whose
education system meets or exceeds all of the high quality standards
for student, school and school system performance and processes
adopted by the state board and whose schools have all been given
full, temporary or conditional accreditation status.
(2) Temporary approval shall be given to a county board whose
education system is below the level required for full approval.
Whenever a county board is given temporary approval status, the
county board shall revise its unified county improvement plan to
increase the performance of the school system to a full approval
status level. The revised plan shall include objectives, a time
line, a plan for evaluation of the success of the improvements, a
cost estimate, and a date certain for achieving full approval. The
revised plan shall be submitted to the state board for approval.
(3) Conditional approval shall be given to a county board
whose education system is below the level required for full
approval, but whose unified county improvement plan meets the
following criteria: (i) The plan has been revised to achieve full
approval status by a date certain; (ii) the plan has been approved
by the state board; and (iii) the county board is meeting the
objectives and time line specified in the revised plan.
(4) Nonapproval status shall be given to a county board which
fails to submit and gain approval for its unified county
improvement plan or revised unified county improvement plan within
a reasonable time period as defined by the state board or fails to
meet the objectives and time line of its revised unified county
improvement plan or fails to achieve full approval by the date
specified in the revised plan. The state board shall establish and
adopt additional standards to identify school systems in which the
program may be nonapproved and the state board may issue nonapproval status whenever extraordinary circumstances exist as
defined by the state board. Furthermore, whenever a county board
has more than a casual deficit, as defined in section one, article
one of this chapter, the county board shall submit a plan to the
state board specifying the county board's strategy for eliminating
the casual deficit. The state board either shall approve or reject
the plan. If the plan is rejected, the state board shall
communicate to the county board the reason or reasons for the
rejection of the plan. The county board may resubmit the plan any
number of times. However, any county board that fails to submit a
plan and gain approval for the plan from the state board before the
end of the fiscal year after a deficit greater than a casual
deficit occurred or any county board which, in the opinion of the
state board, fails to comply with an approved plan may be
designated as having nonapproval status. Whenever nonapproval
status is given to a school system, the state board shall declare
a state of emergency in the school system and shall appoint a team
of improvement consultants to make recommendations within sixty
days of appointment for correcting the emergency. Upon approval of
the recommendations by the state board, the recommendations shall
be made to the county board. If progress in correcting the
emergency, as determined by the state board, is not made within six
months from the time the county board receives the recommendations,
the state board shall intervene in the operation of the school
system to cause improvements to be made that will provide assurances that a thorough and efficient system of schools will be
provided. This intervention may include, but is not limited to,
the following: (i) Limiting the authority of the county
superintendent and county board as to the expenditure of funds, the
employment and dismissal of personnel, the establishment and
operation of the school calendar, the establishment of
instructional programs and rules and any other areas designated by
the state board by rule; (ii) taking any direct action necessary
to correct the emergency; and (iii) declaring that the office of
the county superintendent is vacant.
(m) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
state board may intervene immediately in the operation of the
county school system with all the powers, duties and
responsibilities contained in subsection (l) of this section, if
the state board finds the following:
(1) That the conditions precedent to intervention exist as
provided in this section; and
(2) That delaying intervention for any period of time would
not be in the best interests of the students of the county school
system.
(n) Capacity. -- The process for improving education includes
a process for targeting resources strategically to improve the
teaching and learning process. Development of unified school and
school system improvement plans, pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section, is intended, in part, to provide mechanisms to target resources strategically to the teaching and learning process to
improve student, school and school system performance. When
deficiencies are detected through the assessment and accountability
processes, the revision and approval of school and school system
unified improvement plans shall ensure that schools and school
systems are efficiently using existing resources to correct the
deficiencies. When the state board determines that schools and
school systems do not have the capacity to correct deficiencies,
the state board shall work with the county board to develop or
secure the resources necessary to increase the capacity of schools
and school systems to meet the standards and, when necessary, seek
additional resources in consultation with the Legislature and the
governor.
