DAR File No. 42806

Education, Administration

Rule R277-533

District Educator Evaluation Systems

Notice of Proposed Rule

(Amendment)

DAR File No.: 42806
Filed: 04/16/2018 02:25:19 PM

RULE ANALYSIS

Purpose of the rule or reason for the change:

These amendments to this rule provide for immediate changes in response to federal feedback on equitable distribution of effective educators within Utah's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan.

Summary of the rule or change:

These amendments to this rule provide for immediate changes in response to federal feedback on equitable distribution of effective educators within Utah's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan. Additionally, language is added to meet our state's plan requiring charter schools to report the numbers of ineffective teachers. This rule has also been amended to explicitly classify educator evaluation data as private for purposes of Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management. These rule changes provide technical, conforming, and stylistic changes in accordance with the Rulewriting Manual for Utah and Board policies.

Statutory or constitutional authorization for this rule:

• Title 53G, Chapter 11, Part 5
• Art X Sec 3
• Subsection 53E-3-401(4)

Anticipated cost or savings to:

the state budget:

These rule changes are not estimated to have aggregate anticipated cost or savings to the state budget.

local governments:

These rule changes are not estimated to have aggregate anticipated cost or savings to local governments.

small businesses:

These rule changes are not estimated to have aggregate anticipated cost or savings to small businesses.

persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local governmental entities:

These rule changes are not estimated to have aggregate anticipated cost or savings to persons other than small businesses, businesses, or local government entities.

Compliance costs for affected persons:

There are no compliance costs for affected persons.

Comments by the department head on the fiscal impact the rule may have on businesses:

These changes to Rule R277-533 are not estimated to have a fiscal impact. There are 1,241 entities with a NAICS code 611110 operating in Utah according to a "Firm Find Data" search through Utah's Department of Workforce Services. Most of the entities on the list are public entities e.g. Alpine Board of Education, Canyons School District, Cache High School, etc. These proposed rule changes are not expected to have any fiscal impact on large businesses' revenues or expenditures because it deals with the submission of educator evaluation data to the Board and does not require any expenditures of or generate any revenues for large businesses. These amendments to this rule provide for immediate changes in response to federal feedback on equitable distribution of effective educators within Utah's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan. Additionally, language is added to meet our state's plan requiring charter schools to report the numbers of ineffective teachers. These rule changes provide technical, conforming, and stylistic changes in accordance with the Rulewriting Manual for Utah and Board policies. These rule changes are not anticipated to have a fiscal impact because the evaluations are not new. These rule changes clarify how LEAs will report these data. The Assistant Superintendent of Financial Operations at the Utah State Board of Education, Natalie Grange, has reviewed and approved this fiscal analysis.

Sydnee Dickson, State Superintendent

The full text of this rule may be inspected, during regular business hours, at the Office of Administrative Rules, or at:

Education
Administration
250 E 500 S
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84111-3272

Direct questions regarding this rule to:

• Angela Stallings at the above address, by phone at 801-538-7656, by FAX at 801-538-7768, or by Internet E-mail at angie.stallings@schools.utah.gov

Interested persons may present their views on this rule by submitting written comments to the address above no later than 5:00 p.m. on:

05/31/2018

This rule may become effective on:

06/07/2018

Authorized by:

Angela Stallings, Deputy Superintendent, Policy and Communication

Appendix 1: Regulatory Impact Summary Table*

Fiscal Costs	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020
State Government	$0	$0	$0
Local Government	$0	$0	$0
Small Businesses	$0	$0	$0
Non-Small Businesses	$0	$0	$0
Other Person	$0	$0	$0
Total Fiscal Costs:	$0	$0	$0
Fiscal Benefits
State Government	$0	$0	$0
Local Government	$0	$0	$0
Small Businesses	$0	$0	$0
Non-Small Businesses	$0	$0	$0
Other Persons	$0	$0	$0
Total Fiscal Benefits:	$0	$0	$0
Net Fiscal Benefits:	$0	$0	$0

 

*This table only includes fiscal impacts that could be measured. If there are inestimable fiscal impacts, they will not be included in this table. Inestimable impacts for State Government, Local Government, Small Businesses and Other Persons are described above. Inestimable impacts for Non - Small Businesses are described below.

