Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) Each teacher must be appraised each
school year, except as provided by subsection (l) of this section. Whenever
possible, an appraisal shall be based on the teacher's performance in fields
and teaching assignments for which he or she is certified.
(b) The annual teacher appraisal, or full
appraisal, shall include:
(1) a completed and
appraiser-approved Goal-Setting and Professional Development Plan that shall
be:
(A) submitted to the teacher's appraiser
within the first six weeks from the day of completion of the Texas Teacher
Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) orientation, as described in §
150.1006 of
this title (relating to Teacher Orientation), for teachers in their first year
of appraisal under the T-TESS or for teachers new to the district; or
(B) initially drafted in conjunction with the
teacher's end-of-year conference from the previous year, revised as needed
based on changes to the context of the teacher's assignment during the current
school year, and submitted to the teacher's appraiser within the first six
weeks of instruction; and
(C)
maintained throughout the course of the school year by the teacher to track
progress in the attainment of goals and participation in professional
development activities detailed in the approved plan;
(D) shared with the teacher's appraiser prior
to the end-of-year conference; and
(E) used after the end-of-year conference in
the determination of ratings for the goal setting and professional development
dimensions of the T-TESS rubric;
(2) for a teacher in the first year of
appraisal under the T-TESS or for teachers new to the district, a Goal-Setting
and Professional Development Plan conference prior to the teacher submitting
the plan to the teacher's appraiser;
(3) after a teacher's first year of appraisal
under the T-TESS within the district, an observation pre-conference conducted
prior to announced observations;
(4) at least one classroom observation of a
minimum of 45 minutes, as described in subsection (g) of this section, with
additional walk-throughs and observations conducted at the discretion of the
certified appraiser and in accordance with the Texas Education Code, §
21.352(c-1).
Additional observations and walk-throughs do not require an observation
post-conference. Additional observations and walk-throughs do require a written
summary if the data gathered during the additional observation or walk-through
will impact the teacher's summative appraisal ratings, in which case the
written summary shall be shared within 10 working days after the completion of
the additional observation or walk-through. Section
150.1004
of this title (relating to Teacher Response and Appeals) applies to a written
summary of an additional observation or walk-through that will impact the
teacher's summative appraisal ratings;
(5) an observation post-conference that:
(A) shall be conducted within 10 working days
after the completion of an observation;
(B) is diagnostic and prescriptive in
nature;
(C) includes a written
report of the rating of each dimension observed that is presented to the
teacher only after a discussion of the areas for reinforcement and areas for
refinement; and
(D) can allow for,
at the discretion of the appraiser, a revision to an area for reinforcement or
refinement based on the post-conference discussion with the teacher;
(6) cumulative data, as described
in subsection (f) of this section, from written documentation collected
regarding job-related teacher performance in addition to formal classroom
observations;
(7) an end-of-year
conference that:
(A) reviews the appraisal
data collected throughout the current school year and previous school years, if
available;
(B) examines and
discusses the evidence related to the teacher's performance on the four
dimensions of Domain IV of the T-TESS rubric, as described in §
150.1002(a)(4)
of this title (relating to Assessment of Teacher Performance);
(C) examines and discusses evidence related
to the performance of teachers' students, as defined in §
150.1001(f)(2)
of this title (relating to General Provisions), when available; and
(D) identifies potential goals and
professional development activities for the teacher for the next school year;
and
(8) a written
summative annual appraisal report to be provided to the teacher within 10
working days of the conclusion of the end-of-year conference.
(c) A teacher may be given advance
notice of the date or time of an observation, but advance notice is not
required.
(d) Each school district
shall establish a calendar for the appraisal of teachers and provide that
calendar to teachers within three weeks from the first day of instruction. The
appraisal period for each teacher must include all of the days of a teacher's
contract. Observations during the appraisal period must be conducted during the
required days of instruction for students during one school year. The appraisal
calendar shall:
(1) exclude observations in
the two weeks following the day of completion of the T-TESS orientation in the
school years when an orientation is required, as described in §
150.1006 of
this title; and
(2) indicate a
period for end-of-year conferences that ends no later than 15 working days
before the last day of instruction for students.
(e) During the appraisal period, the
certified appraiser shall evaluate and document teacher performance
specifically related to the domain criteria, as identified in §
150.1002(a)
of this title, and the performance of teachers' students, as defined in §
150.1001(f)(2)
of this title.
