Emery County School District

Policy: GCO—Evaluation of Professional Staff

Date Adopted: 17 August 1988

Current Review / Revision: 19 July 2017

In order to assure a high quality of teacher and administrator performance, and to advance the instructional programs of the public schools, the Board requires regular periodic evaluations of all professional staff members.

Each educator’s performance and effectiveness will be assessed within the scope of that person’s area of responsibility, system-wide goals and objectives, and individual performance objectives.

Major areas of responsibility in which individuals will be appraised are established in their job description.

Details of the Educator Evaluation process are found in the Educator Performance Evaluation Program document.

Definitions (Utah Code 53A-8a-402)

• "Career Educator" means a licensed employee who has a reasonable expectation of continued employment under the policies of a local school board.

• "Probationary Educator" means an educator employed by a school district who, under local school board policy, has been advised by the district that the educator's performance is inadequate.

• "Provisional Educator" means an educator employed by a school district who has not achieved status as a career educator within the school district.

• “At-Will Educator” means an educator employed by the District for less than .5 FTE.

• “Intensive Assistance” means a formal process which outlines a program of assistance to help an educator remediate deficiencies identified by their formal evaluation. The program provides a time-line for improvement, identifies a mentor to work with the educator, and sets the standards that must be met for continued employment with the School District.

Educator Evaluation Committee (Utah Code 53A-8a-403)

A joint committee consisting of an equal number of classroom teachers, parents, and administrators shall be appointed by the Board to review and recommend revision, to the District Educator Evaluation Program, as needed.

The District administration shall recommend to the Board the names of parents, educators, and administrators to be considered for appointment to the committee. The Board shall then consider the recommendation and make the necessary appointments. The committee shall convene as appropriate to review and revise the Educator Evaluation Program.

Educator Evaluation Overview

Career Educators will be evaluated at least once annually prior to January 15th. Educators will also receive ongoing informal formative observations and conferences as appropriate.

Evaluations of educators will be conducted by their immediate Supervisor (Principal, Assistant Principal, District Supervisor or Superintendent).

The evaluation of all educators will follow the process as outlined in the District Educator Performance Evaluation Program adopted by the Board of Education.

The annual evaluation document will be signed by the evaluator and reviewed with the educator being evaluated. A copy of the evaluation will be given to the educator and a copy will be submitted to the appropriate district supervisor or the superintendent to be reviewed and placed in the educator’s personnel file.

Educators may request a procedural review of their evaluation process by submitting such request in writing to the Superintendent within 15 days after receiving the written summative evaluation.

An educator whose evaluation shows deficiencies that need to be remediated will be placed on Intensive Assistance (probation) and will receive written notice of such from their immediate supervisor. If a probationary educator fails to correct deficiencies found in their performance evaluation as outlined in their Intensive Assistance plan within the time- line specified, that person’s employment will be terminated according to district termination policies. Remediation time-lines will be established by the District but cannot exceed 120 school days. Also, if through the ongoing evaluation process, a deficiency for which there was an Intensive Assistance Plan completed, reoccurs within a three-year time period, the educator’s employment with the District may be terminated as per the District orderly dismissal policy.

Performance Compensation and Educator Evaluation (Utah Code 53A-8a-601, 602)

An educator may not advance on the District salary schedule if the employee’s rating on the most recent evaluation is at the lowest level of an evaluation instrument unless the educator is a provisional educator or is in the first year of an assignment, including a new subject, grade level, or school.

An educator is not eligible for the supplementary salary appropriation from the legislature if the educator’s rating is at the lowest level of the most recent evaluation instrument.

Evaluation and Compensation of Administrators (Utah Code 53A-8a-701, 53A-8a-702, 53A-8a-703)

Definitions

1. "District administrator" means an individual who:

   1. serves in a position that requires an educator license with an administrative area of concentration, except as provided in Utah Code 53A-3-301 or 53A-6-110; and

   2. supervises school administrators.

2. "School administrator" means an individual who:

   1. serves in a position that requires an educator license with an administrative area of concentration, except as provided in Utah Code 53A-6-110; and

   2. supervises teachers.

Evaluation of school and district administrators shall follow the process for other educators and shall also include:

1. student achievement indicators emphasizing learning growth and proficiency;

2. the results of an evaluation tool utilized by the local school board that includes input from employees, parents, and students;

3. the effectiveness of evaluating employee performance in a school or district for which the school or district administrator has responsibility; and

4. other factors as outlined in the District evaluation program adopted by the Board of Education and in state law and State Board of Education rules; and

Since the quality of instruction in the classroom is the most important factor in student success, any increase in a school or district administrator's salary, shall be based on the school or district administrator's effectiveness as an evaluator, as evidenced on their most recent evaluation.

The District shall continue each year to award any salary increases to a school or district administrator based on their annual evaluation as described above.