Senator Kathleen A. Riebe proposes the following substitute bill:


1     
TEACHER EVALUATION AMENDMENTS

2     
2023 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Kathleen A. Riebe

5     
House Sponsor: Carol S. Moss

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill amends the educator evaluation frequency to include a biennial option.
10     Highlighted Provisions:
11          This bill:
12          ▸     amends the required educator evaluation frequency to include a biennial option; and
13          ▸     makes technical changes.
14     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
15          None
16     Other Special Clauses:
17          None
18     Utah Code Sections Affected:
19     AMENDS:
20          53G-11-501.5, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 293
21          53G-11-504, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2020, Chapter 408
22          53G-11-507, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 293
23     REPEALS:
24          53G-11-504.1, as enacted by Laws of Utah 2020, Third Special Session, Chapter 10
25     


26     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
27          Section 1. Section 53G-11-501.5 is amended to read:
28          53G-11-501.5. Legislative findings.
29          (1) The Legislature finds that the effectiveness of public educators can be improved
30     and enhanced by providing specific feedback and support for improvement through a
31     systematic, fair, and competent annual or biennial evaluation and remediation of public
32     educators whose performance is inadequate.
33          (2) The state board and each local school board shall implement Sections 53G-11-501,
34     53G-11-506, 53G-11-507, 53G-11-508, 53G-11-509, 53G-11-510, and 53G-11-511 in
35     accordance with Subsections 53E-2-302(7) and 53E-6-103(2)(a) and (b), to:
36          (a) allow the educator and the school district to promote the professional growth of the
37     educator; and
38          (b) identify and encourage quality instruction in order to improve student academic
39     growth.
40          Section 2. Section 53G-11-504 is amended to read:
41          53G-11-504. Evaluation of employee performance.
42          (1) Except as provided in Subsections (2) and (3), a local school board shall require
43     that the performance of each school district employee be evaluated annually in accordance with
44     rules of the state board adopted in accordance with this part and Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
45     Administrative Rulemaking Act.
46          (2) Rules adopted by the state board under Subsection (1) may include an exemption
47     from annual performance evaluations for a temporary employee or a part-time employee.
48          (3) If an educator has had two consecutive satisfactory annual performance evaluations,
49     a local school board may evaluate the educator biennially.
50          Section 3. Section 53G-11-507 is amended to read:
51          53G-11-507. Components of educator evaluation program.
52          (1) A local school board in consultation with a joint committee established in Section
53     53G-11-506 shall adopt a reliable and valid educator evaluation program that evaluates
54     educators based on educator professional standards established by the state board and includes:
55          (a) a systematic annual or biennial evaluation of all provisional, probationary, and
56     career educators;

57          (b) use of multiple lines of evidence, including:
58          (i) self-evaluation;
59          (ii) student and parent input;
60          (iii) for an administrator, employee input;
61          (iv) a reasonable number of supervisor observations to ensure adequate reliability;
62          (v) evidence of professional growth and other indicators of instructional improvement
63     based on educator professional standards established by the state board; and
64          (vi) student academic growth data;
65          (c) a summative evaluation that differentiates among four levels of performance; and
66          (d) for an administrator, the effectiveness of evaluating employee performance in a
67     school or school district for which the administrator has responsibility.
68          (2) (a) An educator evaluation program described in Subsection (1) may include a
69     reasonable number of peer observations.
70          (b) An educator evaluation program described in Subsection (1) may not use
71     end-of-level assessment scores in educator evaluation.
72          Section 4. Repealer.
73          This bill repeals:
74          Section 53G-11-504.1, Waiver of employee evaluation requirement.