| (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' Cont'd... |
