SENATE BILL 503

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Cynthia Nava

AN ACT

RELATING TO EDUCATION; PROVIDING FOR AN ANNUAL SCHOOL PERSONNEL EVALUATION SYSTEM FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL PERSONNEL; CREATING A COUNCIL; PROVIDING POWERS AND DUTIES; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. A new section of the School Personnel Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] SCHOOL PERSONNEL EVALUATION SYSTEM.--

          A. The legislature finds that a system for the annual evaluation of school personnel is crucial to improving the quality of education in New Mexico. The legislature finds further that a professionally sound and credible system must be designed with the involvement of school personnel. The legislature finds further that the involvement and support of the business community and of parents of children in public schools, acting as partners with education leaders and teachers, are keys to the educational progress of New Mexico children.

          B. The purpose of the school personnel evaluation system is to provide an evaluation process that promotes quality instruction through school personnel effectiveness. The goals of the evaluation process are to:

                (1) be the basis for the improvement of instruction, instructional support and educational leadership;

                (2) be based in part on annual growth in student academic performance and other factors as determined by the council;

                (3) provide a basis for making decisions in the areas of employment, compensation, promotion, professional development, advancement in the three-tiered professional licensure system and retention of school personnel under state law and in the areas of termination, discharge and nonrenewal of contracts; and

                (4) provide documentation for personnel actions.

          C. As used in this section:

                (1) "council" means the school personnel evaluation council;

                (2) "department" means the public education department;

                (3) "office" means the office of education accountability of the department of finance and administration;

                (4) "principal" means a school administrator who is employed as the chief administrative officer or assistant chief administrative officer of a public school and who administers, directs or supervises the education program in the public school;

                (5) "school district" includes charter schools and state agencies that employ school personnel to educate students or provide instructional support;

                (6) "school personnel" means licensed school employees, except for teachers with internship licenses, level one teachers or substitute teachers;

                (7) "system" means the school personnel evaluation system; and

                (8) "teacher" does not include a teacher with an internship license, a level one teacher or a substitute teacher.

          D. The "school personnel evaluation council" is created as a policy-advisory council to the department and the office and shall function from the date of its appointment until December 31, 2014. The department shall provide staff for the council.

          E. The council consists of:

                (1) the secretary or the secretary's designee;

                (2) the secretary of higher education or the secretary's designee;

                (3) the director of the office or the director's designee;

                (4) the chair of the New Mexico deans and directors of colleges of education or the chair's designee; and

                (5) the following members appointed by the secretary, in consultation with the office:

                     (a) representatives of the New Mexico business community;

                     (b) representatives of public school teacher organizations;

                     (c) a representative of a public school parent organization;

                     (d) a representative of an organization of school administrators; and

                     (e) a representative of charter schools.

          F. Members of the council and any subcommittees of the council may receive per diem and mileage expenses pursuant to the Per Diem and Mileage Act only if the department has funding for that purpose.

          G. The council shall:

                (1) develop a school personnel evaluation system that uses multiple fair, transparent, timely, rigorous and valid methods of evaluating school personnel and affords school personnel an opportunity to improve their effectiveness;

                (2) conduct a cost analysis at the state and local level, including costs of assessment changes, staff training and improved professional development for school personnel; and

                (3) report by August 2011 to the secretary with recommendations on the school personnel evaluation system for implementation in the 2011-2012 school year.

          H. The council may:

                (1) convene temporary work groups, which may include non-council members with appropriate expertise, to study and make recommendations on aspects of the system; and

                (2) consult with state, regional and national experts in subjects related to school personnel evaluation.

          I. The components of the system developed by the council and recommended to the secretary shall include:

                (1) clear, objective standards for three or more levels of school personnel effectiveness based on the competencies specific to each category of school personnel and judged by multiple appropriate measures, including, at a minimum, "highly effective", "effective" and "ineffective" ratings;

                (2) evaluation instruments, rubrics or tools specific to each category of school personnel that are deemed by the council to be fair, transparent, rigorous and valid;

                (3) evaluation procedures for each category of school personnel that are conducted with sufficient time and specified frequency to gather data adequate to justify the ratings contained in the evaluation;

                (4) evaluation procedures that may include opportunities for input and participation by peers, subject-matter experts, external specialists, educational leaders, other than a direct supervisor, and others;

                (5) a specific weighting factor in teacher evaluations for student academic growth and psychosocial development and for fair, valid and reliable measures by which that growth and development may be assessed;

                (6) a specific weighting factor in school principal evaluations for instructional leadership based in part on student academic growth and psychosocial development and for fair, valid and reliable measures by which that growth and development may be assessed;

                (7) a connection between the professional development plan required in Section 22-10A-19 NMSA 1978 and the teacher evaluations;

                (8) valid and reliable assessment tools and procedures to be used to measure student academic growth and psychosocial development, including how to incorporate multiple measures of student performance to determine growth and development;

                (9) a determination of whether and in what manner to reflect in evaluations how effectively school personnel involve parents in their children’s education;

                (10) the sequence and schedule of steps to be taken, if any, in response to evaluations, including creation of a professional improvement plan that includes peer intervention or mentoring and, if sufficient improvement does not occur within the prescribed time, termination for school personnel who receive one or more annual evaluations of "ineffective";

                (11) the process by which school personnel may appeal adverse performance ratings;

                (12) provision for maintaining the confidentiality of personally identifiable student information in performing evaluations; and

                (13) a determination whether individual school personnel evaluation ratings should be a confidential personnel matter or a matter of public record.

          J. The implementation plan for the system recommended by the council shall include recommendations for:

                (1) ongoing training and collaboration time to ensure that school personnel fully understand student data and have the resources to provide instruction that responds appropriately to student data;

                (2) ongoing training in the use of the system sufficient to ensure that all evaluators and school personnel have a full understanding of the system and its implementation;

                (3) amendments to the School Personnel Act to codify the recommended system;

                (4) department policy and rule changes, as appropriate, to support local school district use of evaluation data for personnel decisions in areas such as compensation, promotion, transfer, retention, termination and professional development;

                (5) department policy and rule changes, as appropriate, to ensure that the standards and criteria for school personnel licensure and the approval of post-secondary school personnel preparation programs by the department for each category of school personnel are directly aligned with and support the system;

                (6) tying the results of the system to department approval of post-secondary school personnel preparation programs; and

                (7) any other matters necessary to implement the system.

          K. The secretary may modify the system recommended by the council. The department shall adopt and promulgate rules to implement the system in the 2011-2012 school year.

          L. By December 31 of each year of its existence, the council, in cooperation with the office and the department, shall submit a status report to the governor and the legislative education study committee on the efficacy of the implemented school personnel evaluation system. Prior to submission of the report and its publication, the council shall distribute a draft of the report to school districts, charter schools and all public post-secondary educational institutions to allow comment on the draft report.

          M. The annual status report shall include the following information:

                (1) the number of school districts, their names and the numbers and categories of school personnel in each school district that are in the process of implementing or have fully implemented the system;

                (2) the aggregate numbers of school personnel at each school district and statewide who have received ratings at each of the levels established in the system and the actions taken in response to those ratings;

                (3) the result of surveys of school personnel and parents regarding confidence in and satisfaction with the effectiveness of the system in achieving each of the goals of the system specified in Subsection B of this section; and

                (4) recommendations of the council, based on the outcomes of the system, the surveys and such other information as the council deems relevant, for changes or improvements to the system through amendments to the law or changes to department policy and rule."

     SECTION 2. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.

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