The state board shall recommend to the appropriate body
including, but not limited to, the Legislature, county boards,
schools and communities, methods for targeting resources
strategically to eliminate deficiencies identified in the
assessment and accountability processes by:
(1) Examining reports and unified improvement plans regarding
the performance of students, schools and school systems relative to
the standards and identifying the areas in which improvement is
needed;
(2) Determining the areas of weakness and of ineffectiveness
that appear to have contributed to the substandard performance of
students or the deficiencies of the school or school system;
(3) Determining the areas of strength that appear to have
contributed to exceptional student, school and school system
performance and promoting their emulation throughout the system;
(4) Requesting technical assistance from the school building
authority in assessing or designing comprehensive educational
facilities plans;
(5) Recommending priority funding from the school building
authority based on identified needs;
(6) Requesting special staff development programs from the
center for professional development, higher education, regional
educational service agencies and county boards based on identified
needs;
(7) Submitting requests to the Legislature for appropriations
to meet the identified needs for improving education;
(8) Directing county boards to target their funds
strategically toward alleviating deficiencies;
(9) Ensuring that the need for facilities in counties with
increased enrollment are appropriately reflected and recommended
for funding;
(10) Ensuring that the appropriate person or entity is held
accountable for eliminating deficiencies; and
(11) Ensuring that the needed capacity is available from the
state and local level to assist the school or school system in
achieving the standards and alleviating the deficiencies.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-18b. School counselors in public schools.
(a) A school counselor means a professional educator who holds
a valid school counselor's certificate in accordance with article
three of chapter eighteen-a of this code.
(b) Each county board of education, by the school year one
thousand nine hundred eighty-seven--eighty-eight shall provide
counseling services for each pupil enrolled in the public schools
of the county.
(c) The school counselor shall work with individual pupils and
groups of pupils in providing developmental, preventive and
remedial guidance and counseling programs to meet academic, social,
emotional and physical needs; including programs to identify and
address the problem of potential school dropouts. The school
counselor may also provide consultant services for parents,
teachers and administrators and may use outside referral services
when appropriate if no additional cost is incurred by the county
board.
(d) The state board may adopt rules and regulations regarding
the activities of the school counselor, and the
therewith with the provisions of this section and
the national standards. To the extent that any funds are made available for this purpose, county boards shall provide training
for counselors and administrators to implement the national
standards as provided for in this section.
(e) Each county board of education shall develop a
comprehensive drop-out prevention program utilizing the expertise
of school counselors and any other appropriate resources available.
(f) School counselors shall be full-time professional
personnel, shall spend at least seventy-five percent of work time
in a direct counseling relationship with pupils, and shall devote
no more than one fourth of the work day to administrative
activities: Provided, That such activities are counselor related.
(g) Nothing herein shall prohibit in this section prohibits a
county board from exceeding the provisions of this section, or
requires any specific level of funding by the Legislature.
CHAPTER 18A. SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
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.
Professional personnel means professional personnel as defined in
section one, article one of this chapter. 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 actively participate 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 personnel
meets such standards. In order to promote reduction in paperwork,
the professional personnel evaluation system adopted by the state
board shall include, whenever feasible, procedures for the
evaluation of professional personnel through observation in lieu of
requiring records to be kept for the purpose of evaluation.
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
any school personnel with five or more years of experience, who has
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;
(3) The purposes of the evaluation, which shall serve as a
basis for the improvement of the performance of the personnel in
their assigned duties, serve as an indicator of satisfactory
performance for individual professional personnel and serve as
documentation for a dismissal on the grounds of unsatisfactory
performance, and 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; 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.
A professional whose performance is
deemed 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.
No person may evaluate professional personnel for the purposes
of this section unless
such 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
such 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.
Any professional personnel 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
shall be taken concerning the original performance evaluation. If
such the
evaluation shows that the professional is still not
performing satisfactorily, the evaluator shall either make
additional recommendations for improvement or may recommend the
dismissal of
such the
professional in accordance with the
provisions of section eight of this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to consolidate required
plans within the unified school improvement plan; prohibit the
Office of Education Performance Audits from using more stringent
requirements than expert inspection standards such as used by the
Fire Marshall or the Department of Health; require five days'
notice before on-site reviews; allow the use of the National
Standards for School Counseling Programs to define the role of
school counselors; provide training to implement the national
standards; require use of observation in lieu of written records
for evaluation purposes when feasible; and reduce frequency of
required evaluations for certain school employees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.