§18A-3C-2. Performance evaluations of professional personnel.

(a) The provisions of this section govern the performance evaluation of classroom teachers, principals and assistant principals employed in public schools and school systems. To the extent that this section conflicts with the provisions of §18A-2-12 of this code relating to professional personnel performance evaluations, this section shall govern.

(b) Before July 1, 2018, the state board shall adopt a legislative rule in accordance with §29A-3B-1 et seq. of this code, for annually evaluating the performance of each professional person. The rule shall provide for performance evaluations of professional personnel to be conducted in accordance with this section in each school and school system.

(c)(1) The process adopted by the state board for evaluating the performance of classroom teachers shall incorporate at least the following:

(A) Alignment with the West Virginia Professional Teaching Standards adopted by the state board that establish the foundation for educator preparation, teacher assessment, and professional development throughout the state;

(B) Employment of the professional teaching standards to provide explicit and extensive measures of the work of teaching and what teachers must know and be able to do and provide evaluative measures of educator performance; and

(C) The use of two pieces of evidence at two points in time over the instructional term to demonstrate student learning as an indicator of educator performance.

(2) Eighty percent of the evaluation shall be based on an appraisal of the educator’s ability to perform the critical standard elements of the professional teaching standards. The appraisal shall include conferences with the evaluator reinforced through observation. Twenty percent of the evaluation shall be based on evidence of the learning of the students assigned to the educator in accordance with paragraph (C), subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(d)(1) The process adopted by the state board for evaluating the performance of principals and assistant principals shall include at least the following:

(A) Alignment with the West Virginia Professional Leadership Standards adopted by the state board establishing the responsibility of principals for the collective success of their school including the learning, growth, and achievement of students, staff, and self;

(B) Employment of the professional leadership standards to provide explicit and extensive measures of the work of school leadership focused on the continuous improvement of teaching and learning. The process shall include conferences and goal setting with the superintendent or his or her designee and the use of a survey of stakeholders to assist in identifying the needs and establishing the goals for the school and the principal. The survey shall be distributed to at least the following stakeholders: Students, parents, teachers, and service personnel. The evaluative measures shall include the use of data, evidence, and artifacts to confirm the principal’s performance on achieving the goals established by the principal and superintendent; and

(C) The use of two pieces of evidence at two points in time over the instructional term to demonstrate the growth in student learning at the school.

(2) Eighty percent of the evaluation shall be based on an appraisal of the principal’s or the assistant principal’s ability to perform the critical standard elements of the professional leadership standards and achieve the goals established for the principal and the school. Twenty percent of the evaluation shall be based on evidence of the learning of the students assigned to the school in accordance with paragraph (C), subdivision (1) of this subsection.

(e) Evaluations of the performance of professional personnel shall serve the following purposes:

(1) Serve as a basis for the improvement of the performance of the professional personnel in their assigned duties;

(2) Serve as the basis for providing professional development specifically targeted on the area or areas identified through the evaluation process as needing improvement. If possible, this targeted professional development should be delivered at the school site using collaborative processes, mentoring or coaching or other approaches that maximize use of the instructional setting;

(3) Serve as the basis for establishing priorities for the provision of county-level professional development when aggregate evaluation data from the county’s schools indicates an area or areas of needed improvement;

(4) Serve as a basis for informing the teacher preparation programs in this state of an area or areas of needed improvement in the programs, or informing a specific program of needed improvement, when state-level aggregate evaluation data indicates that beginning teachers who have graduated from the program have specific weaknesses;

(5) Provide an indicator of level of performance of the professional personnel and, if the evaluation indicates any area, quality, skill, or level of performance is less than accomplished, provide an explanation and data to support the evaluation;

(6) Serve as a basis for programs to increase the professional growth and development of professional personnel; and

(7) Serve as documentation for a dismissal on the grounds of unsatisfactory performance.

(f) The rule adopted by the state board shall include standards for the performance of professional personnel and the criteria to be used to determine whether their performance meets the standards. The rule also shall include guidance on best practices for providing time within the school day for teachers and leaders subject to performance evaluations under this section to participate in the collaborative mentoring or coaching and planning processes necessary for execution of the performance evaluation process and achieving advanced levels of performance.

(g) The rule adopted by the state board shall include provisions for written improvement plans when necessary to improve the performance of the professional personnel. The written improvement plan shall be specific as to what improvements are needed in the performance of the professional personnel and shall clearly set forth recommendations for improvements including recommendations for additional education and training of professionals subject to recertification. Professional personnel whose performance evaluation includes a written improvement plan shall be given an opportunity to improve his or her performance through the implementation of the plan.

(h) A professional person whose performance is considered to be unsatisfactory shall be given written notice of his or her deficiencies. A written improvement plan to correct these deficiencies shall be developed by the employing county board and the employee. The professional person shall be given a reasonable period of time, not exceeding 12 months, to accomplish the requirements of the improvement plan and shall receive a written statement of the resources and assistance available for the purposes of correcting the deficiencies. If the next performance evaluation shows that the professional is now performing satisfactorily, no further action may be taken concerning the original performance evaluation. If the evaluation shows that the professional is still not performing satisfactorily, the evaluator either shall make additional written recommendations for improvement or may recommend the dismissal of the professional personnel in accordance with the provisions of §18A-2-8 of this code.

(i) No person may evaluate professional personnel for the purposes of this section unless the person has an administrative certificate issued by the state superintendent and has successfully completed education and training in evaluation skills approved by the state board which will enable the person to make fair, professional, and credible evaluations of the personnel whom the person is responsible for evaluating.

(j) Prior to implementation of the evaluation process pursuant to this section at a school, each affected employee shall be given training to ensure that the employees have a full understanding of the purposes, instruments, and procedures used in evaluating their performance. Thereafter, this training shall be held annually at the beginning of the employment term.