A bill to be introduced in the legislature would dramatically change how Colorado’s public school teachers are evaluated and gain tenure.
The measure, being crafted by a trio of Democratic lawmakers, would tie a favorable teacher review to student achievement measures and calls for the revocation of tenure for teachers who have poor evaluations and substandard student growth.
It is one of several bills being prepared to shape Colorado educational policy in an effort to get a share of federal Race to the Top money.
Though the educator effectiveness bill is still just a draft, it embodies many of the ideas we have supported as meaningful and necessary educational reform.
The bills are being created by state Sen. Michael Johnston, D-Denver, Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, and Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora.
The measure that is likely to draw the most attention is one that dramatically changes the much-maligned system by which tenure is awarded.
As it stands, a teacher is on probation for three years. If a teacher is deemed “satisfactory,” as opposed to “unsatisfactory,” then the teacher gets what amounts to lifetime tenure.
The proposed system would maintain a probationary period, but for an unspecified time frame. It would be a tenure-when-earned system.
One critical requirement: A teacher’s students would have to demonstrate 1.25 years of academic growth in two of the three prior years.
Probationary teachers would also be subject to an evaluation that would have four levels of achievement. A teacher would have to get one of the two highest rankings for at least two of the three prior years.
A provision we particularly like also creates a system under which a teacher could lose tenure and be returned to probationary status.
Two things would need to happen. First, a teacher’s students would have to demonstrate less than three-quarters of a year’s growth for two of the three prior years. Second, a teacher would have to get the lowest evaluation ranking for two of the last three years.
The bill also would end the forced placement of teachers at schools that don’t want them.
A lot of work would have to occur to implement the bill. Administrators would be charged with creating a fair way of evaluating student growth that isn’t dependent on one test, and ways of measuring teacher effectiveness.
As always, the devil is in the details with such endeavors, but we think the ideas embodied in the legislation are a big step in the right direction.
Another measure in draft form would identify and reward outstanding teachers and principals with money from the Race to the Top grant, assuming Colorado is among the states chosen.
Change is always difficult, and teachers have a stake in ensuring that any measures that affect their job status are crafted fairly. We don’t expect they’ll be shy in expressing those views.
But parents and students also have a great interest in devising a fair system that ensures the best professionals are identified and rewarded.
These bills have the promise to achieve that, and we hope to see them gain traction in the legislature.
