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Utah Administrative Code (Current through November 1, 2019) |
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R277. Education, Administration |
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R277-533. Educator Evaluation Systems |
| R277-533-1. Authority and Purpose |
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(1) This rule is authorized by: (a) Utah Constitution Article X, Section 3, which vests general control and supervision over public education in the Board; (b) Title 53G, Chapter 11, Part 5, Educator Evaluations, which requires the Board to make rules to establish a framework for the evaluation of educators and set policies and procedures related to educator evaluations; and (c) Subsection 53E-3-401(4), which allows the Board to make rules to execute the Board's duties and responsibilities under the Utah Constitution and state law. (2) The purpose of this rule is to: (a) specify the requirements for district Educator Evaluation Systems Policies; (b) describe the required components of district Educator Evaluation Systems; and (c) establish requirements for how the Annual Summative Educator Evaluation Rating is reported for districts and charter schools. |
| R277-533-2. Definitions |
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(1) "Administrator" has the same meaning as that term is defined in Subsection 53G-11-501(1). (2) "Certified rater" means an educator who has been trained in evaluating educator performance and has demonstrated competency in using an educator evaluation tool to rate educator effectiveness according to established standards. (3) "Educator" has the same meaning as that term is defined in Subsection 53G-11-501(6). (4) "Evaluator" means a person who is responsible for an educator's overall evaluation, including: (a) professional performance; (b) student growth; (c) stakeholder input; and (d) other indicators of professional improvement. (5) "Rater" means a person who conducts an observation of an educator related to an educator's evaluation. (6) "School district" includes the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. (7) "System" means a school district's educator evaluation system. |
| R277-533-3. School District Educator Evaluation Systems |
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(1) A local school board shall adopt a district educator evaluation system in consultation with a joint committee established by the local school board as described in Section 53G-11-506. (2) A district educator evaluation system shall: (a) include the components required in Section 53G-11-507; (b) include the following four differentiated levels of performance: (i) highly effective; (ii) effective; (iii) emerging/minimally effective; and (iv) not effective; (c) use multiple lines of evidence in evaluation, including: (i) professional performance, as described in Section R277-533-4; (ii) student academic growth, as described in Section R277-533-5; (iii) stakeholder input, as described in Section R277-533-5; and (iv) other indicators of professional improvement as required by the school district; (d) provide a process for an educator to request a review of the implementation of the educator's evaluation, as described in: (i) Section 53G-11-508; and (ii) Section R277-533-8; (e) include multiple observations as described in Section R277-533-4; and (f) provide a description of the methods for gathering, using, and protecting educator data. (3) To form the school district's system, a local school board may adopt: (a) the Utah Model Educator Evaluator System established by the Board; (b) an adapted system; or (c) a school district-developed system, consistent with Rules R277-530, R277-531, and this rule. (4) An educator is responsible for: (a) improving the educator's performance, using resources offered by the school district; and (b) demonstrating acceptable levels of improvement in any designated area of deficiency. |
| R277-533-4. Evaluators and Standards for Education Observations |
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(1) A school district's system shall include observations. (2) The school district shall use observation tools that: (a) are aligned with the Utah Effective Educator Standards described in Rule R277-530 at the indicator level; and (b) include multiple supervisor observations at appropriate intervals. (3) A school district's evaluation system shall include an opportunity for an educator to contribute additional information to inform their rating at several intervals throughout the process. (4) To ensure a valid evaluation system, a school district shall establish a school district rater reliability process that: (a) creates standardized ratings established by a committee of expert raters to be used for rater professional development and certification; (b) provides professional development opportunities to all raters and evaluators of licensed educators to: (i) improve a rater or evaluator's abilities; and (ii) give the rater or evaluator an opportunity to demonstrate the rater's abilities to rate an educator in accordance with the Utah Effective Educator Standards described in Rule R277-530; (c) designates qualified raters as certified; (d) assures that an educator is rated by a certified rater; (e) requires a school district to offer a rater opportunities to improve the rater's skills through instruction and practice; and (f) maintains high standards of rater accuracy. |
| R277-533-5. Student Academic Growth and Stakeholder Input |
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(1) A school district shall ensure that a student academic growth measurement includes the following three required components: (a) learning goals measuring long-term outcomes linked to the appropriate specific content knowledge and skills from the Utah Core Standards; (b) assessments; and (c) targets for incremental monitoring of student academic growth. (2)(a) A school district's system shall include stakeholder input for educators, principals, and administrators, including annual input from students and parents. (b) In addition to the stakeholder input described in Subsection (2)(a), stakeholder input for principals and other administrators shall include input from teachers and support professionals. |
| R277-533-6. Computing the Annual Summative Rating |
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(1) A school district shall base an educator's component ratings on: (a) actual observations of the educator's performance; and (b) educator, evaluator, student academic growth, or other stakeholder data gathered, calculated, or observed that is aligned with standards and rubrics. (2) A school district shall report summative scores annually for all educators using the following approved terminology for reporting: (d) highly effective 3; (c) effective 2; (b) minimal/emerging effective 1; and (a) not effective 0. |
| R277-533-7. Minimal or Emerging Effective Category |
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If an evaluator rates an educator's performance within the minimal or emerging effective category, the rater shall: (1) designate an educator as emerging effective if: (a) the educator: (i) holds a Level 1 educator license; or (ii) is being served by the school district's Entry Years Enhancement (E.Y.E.) program described in Rule R277-522; or (b) the educator: (i) received a new or different teaching or leadership assignment within the last school year; or (ii) is developing in that area; or (2) designate an educator as minimally effective if the educator: (a) holds a Level 2 educator license; and (b) is teaching or leading in a familiar assignment. |
| R277-533-8. Evaluation Reviews |
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(1) An educator who is not satisfied with a summative evaluation may request a review in writing of the summative evaluation within 15 calendar days after receiving the written summative evaluation. (2) A school district shall conduct a review of an educator's summative evaluation: (a) as described in this section; and (b) the requirements of Section 53G-11-508. (3) A review described in Subsection (2) shall be conducted: (a) by a certified rater: (i) with experience evaluating educators; and (ii) not employed by the school district; and (b) in accordance with the Utah Effective Educator Standards described in Rule R277-530. (4) A certified rater described in Subsection (3) shall: (a) review: (i) the school district's educator evaluation policies and procedures; (ii) the evaluation process conducted for the educator; (iii) the evaluation data from the professional performance, student growth, and stakeholder input components; and (iv) an educator's written response, if submitted as described in Subsection 53G-11-508(1)(b); and (b) report the certified rater's findings, in writing, to the school district's superintendent for action. (5) The school district shall determine if the initial educator evaluation was issued in accordance with: (a) the school district's educator evaluation policies; (b) the requirements of the performance standards; (c) Title 53G, Chapter 11, Employees; (d) Rule R277-531; and (e) this rule. |
| R277-533-9. Educator Evaluation Data |
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(1) A school district shall report information described in Section 53G-11-511 to the Superintendent annually on or before June 30 to be included in the Superintendent's annual report as required by Section 53G-11-511. (2) Data reported in accordance with Subsection (1) shall be classified as private under Title 63G, Chapter 2, Government Records Access and Management Act. |
| R277-533-10. Applicability to Charter Schools |
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A charter school shall comply with the requirements of Subsection R277-533-6(2) and Section R277-533-9. |