SB 4 passes Senate

In an unexpected development, the Texas Senate passed SB 4 by a vote of 28-3 on Thursday, April 28. TCTA has consistently been opposed to SB 4, but was working with the staff of the Senate sponsor, Senator Florence Shapiro, to improve the bill. Although Senator Shapiro introduced a floor amendment, it did not address some of the major concerns we had about the bill. As the bill moves to the House, TCTA will continue to work to ensure an acceptable outcome.

TCTA’s chief objection to the bill centers on the teacher evaluation portion of the bill which, as it passed the Senate, requires that the commissioner of education adopt rules by Sept. 1, 2016 to redesign the state recommended appraisal process (currently known as the PDAS). The new system must provide that not less than 30 percent or more than 50 percent of the appraisal be based on a measurement of the teacher’s effectiveness, including the annual improvement in achievement of the teacher’s students as determined by the commissioner. The performance of a teacher’s students on state standardized tests cannot be the primary indicator for determining teacher effectiveness. 

In adopting rules, the commissioner is required to consult with educators, administrative leaders, education experts, and parents of students. 

The bill requires that all teachers be evaluated at least twice per year and be observed for a period of a total of 45 minutes at least twice each school year.

TCTA’s concerns about these provisions are as follows:

The bill requires the state to develop a new teacher effectiveness metric upon which teacher evaluations will be based, which is a costly and controversial endeavor. It also places a significant burden on local districts by requiring them to evaluate ALL teachers twice per year – current law, pursuant to TCTA-initiated legislation, allows districts to exempt teachers with good appraisals from annual evaluations so appraisers can focus their time and attention  on struggling teachers. 

Although the Senate version of the budget as passed out of the Senate Finance Committee does attempt to fund the underlying support systems that are currently in place to help students succeed on the state assessment system (including the Student Success Initiative, textbooks, and related professional development), the likelihood that the final budget will adequately fund these support systems is in serious question. That being the case, and with the impending implementation of a new and more rigorous assessment system, now is not the time to raise the stakes (for teachers or anyone else) based on standardized test results.

Although the bill provides that the performance of a teacher’s students on state standardized tests cannot be the primary indicator for determining teacher effectiveness, we remain concerned that given the lack of other widely available measures of student achievement, it is likely that standardized tests will, by default, be a consistently used measure in making that determination. TCTA has long been on record in opposition to basing an individual teacher's evaluation on student standardized  test performance. The evidence continues to mount that it is inappropriate and unsupported by the research to base teacher evaluation, compensation, or other high-stakes consequences on student test scores.

Given the fact that so many key aspects of public education are in flux right now due to the budget situation, and the fact that districts already have the ability to modify the current state appraisal system to fit their needs under current law, we question the timing of legislation requiring the state to implement a new state teacher appraisal system.

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Other provisions of SB 4 include:

Requires SBEC to prescribe a comprehensive examination administered to a person applying for certification to teach early childhood through grade four or English as a second language in early childhood through grade four that includes components in reading, language arts, science, social studies, and mathematics.

Requires SBEC to issue a provisional certificate to a person who has not previously been certified as an educator in this state and who has:

• successfully completed an educator preparation program;
• performed satisfactorily on the certification examination; and
• completed all other requirements for educator certification.

Provides that a provisional certificate issued under this section expires on the third anniversary of the date on which the certificate was issued, and is not renewable.

Requires SBEC, on the expiration of a person's provisional certificate, or at the end of a person's third probationary contract term, to issue a standard certificate if the person has demonstrated that he/she is an effective educator, and has completed all required continuing education hours.

Requires the person applying for a standard certificate to submit to SBEC a copy of all educator appraisals of the person, to assist SBEC in determining whether the person is an effective educator. Requires SBEC to take appropriate measures to maintain the confidentiality of the appraisals.

Requires the commissioner of education to adopt rules to establish criteria for determining whether a person is an effective educator.

Requires the teacher and the principal of the teacher’s school, on the conclusion of a teacher's observation, to prepare an individualized professional development plan for the teacher. Requires that the plan include continuing education requirements for the teacher and be linked to:

• any areas identified in the teacher's appraisal as needing improvement;
• any areas identified by the teacher as appropriate for achievement of specific professional goals; and
• the subject area taught by the teacher.

Requires the principal to provide opportunities for the teacher to achieve the requirements and goals included in the teacher's individualized professional development plan.

Requires the commissioner to create specialized mid-management certificates in teacher leadership for qualified teachers who have demonstrated effectiveness as a teacher under criteria determined by commissioner rule.