Article 11. Evaluation And Assessment Of Performance Of Certificated Employees of California Education Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 25. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 11.

It is the intent of the Legislature that governing boards establish a uniform system of evaluation and assessment of the performance of all certificated personnel within each school district of the state, including schools conducted or maintained by county superintendents of education. The system shall involve the development and adoption by each school district of objective evaluation and assessment guidelines which may, at the discretion of the governing board, be uniform throughout the district or, for compelling reasons, be individually developed for territories or schools within the district, provided that all certificated personnel of the district shall be subject to a system of evaluation and assessment adopted pursuant to this article. This article does not apply to certificated personnel who are employed on an hourly basis in adult education classes.

In the development and adoption of guidelines and procedures pursuant to this article, the governing board shall avail itself of the advice of the certificated instructional personnel in the district's organization of certificated personnel; provided, however, that the development and adoption of guidelines pursuant to this article shall also be subject to the provisions of Article 1 (commencing with Section 7100) of Chapter 2 of Part 5 of Division 1 of Title 1.

When developing and adopting objective evaluation and assessment guidelines pursuant to Section 44660, a school district may, by mutual agreement between the exclusive representative of the certificated employees of the school district and the governing board of the school district, include any objective standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or any objective standards from the California Standards for the Teaching Profession if the standards to be included are consistent with this article. If the certificated employees of the school district do not have an exclusive representative, the school district may adopt objective evaluation and assessment guidelines consistent with this section.

(a) The governing board of each school district shall establish standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level in each area of study.
  (b) The governing board of each school district shall evaluate and assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates to:
  (1) The progress of pupils toward the standards established pursuant to subdivision (a) and, if applicable, the state adopted academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion referenced assessments.
  (2) The instructional techniques and strategies used by the employee.
  (3) The employee's adherence to curricular objectives.
  (4) The establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning environment, within the scope of the employee's responsibilities.
  (c) The governing board of each school district shall establish and define job responsibilities for certificated noninstructional personnel, including, but not limited to, supervisory and administrative personnel, whose responsibilities cannot be evaluated appropriately under the provisions of subdivision (b) and shall evaluate and assess the performance of those noninstructional certificated employees as it reasonably relates to the fulfillment of those responsibilities.
  (d) Results of an employee's participation in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers established by Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500) shall be made available as part of the evaluation conducted pursuant to this section.
  (e) The evaluation and assessment of certificated employee performance pursuant to this section shall not include the use of publishers' norms established by standardized tests.
  (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as in any way limiting the authority of school district governing boards to develop and adopt additional evaluation and assessment guidelines or criteria.

(a) Evaluation and assessment made pursuant to this article shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof shall be transmitted to the certificated employee not later than 30 days before the last schoolday scheduled on the school calendar adopted by the governing board for the school year in which the evaluation takes place. The certificated employee shall have the right to initiate a written reaction or response to the evaluation. This response shall become a permanent attachment to the employee's personnel file. Before the last schoolday scheduled on the school calendar adopted by the governing board for the school year, a meeting shall be held between the certificated employee and the evaluator to discuss the evaluation.
  (b) In the case of a certificated noninstructional employee, who is employed on a 12-month basis, the evaluation and assessment made pursuant to this article shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof shall be transmitted to the certificated employee no later than June 30 of the year in which the evaluation and assessment is made. A certificated noninstructional employee, who is employed on a 12-month basis shall have the right to initiate a written reaction or response to the evaluation. This response shall become a permanent attachment to the employee's personnel file. Before July 30 of the year in which the evaluation and assessment takes place, a meeting shall be held between the certificated employee and the evaluator to discuss the evaluation and assessment.

(a) Evaluation and assessment of the performance of each certificated employee shall be made on a continuing basis as follows:
  (1) At least once each school year for probationary personnel.
  (2) At least every other year for personnel with permanent status.
  (3) At least every five years for personnel with permanent status who have been employed at least 10 years with the school district, are highly qualified, if those personnel occupy positions that are required to be filled by a highly qualified professional by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301, et seq.), as defined in 20 U.S.C. Sec. 7801, and whose previous evaluation rated the employee as meeting or exceeding standards, if the evaluator and certificated employee being evaluated agree. The certificated employee or the evaluator may withdraw consent at any time.
  (b) The evaluation shall include recommendations, if necessary, as to areas of improvement in the performance of the employee. If an employee is not performing his or her duties in a satisfactory manner according to the standards prescribed by the governing board, the employing authority shall notify the employee in writing of that fact and describe the unsatisfactory performance. The employing authority shall thereafter confer with the employee making specific recommendations as to areas of improvement in the employee's performance and endeavor to assist the employee in his or her performance. If any permanent certificated employee has received an unsatisfactory evaluation, the employing authority shall annually evaluate the employee until the employee achieves a positive evaluation or is separated from the district.
  (c) Any evaluation performed pursuant to this article which contains an unsatisfactory rating of an employee's performance in the area of teaching methods or instruction may include the requirement that the certificated employee shall, as determined necessary by the employing authority, participate in a program designed to improve appropriate areas of the employee's performance and to further pupil achievement and the instructional objectives of the employing authority. If a district participates in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers established pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500), any certificated employee who receives an unsatisfactory rating on an evaluation performed pursuant to this section shall participate in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers.
  (d) Hourly and temporary hourly certificated employees, other than those employed in adult education classes who are excluded by the provisions of Section 44660, and substitute teachers may be excluded from the provisions of this section at the discretion of the governing board.

For purposes of this article, "employing authority" means the superintendent of the school district in which the employee is employed, or his designee, or in the case of a district which has no superintendent, a school principal or other person designated by the governing board.