Professional Report

TEACHERS, EMPLOYMENT BY AN ESC

3319.07

The governing board of an educational service center may employ “special instruction teachers, special education teachers, and teachers of academic courses” for which there are too few students in the city or exempted village districts to warrant each district’s employing teachers for those courses. Boards of education were required to adopt an evaluation system for teachers, in consultation with their teachers, by July 1, 2013. The system must conform with the evaluation framework adopted by the state board of education, pursuant to 3319.112. This Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES) does not apply to substitute teachers or to adult education instructors. The policy “shall become operative” at the expiration of any collective bargaining agreement in effect on September 24, 2012 and must be included in the renewal or extension of the agreement. Measures of academic growth shall include “the value-added progress dimension” or an alternative student academic progress measure, and the policy must require one evaluation each year, and that evaluation must consist of at least two 30-minute observations with conferences (plus any additional “walk throughs). Also, a board may adopt a resolution to evaluate a teacher rated as “accomplished” (the highest rating) once every three years so long as the teacher’s student academic growth measure is “average” or higher for the most recent school year for which data are available. In addition, a board may adopt a resolution to evaluate a teacher rated as “skilled” (the second highest rating) once every two years so long as the teacher’s student academic growth measure is “average” or higher for the most recent school year for which data are available. If the board elects not to evaluate accomplished and skilled teachers annually, the law still requires that the teacher receive at least one observation and at least one conference with a credentialed evaluator each year. If the board may wish to declare its intention not to re-employ a teacher, the teacher must be observed at least three times during the year (rather than two observations as for all other teachers). There are two exceptions to the scheduled evaluations, if the district chooses. The first is for a teacher who is on leave for 50% of more of the school year. The second is for a teacher whose retirement has been accepted by the board not later than December 1 of the school year in which the evaluation was to be conducted. In both cases, the district may elect not to conduct an evaluation of such teachers in that particular year. An exception to the two observations per year is for teachers who received most recently a rating of accomplished. In that case, the board may adopt a resolution to require only one observation provided that the teacher completes a project that has been approved by the board to demonstrate the teacher’s continued professional growth and practice at the accomplished level. The evaluation must be completed by a credentialed evaluator by May 1 each year, and a written report given to the teacher by May 10.

TEACHERS, PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF

3319.111 3319.112