2018 Oklahoma Statutes
Title 70. Schools
§70-6-101.10. Establishment of written policy of evaluation and corresponding professional development.

A. Each school district board of education shall maintain and annually review, following consultation with or involvement of representatives selected by local teachers, a written policy of evaluation and corresponding professional development for all teachers and administrators. In those school districts in which there exists a professional negotiations agreement made in accordance with Section 509.1 et seq. of this title, the procedure for evaluating members of the negotiations unit and any standards of performance and conduct proposed for adoption beyond those established by the State Board of Education shall be negotiable items. Nothing in this section shall be construed to annul, modify or to preclude the renewal or continuing of any existing agreement heretofore entered into between any school district and any organizational representative of its employees. Every policy of evaluation adopted by a board of education shall:

1. Be based upon a set of minimum criteria developed by the State Board of Education, which shall be revised and based upon the Oklahoma Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Evaluation System (TLE) developed by the State Board of Education as provided in Section 6-101.16 of this title. The revisions to each policy of evaluation shall be phased in according to the following schedule:

a.for the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, the evaluation rating of teachers and administrators shall be based on the qualitative component of the TLE. For the 2016-2017 school year, the State Department of Education shall work with school districts to develop individualized programs of professional development as described in subsection B of this section. However, nothing in this subparagraph shall preclude a school district with an average daily attendance of more than thirty-five thousand (35,000) from continuing to use quantitative components which the district has incorporated at its own expense prior to the 2015-2016 school year into its evaluation system of teachers and administrators, as defined by the district's written policy,

b.for evaluations of teachers and administrators conducted during the 2017-2018 school year, and each school year thereafter, school districts shall incorporate and put into operation the qualitative component of the TLE as provided for in subsection B of Section 6-101.16 of this title into the evaluations used in all school sites within the district. For the 2017-2018 school year, and each school year thereafter, teachers and administrators shall receive a district evaluation rating based on the components of the TLE as set forth in subsection B of Section 6-101.16 of this title. For the 2017-2018 school year, school districts shall incorporate the individualized programs of professional development as described in subsection B of this section on a pilot program basis, and

c.for evaluations of teachers and administrators conducted during the 2018-2019 school year, and each school year thereafter, school districts shall fully incorporate and put into operation the individualized programs of professional development as described in subsection B of this section;

2. Be prescribed in writing at the time of adoption and at all times when amendments to the policy are adopted. The original policy and all amendments to the policy shall be promptly made available to all persons subject to the policy;

3. Provide that all evaluations be made in writing and that evaluation documents and responses thereto be maintained in a personnel file for each evaluated person;

4. Provide that every probationary teacher receive formative feedback from the evaluation process at least two times per school year, once during the fall semester and once during the spring semester;

5. Provide that every teacher be evaluated once every year, except for career teachers receiving a district evaluation rating of "superior" or "highly effective" under the TLE who may be evaluated once every three (3) years; and

6. Provide that, except for superintendents of independent and elementary school districts and superintendents of area school districts who shall be evaluated by the school district board of education, all certified personnel shall be evaluated by a principal, assistant principal, designee of the principal, supervisor, content expert, department chair, peer committee or other trained persons or groups of persons designated by the school district board of education.

B. 1. Every policy of professional development adopted by a school district board of education shall provide for the development of a focused and individualized program of professional development for the teacher or administrator that is consistent with the qualitative component of the TLE. The policy of professional development shall:

a.establish an annual professional growth goal for the teacher or administrator that is developed by the teacher or administrator in collaboration with the evaluator,

b.be tailored to address a specific area or criteria identified through the qualitative component of the TLE,

c.allow the teacher or administrator to actively engage with learning practices that are evidence-based, researched practices that are correlated with increased student achievement, and

d.be supported by resources that are easily available and supplied by the school district and the State Department of Education.

2. School districts shall monitor compliance with each individualized program of professional development implemented pursuant to this subsection. All professional development completed pursuant to an individualized program of professional development shall count toward the total number of points a teacher or administrator is required to complete as established by a school district board of education pursuant to Section 6-194 of this title. The implementation of the individualized program of professional development required by this subsection shall not be construed as increasing the professional development points requirements.

3. Individualized programs of professional development required by this subsection may include but are not limited to the following learning practices:

a.presenter-led workshops,

b.individual or faculty studies of books, scholarly articles and video productions,

c.peer observations,

d.committee studies to address student achievement issues,

e.work related to a specific subject area or areas associated with obtaining an advanced degree or professional certification,

f.action research projects designed to improve student achievement, and

g.participation in local, regional or state initiatives associated with the development or implementation of curriculum standards.

C. All individuals designated by the school district board of education to conduct the personnel evaluations shall be required to participate in training conducted by the State Department of Education or training provided by the school district using guidelines and materials developed by the State Department of Education prior to conducting evaluations.

D. The State Department of Education shall develop and conduct workshops pursuant to statewide criteria which train individuals in conducting evaluations.

E. The State Board of Education shall monitor compliance with the provisions of this section by school districts.

F. The State Board of Education shall study continued implementation of the TLE to produce a system that promotes reflection and professional growth for teachers and leaders.

G. Refusal by a school district to comply with the provisions of this section shall be grounds for withholding State Aid funds until compliance occurs.

H. Data collected pursuant to this section shall not be subject to the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act or the Oklahoma Open Records Act.

Added by Laws 1977, c. 262, § 2, emerg. eff. June 17, 1977. Amended by Laws 1985, c. 329, § 16, emerg. eff. July 30, 1985; Laws 1986, c. 259, § 51, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1987, c. 204, § 118, operative July 1, 1987; Laws 1989, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 2, § 71, operative July 1, 1990. Renumbered from § 6-102.2 of this title by Laws 1989, 1st Ex. Sess., c. 2, § 117, operative July 1, 1990. Amended by Laws 1991, c. 3, § 7, eff. July 1, 1991; Laws 1993, c. 239, § 29, eff. July 1, 1993; Laws 2010, c. 291, § 5, eff. July 1, 2010; Laws 2013, c. 10, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013; Laws 2013, c. 373, § 2; Laws 2014, c. 331, § 1, eff. July 1, 2014; Laws 2015, c. 365, § 2, eff. July 1, 2015; Laws 2016, c. 301, § 2, eff. July 1, 2016.