 

Appendix 2: Regulatory Impact to Non - Small Businesses

This change to Rule R277-533 is not estimated to have a fiscal impact. There are 1,241 entities with a NAICS code 611110 operating in Utah according to a "Firm Find Data" search through Utah's Department of Workforce Services. Most of the entities on the list are public entities e.g. Alpine Board of Education, Canyons School District, Cache High School, etc. This proposed rule change is not expected to have any fiscal impact on large businesses' revenues or expenditures because it deals with the submission of educator evaluation data to the Board and does not require any expenditures of or generate any revenues for large businesses.

 

The amendments to this rule provide for immediate changes in response to federal feedback on equitable distribution of effective educators within Utah's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state plan. The rule has also been amended to explicitly classify educator evaluation data as private for purposes of Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management. Additionally, language is added to meet our state's plan requiring charter schools to report the numbers of ineffective teachers. These rule changes provide technical, conforming, and stylistic changes in accordance with the Rulewriting Manual for Utah and Board policies. These changes are not anticipated to have a fiscal impact because the evaluations are not new. These rule changes clarify how LEAs will report these data.

 

The Assistant Superintendent of Financial Operations at the Utah State Board of Education, Natalie Grange, has reviewed and approved this fiscal analysis.

 

 

R277. Education, Administration.

R277-533. [District ]Educator Evaluation Systems.

R277-533-1. Authority and Purpose.

(1) This rule is authorized by:

(a) Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision over public education in the Board;

(b) Title [53A]53G, Chapter [8a]11, Part [4]5, Educator Evaluations, which requires the Board to make rules to establish a framework for the evaluation of educators and set policies and procedures related to educator evaluations; and

(c) Subsection [53A-1-401]53E-3-401(4), which allows the Board to make rules to execute the Board's duties and responsibilities under the Utah Constitution and state law.

(2) The purpose of this rule is to:

(a) specify the requirements for district Educator Evaluation Systems Policies;

(b) describe the required components of district Educator Evaluation Systems; and

(c) establish requirements for how the Annual Summative Educator Evaluation Rating is reported for districts and charter schools.

 

R277-533-2. Definitions.

(1) "Administrator" has the same meaning as that term is defined in [Section 53A-8a-102]Subsection 53G-11-501(1).

(2) "Certified rater" means an educator who has been trained in evaluating educator performance and has demonstrated competency in using an educator evaluation tool to rate educator effectiveness according to established standards.

(3) "Educator" has the same meaning as that term is defined in [Section 53A-8a-402]Subsection 53G-11-501(6).

(4) "Evaluator" means a person who is responsible for an educator's overall evaluation, including:

(a) professional performance;

(b) student growth;

(c) stakeholder input; and

(d) other indicators of professional improvement.

(5) "Rater" means a person who conducts an observation of an educator related to an educator's evaluation.

(6) "School district" includes the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.

(7) "System" means a school district's educator evaluation system.

 

R277-533-3. School District Educator Evaluation Systems.

(1) A local school board shall adopt a district educator evaluation system in consultation with a joint committee established by the local school board as described in Section [53A-8a-403]53G-11-506.

(2) A district educator evaluation system shall:

(a) include the components required in Section [53A-8a-405]53G-11-507;

(b) include the following four differentiated levels of performance:

(i) highly effective;

(ii) effective;

(iii) emerging/minimally effective; and

(iv) not effective;

(c) use multiple lines of evidence in evaluation, including:

(i) professional performance, as described in Section R277-533-4;

(ii) student academic growth, as described in Section R277-533-5;

(iii) stakeholder input, as described in Section R277-533-5; and

(iv) other indicators of professional improvement as required by the school district;

(d) provide a process for an educator to request a review of the implementation of the educator's evaluation, as described in:

(i) Section [53A-8a-406]53G-11-508; and

(ii) Section R277-533-8;

(e) include multiple observations as described in Section R277-533-4; and

(f) provide a description of the methods for gathering, using, and protecting educator data.

(3) To form the school district's system, a local school board may adopt:

(a) the Utah Model Educator Evaluator System established by the Board;

(b) an adapted system; or

(c) a school district-developed system, consistent with Rules R277-530, R277-531, and this rule.

(4) An educator is responsible for:

(a) improving the educator's performance, using resources offered by the school district; and

(b) demonstrating acceptable levels of improvement in any designated area of deficiency.

 

R277-533-4. Evaluators and Standards for Education Observations.

(1) A school district's system shall include observations.

(2) The school district shall use observation tools that:

(a) are aligned with the Utah Effective Educator Standards described in Rule R277-530 at the indicator level; and

(b) include multiple supervisor observations at appropriate intervals.

(3) A school district's evaluation system shall include an opportunity for an educator to contribute additional information to inform their rating at several intervals throughout the process.

