By:  Bailey                                            H.B. No. 763
       73R2774 ESH-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the appraisal of public school teachers for career
    1-3  ladder purposes.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Sections 13.302(a), (c), and (f), Education Code,
    1-6  are amended to read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  The State Board of Education shall adopt an appraisal
    1-8  process and criteria on which to appraise the performance of
    1-9  teachers for career ladder level assignment purposes.  The criteria
   1-10  must be based on observable classroom performance, <job-related
   1-11  behavior,> including teachers' implementation of discipline
   1-12  management procedures.
   1-13        (c)  In developing the appraisal process, the board shall
   1-14  provide for <using not fewer than> two appraisers for each
   1-15  appraisal.  One appraiser must be the teacher's supervisor and one
   1-16  must be a person certified to teach in the area of certification in
   1-17  which the teacher is being appraised as approved by the board of
   1-18  trustees.  An appraiser who is a classroom teacher may not appraise
   1-19  the performance of another classroom teacher who teaches at the
   1-20  same school campus at which the appraiser teaches, unless it is
   1-21  impractical because of the number of campuses or unless the
   1-22  appraiser is the chairman of a department or grade level whose job
   1-23  description includes classroom observation responsibilities.  The
   1-24  <In a district that uses not more than two appraisers per
    2-1  appraisal, the> board shall provide for an appraisal by a third
    2-2  appraiser from another campus if the difference between the
    2-3  appraisals is such that the teacher's performance cannot be
    2-4  accurately evaluated.  The board also shall provide for a uniform
    2-5  training program and uniform certification standards for appraisers
    2-6  to be used throughout the state.  Teachers must be given access to
    2-7  the uniform training program.  On request of the teacher, only the
    2-8  teacher's supervisor may perform the appraisal.  <The board shall
    2-9  include teacher self-appraisal in the process.>
   2-10        (f)  Appraisal for teachers must be detailed by category of
   2-11  professional skill and characteristic and must provide for separate
   2-12  ratings per category.  The appraisal process must be designed to
   2-13  permit a teacher to obtain the highest rating without exhibiting
   2-14  each skill and characteristic within a single observation period
   2-15  and must allow for the different skills, characteristics, and
   2-16  educational philosophies that may be used to teach students in
   2-17  various educational settings or to teach special student
   2-18  populations.  The appraisal process shall guarantee a conference
   2-19  between teacher and appraisers after each appraisal, and the
   2-20  conference shall be diagnostic and prescriptive with regard to
   2-21  remediation as needed in overall summary of performance by category
   2-22  and identify the required performance by category of professional
   2-23  skill and characteristic needed for advancement to the next level.
   2-24  The supervisor of a teacher who is rated satisfactory, below
   2-25  expectations, or unsatisfactory shall provide the teacher with a
   2-26  growth plan specifying the steps the teacher must take to achieve a
   2-27  higher rating.  A teacher is entitled to make, at the teacher's
    3-1  expense, a video or audio recording of lessons observed by
    3-2  appraisers.
    3-3        SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
    3-4  amended by adding Section 13.3031 to read as follows:
    3-5        Sec. 13.3031.  FREQUENCY OF APPRAISAL.  (a)  A teacher who is
    3-6  not on a career ladder shall be appraised annually.  Except as
    3-7  provided by Subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a teacher who
    3-8  is on level one, two, three, or four of the career ladder shall be
    3-9  appraised every three years.
   3-10        (b)  A teacher who is on level two of the career ladder as of
   3-11  August 1, 1993, may request annual appraisals to qualify for level
   3-12  three.  A teacher who is on level three of the career ladder may
   3-13  request annual appraisals to qualify for level four.  A teacher may
   3-14  request an appraisal during any year for remedial purposes or
   3-15  improvement of the teacher's performance.
   3-16        (c)  If an appraisal indicates that a teacher's performance
   3-17  is unsatisfactory or below expectations, the teacher shall be
   3-18  appraised the following year.
   3-19        (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e) of this section,
   3-20  during a school year in which a teacher is to be appraised, the
   3-21  appraisal shall be performed at least two times.  The first
   3-22  appraisal shall be a formative appraisal and the results may not be
   3-23  considered for career ladder purposes.
   3-24        (e)  Under unusual circumstances, a teacher may be evaluated
   3-25  for career ladder purposes on the basis of a single appraisal.
   3-26        (f)  Each observation of classroom performance used in the
   3-27  appraisal process must be scheduled in advance with the teacher
    4-1  unless the teacher requests an unscheduled observation.
    4-2        SECTION 3.  Section 13.304, Education Code, is amended to
    4-3  read as follows:
    4-4        Sec. 13.304.  PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES.  In appraisals of
    4-5  teacher performance for career ladder level assignment purposes,
    4-6  performance shall be evaluated in the same manner and under the
    4-7  same criteria regardless of level.  Performance shall be evaluated
    4-8  as:
    4-9              (1)  unsatisfactory (if the teacher's overall
   4-10  performance is clearly not acceptable <in some major area>);
   4-11              (2)  below expectations (if the teacher's overall
   4-12  performance needs improvement <in some major areas>);
   4-13              (3)  satisfactory (if the teacher's performance meets
   4-14  expectations);
   4-15              (4)  exceeding expectations (if the teacher's
   4-16  performance excels in some major areas); or
   4-17              (5)  clearly outstanding.
   4-18        SECTION 4.  Subchapter E, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
   4-19  amended by adding Section 13.324 to read as follows:
   4-20        Sec. 13.324.  DUE PROCESS.  The board of trustees of a school
   4-21  district shall ensure that a teacher is not denied placement on the
   4-22  career ladder except through due process of law.
   4-23        SECTION 5.  Section 13.303(c), Education Code, is repealed.
   4-24        SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the
   4-25  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   4-26  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   4-27  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    5-1  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
    5-2  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    5-3  passage, and it is so enacted.