CCSSO State Consortium on Educator Effectiveness scee.groupsite.com

The SCEE state policy database, a resource of state legislative and board of education actions related to teacher evaluation, has been updated with the remainder of new policies coming from the 2012 legislative session.

Some of the added policies include:

A Massachusetts law (June 2012), S.B. 2315, which requires the state board of education to establish a data system that can measure the effectiveness of district evaluation systems that aim to ensure effective teachers.  According to the law, a committee is responsible for determining what to collect and assess in order to determine the systems' effectiveness. Findings from this data system would be available to the public. In lieu of this requirement, districts will also be required to adopt and implement evaluation systems beginning in the 2013-14 SY. The department of elementary and secondary education will develop an evaluation training program, to assist districts as well.

In Michigan, H.B. 5372 establishes a new grant program for the purpose of training principals and assistant principals in educator evaluations. The program has a set of criteria, which it must meet including an ongoing timeline to maintain inter-rater reliability. Similarly in Ohio, guidelines within a newly passed law, S.B. 316, determine that teacher evaluators must hold a department credential. Additionally, individuals from contracted, outside entities would be allowed to conduct evaluations.

Finally, S.B. 2284 in Iowa establishes three new task forces related to educator evaluation including: teaching standards and criteria; and teacher performance, compensation and career development. The law is collaborative in nature and requires annual reviews of teachers with the first two years of evaluations as formative evaluations, which will be performed by a group of peer teachers.

To read more about these and other laws, visit the database and perform a search by the law's name or by state. The database, along with a number of other reports with related information, can be found on the State Policy Scans Page.