2016 Arkansas Code
Title 6 - Education
Subtitle 2 - Elementary and Secondary Education Generally
Chapter 17 - Personnel
Subchapter 28 - -- Teacher Excellence and Support System
§ 6-17-2803. Definitions

As used in this subchapter:

(1) "Artifact" means a documented piece of evidence chosen by the teacher being evaluated, the evaluator, or both, that:

(A) Relates to the evaluation rubric; and

(B) Represents output from one (1) or more of the following, without limitation:

(i) Lesson plans or pacing guides aligned with the state standards;

(ii) Self-directed or collaborative research approved by an evaluator;

(iii) Participation in professional development;

(iv) Contributions to parent, community, or professional meetings;

(v) Classroom assessments, including:

(a) Unit tests;

(b) Samples of student work, portfolios, writing, and projects;

(c) Pre-assessments and post-assessments; and

(d) Classroom-based formative assessments;

(vi) District-level assessments, including:

(a) Formative assessments;

(b) Grade or subject level assessments;

(c) Department-level assessments; and

(d) Common assessments;

(vii) State-level assessments, including:

(a) End-of-course assessments;

(b) Statewide assessments of student achievement; and

(c) Career and technical assessments; and

(viii) National assessments, including:

(a) Advanced placement assessments;

(b) Norm-referenced assessments; and

(c) Career and technical assessments;

(2) (A) "Evaluation" means the process under this subchapter used to:

(i) Assess with evidence what a teacher should know and be able to do as measured by the domains and performance ratings of an evaluation framework; and

(ii) Promote teacher growth through professional learning.

(B) "Evaluation" does not include a teacher's performance relating to competitive athletics and competitive extracurricular activities;

(3) "Evaluation framework" means a standardized set of teacher evaluation domains that provide the overall basis for an evaluation;

(4) "Evaluation rubric" means a set of performance components for each teacher evaluation domain in the evaluation framework;

(5) "Evaluator" means a person licensed by the State Board of Education as an administrator who is designated as the person responsible for evaluating teachers and who is an employee of the school district in which the evaluations are performed;

(6) "External assessment measure" means a measure of student achievement or growth that is administered, developed, and scored by a person or entity other than the teacher being evaluated, except that the assessment may be administered by the teacher being evaluated if the assessment is monitored by a licensed individual designated by the evaluator;

(7) "Formal classroom observation" means an announced visit to a classroom that:

(A) Is preceded by a pre-observation conference to discuss the lesson plan and objectives;

(B) (i) Is conducted by an evaluator for at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the class period either by observing the teacher:

(a) In the classroom;

(b) Through the use of three-hundred-sixty-degree video technology; or

(c) For a teacher in a digital learning environment, through the use of other appropriate technology.

(ii) The length of time for a formal classroom observation of a teacher teaching in a block schedule or in a class period lasting longer than sixty (60) minutes may be adjusted to allow for an observation for forty-five (45) minutes or more of the teacher's class period;

(C) Facilitates a professional dialogue for the teacher and evaluator; and

(D) Provides essential evidence of the teacher's classroom practices;

(8) "Formative assessment" means an evaluation of a student's learning that is given before the student completes a course of instruction to foster the student's development and improvement on a specific strand within the course of instruction;

(9) "Informal classroom observation" means an observation conducted by an evaluator for the same purpose as a formal classroom observation but may be:

(A) Unannounced; or

(B) For a shorter period of time than a formal classroom observation;

(10) "Intensive support status" means the employment status administered under this subchapter that is assigned to a teacher under § 6-17-2807;

(11) "Interim teacher appraisal" means a form of evaluation, other than a summative evaluation, that:

(A) Provides support for teaching practices; and

(B) Uses standards for teacher growth and performance that are consistent with the evaluation rubrics for the teacher evaluation domains of a summative evaluation;

(12) "Novice teacher" means a teacher having less than one (1) school year of public school classroom teaching experience;

(13) "Post-observation conference" means a conference between the teacher and evaluator following a formal classroom observation to discuss:

(A) The evaluator's observations; and

(B) Artifacts presented by the teacher after the formal classroom observation;

(14) "Pre-observation conference" means a conference between the teacher and evaluator to discuss goals and planned outcomes for a classroom lesson before a formal classroom observation;

(15) "Probationary teacher" means the same as probationary teacher under § 6-17-1502;

(16) "Professional development plan" means the professional development plan under § 6-17-704 that encompasses all professional development required by rule, under law, and by a school district, public school, or education service cooperative for a teacher;

(17) "Professional growth plan" means the component of a professional development plan that is designed to meet the specific growth needs of a teacher identified under the Teacher Excellence and Support System;

(18) "Statewide assessment of student achievement" means a statewide benchmark exam, end-of-course assessment, or a summative assessment of student achievement administered through:

(A) The Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program Act, § 6-15-401 et seq.; or

(B) A program of common core assessments administered under rules of the state board;

(19) "Summative assessment" means an evaluation of student achievement given at the completion of a course of instruction that cumulatively measures whether the student met long-term learning goals for the course;

(20) "Summative evaluation" means an evaluation of a teacher's performance that evaluates all domains of the evaluation framework that supports:

(A) Improvement in the teacher's teaching practices and student achievement; and

(B) A school district's employment decision concerning the teacher;

(21) (A) "Teacher" means a person who is:

(i) Required to hold and holds a teaching license from the state board as a condition of employment; and

(ii) Employed in a public school as a:

(a) Classroom teacher engaged directly in instruction with students in a classroom setting;

(b) Guidance counselor;

(c) Library media specialist;

(d) Special education teacher; or

(e) Teacher in another position identified by the state board.

(B) "Teacher" also includes a nonlicensed classroom teacher employed at a public charter school under a waiver of teacher licensure requirements granted by the state board in the charter.

(C) "Teacher" does not include a person who is employed full time by a school district or public school solely as a superintendent or administrator; and

(22) "Tested content area" means a teaching content area that is tested under a statewide assessment of student achievement.