(4) To ensure a valid evaluation system, a school district shall establish a school district rater reliability process that:

(a) creates standardized ratings established by a committee of expert raters to be used for rater professional development and certification;

(b) provides professional development opportunities to all raters and evaluators of licensed educators to:

(i) improve a rater or evaluator's abilities; and

(ii) give the rater or evaluator an opportunity to demonstrate the rater's abilities to rate an educator in accordance with the Utah Effective Educator Standards described in Rule R277-530;

(c) designates qualified raters as certified;

(d) assures that an educator is rated by a certified rater;

(e) requires a school district to offer a rater opportunities to improve the rater's skills through instruction and practice; and

(f) maintains high standards of rater accuracy.

 

R277-533-5. Student Academic Growth and Stakeholder Input.

(1) A school district shall ensure that a student academic growth measurement includes the following three required components:

(a) learning goals measuring long-term outcomes linked to the appropriate specific content knowledge and skills from the Utah Core Standards;

(b) assessments; and

(c) targets for incremental monitoring of student academic growth.

(2)(a) A school district's system shall include stakeholder input for educators, principals, and administrators, including annual input from students and parents.

(b) In addition to the stakeholder input described in Subsection (2)(a), stakeholder input for principals and other administrators shall include input from teachers and support professionals.

 

R277-533-6. Computing the Annual Summative Rating.

(1) A school district shall base an educator's component ratings on:

(a) actual observations of the educator's performance; and

(b) educator, evaluator, student academic growth, or other stakeholder data gathered, calculated, or observed that is aligned with standards and rubrics.

(2) A school district shall report summative scores annually for all educators using the following approved terminology for reporting:

(d) highly effective 3;

(c) effective 2;

(b) minimal/emerging effective 1; and

(a) not effective 0.

 

R277-533-7. Minimal or Emerging Effective Category.

If an evaluator rates an educator's performance within the minimal or emerging effective category, the rater shall:

(1) designate an educator as emerging effective if:

(a) the educator:

(i) holds a Level 1 educator license; or

(ii) is being served by the school district's Entry Years Enhancement (E.Y.E.) program described in Rule R277-522; or

(b) the educator:

(i) received a new or different teaching or leadership assignment within the last school year; or

(ii) is developing in that area; or

(2) designate an educator as minimally effective if the educator:

(a) holds a Level 2 educator license; and

(b) is teaching or leading in a familiar assignment.

 

R277-533-8. Evaluation Reviews.

(1) An educator who is not satisfied with a summative evaluation may request a review in writing of the summative evaluation within 15 calendar days after receiving the written summative evaluation.

(2) A school district shall conduct a review of an educator's summative evaluation:

(a) as described in this section; and

(b) the requirements of Section [53A-8a-406]53G-11-508.

(3) A review described in Subsection (2) shall be conducted:

(a) by a certified rater:

(i) with experience evaluating educators; and

(ii) not employed by the school district; and

(b) in accordance with the Utah Effective Educator Standards described in Rule R277-530.

(4) A certified rater described in Subsection (3) shall:

(a) review:

(i) the school district's educator evaluation policies and procedures;

(ii) the evaluation process conducted for the educator;

(iii) the evaluation data from the professional performance, student growth, and stakeholder input components; and

(iv) an educator's written response, if submitted as described in Subsection [53A-8a-406]53G-11-508(1)(b); and

(b) report the certified rater's findings, in writing, to the school district's superintendent for action.

(5) The school district shall determine if the initial educator evaluation was issued in accordance with:

(a) the school district's educator evaluation policies;

(b) the requirements of the performance standards;

(c) Title [53A]53G, Chapter [8a]11, [Public Education Human Resource Management Act]Employees;

(d) Rule R277-531; and

(e) this rule.

 

R277-533-9. Educator Evaluation Data.

(1) A school district shall report information described in Section [53A-8a-410]53G-11-511 to the Superintendent annually on or before June 30 to be included in the Superintendent's annual report as required by Section [53A-8a-410]53G-11-511.

(2) Data reported in accordance with Subsection (1) shall be classified as private under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act.

 

R277-533-10. Applicability to Charter Schools.

A charter school shall comply with the requirements of Subsection R277-533-6(2) and Section R277-533-9.

 

KEY: educators, evaluations

Date of Enactment or Last Substantive Amendment: [August 7, 2017]2018

Authorizing, and Implemented or Interpreted Law: Art X Sec 3; 53A-1-401