(f) The certified
appraiser is responsible for documentation of the cumulative data identified in
subsection (b)(6) of this section. Any third-party information from a source
other than the certified appraiser that the certified appraiser wishes to
include as cumulative data shall be verified and documented by the certified
appraiser. Any documentation that will influence the teacher's summative annual
appraisal report must be shared in writing with the teacher within 10 working
days of the certified appraiser's knowledge of the occurrence. The principal
shall also be notified in writing of the cumulative data when the certified
appraiser is not the teacher's principal.
(g) By written, mutual consent of the teacher
and the certified appraiser, the required minimum of 45 minutes of observation
may be conducted in shorter time segments. The time segments must aggregate to
at least 45 minutes.
(h) A written
summative annual appraisal report shall be shared with the teacher no later
than 15 working days before the last day of instruction for students. The
written summative annual appraisal report shall be placed in the teacher's
personnel file by the end of the appraisal period.
(i) An end-of-year conference shall be held
within a time frame specified on the school district calendar, no later than 15
working days before the last day of instruction for students. The end-of-year
conference shall focus on the data and evidence gathered throughout the
appraisal year; the teacher's efforts as they pertain to Domain IV, as
identified in §
150.1002(a)
of this title; the results of the performance of teachers' students, when
available, as defined in §
150.1001(f)(2)
of this title; and the potential goals and professional development plans, as
identified in subsection (b) of this section, for the following year. The
written summative annual appraisal report shall be shared with the teacher
within 10 working days following the conclusion of the end-of-year conference
but no later than 15 working days before the last day of instruction.
(j) In cases where the certified appraiser is
not an administrator on the teacher's campus, as defined in §
150.1005(b)
of this title (relating to Appraiser Qualifications), either the principal,
assistant principal, or another supervisory staff member designated as an
administrator on the campus must participate in the end-of-year
conference.
(k) Any documentation
collected after the end-of-year conference but before the end of the contract
term during one school year may be considered as part of the appraisal of a
teacher. If the documentation affects the teacher's evaluation in any
dimension, another summative report shall be developed to inform the teacher of
the change(s).
(l) Except as
otherwise provided by this subsection, a full appraisal must be done at least
once during each school year. A teacher may receive a full appraisal less
frequently if the teacher agrees in writing and the teacher's most recent full
appraisal resulted in the teacher receiving summative ratings of at least
proficient on nine of the sixteen dimensions identified in §
150.1002(a)
of this title and did not identify any area of deficiency, defined as a rating
of Improvement Needed or its equivalent, on any of the sixteen dimensions
identified in §
150.1002(a)
of this title or the performance of teachers' students, as defined in §
150.1001(f)(2)
of this title. A teacher who receives a full appraisal less than annually must
receive a full appraisal at least once during each period of five school years.
(1) District policy may stipulate:
(A) whether the option to receive a full
appraisal less frequently than annually is to be made available to
teachers;
(B) whether the option to
receive a full appraisal less frequently than annually is to be adopted
districtwide or is to be campus specific;
(C) if the appraisal accompanying a teacher
new to a district or campus meets the option as specified in this subsection,
whether the appraisal is to be accepted or whether that teacher is to be
appraised by the new campus administrator; and
(D) whether a certified appraiser may place a
teacher on the traditional appraisal cycle as a result of performance
deficiencies documented in accordance with subsections (b)(6) and (f) of this
section.
(2) A school
district may choose annually to review the written agreement to have less
frequent full appraisals with the teacher. However, at the conclusion of the
school year, the district may modify appraisal options through board policy and
may make changes to expectations for appraisals that apply to all teachers
regardless of a teacher's participation in the appraisal option in the previous
year(s).
(3) In a year in which a
teacher does not receive a full appraisal due to meeting the requirements
identified in this subsection, a teacher shall participate in:
(A) the Goal-Setting and Professional
Development Plan process, as identified in subsection (b)(1) of this
section;
(B) the performance of
teachers' students, as defined in §
150.1001(f)(2)
of this title; and
(C) a modified
end-of-year conference that addresses:
(i)
the progress on the Goal-Setting and Professional Development Plan;
(ii) the performance of teachers' students,
as defined in §
150.1001(f)(2)
of this title; and
(iii) the
following year's Goal-Setting and Professional Development plan.
