Amends TCA Title 49.

ON JUNE 2, 2020, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 38, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill and revises the present law provisions governing teacher evaluations. <br /> <br /> Generally under present law:<br /> <br /> (1) All teachers and principals employed by local education agencies (LEAs) undergo annual evaluations pursuant to guidelines and criteria approved by the state board of education. The evaluations are a factor in employment decisions, including promotion, retention, termination, compensation, and the attainment of tenure status; <br /> (2) 50 percent of the annual evaluation is comprised of student achievement data with 35 percent of such criteria based on student growth data as represented by the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) or some other comparable measure if no TVAAS data is available and 15 percent based on other measures of student achievement;<br /> (3) For teachers without access to individual growth data representative of student growth, 30 percent of the evaluation criteria is comprised of student achievement data with 15 percent of the evaluation criteria based on student growth as specified in and represented by TVAAS evaluation composites; <br /> (4) The remaining 50 percent of the annual evaluation is based on other mandatory criteria, such as prior evaluations, personal conferences, and classroom observations; <br /> (5) LEAs were required, by the 2019-2020 school year, to use at least one appropriate alternative growth model that has been approved by the state board of education, in order to provide individual growth scores to teachers in non-tested grades and subjects; <br /> (6) LEAs that receive pre-kindergarten program approval under the Voluntary Pre-K for Tennessee Act of 2005 must use the pre-K/kindergarten growth portfolio model approved by the state board of education in the evaluation of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers; and<br /> (7) State-mandated test may not be conducted earlier than grade 3.<br /> <br /> This amendment:<br /> <br /> (A) Adds a requirement that, beginning with the 200-2021 school year, for teachers in pre-kindergarten through grade two (pre-K-2), 60 percent of the evaluation criteria will be composed of classroom or position observation results. The remaining 40 percent of the evaluation criteria will be based on other measures of student achievement. This amendment makes the provisions described above in (3) applicable only to teachers in grades 3-12 and revises (5) above to instead allow, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, LEAs to use at least one appropriate alternative growth mode that has been approved by the state board;<br /> (B) Deletes the present law requirement (described above in (6)) that LEAs that receive program approval under the Voluntary Pre-K for Tennessee Act of 2005 must use the pre-K/kindergarten growth portfolio model. This amendment instead provides that pre-K and kindergarten teachers employed in an LEA that receives pre-K program approval under the Act must be evaluated according to this amendment's provisions, described above in (A); and<br /> (C) Rewrites the present law prohibition on state-mandated tests earlier than grade (3) to instead provide that the state may not mandate any test, assessment, or evaluation of students in pre-K through grade 2 for purposes of measuring the performance, growth, or achievement of a teacher or student in pre-K through grade 2. This amendment further provides that the state may require a test, assessment, or evaluation necessary for compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to screen students for dyslexia, to assess English language learners, to implement RTI2, , or to assess the reading proficiency of students in pre-K through grade 2.<br /> <br />