OTES Changes!

On June 4, some important changes were made to OTES; understanding these changes will be important for implementation of OTES in school districts.  The changes are listed below.  Go to http://education.ohio.gov/Topics/Teaching/News/Changes-to-Ohio-Teacher-Evaluation-System-for-2014 to read more about the changes. 


Changes to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 3319.111


TEACHERS RATED ACCOMPLISHED OR SKILLED BEGINNING IN 2014-2015
A board of education may elect to evaluate a teacher receiving a rating of accomplished every threeyears as long as the teacher’s student academic growth measure for the most recent school year forwhich data is available is average or higher.

A board of education may elect to evaluate a teacher receiving a rating of skilled every two years aslong as the teacher’s student academic growth measure for the most recent school year for which datais available is average or higher.

In any year in which a teacher who has not been formally evaluated as a result of having previouslyreceived a rating of accomplished or skilled, a credentialed evaluator shall conduct at least oneobservation of the teacher and hold at least one conference with the teacher. This also applies toteachers who received an accomplished rating in 2013-2014.

TEACHERS ON LEAVE OR RETIRING
A board of education may elect not to conduct an evaluation of a teacher who: (1) was on leave for 50percent or more of the school year; or (2) has submitted notice of retirement on or before Dec. 1 of theschool year.


Changes to ORC 3319.112 and New ORC 3319.114
OPTION TO USE ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK
For the 2014-2015 school year, a district or school may choose to use either the 50 percent teacherperformance and 50 percent student growth measure framework (ORC 3319.112) or the followingalternative framework (ORC 3319.114):

oTeacher performance measure shall be 42.5 percent

oStudent academic growth measure shall be 42.5 percent

oOne of the following components shall be 15 percent:

Student surveys;

Teacher self-evaluations;

Peer review evaluations;

Student portfolios.

Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year and any school year thereafter, a district or school maychoose to use either the 50 percent teacher performance and 50 percent student growth measureframework (ORC 3319.112) or the following alternative framework (ORC 3319.114):

• Teacher performance measure shall account for 42.5 to 50 percent

• Student academic growth measure shall account for 42.5 to 50 percent

• Remainder shall be one of the following components:

Student surveys;
Teacher self-evaluations;
Peer review evaluations;
Student portfolios.

• If a district or school chooses to use the alternative framework, the teacher performancemeasure and the student academic growth measure shall account for equal percentages ofeach rating.

ODE-APPROVED INSTRUMENTS

The Ohio Department of Education must compile a list of approved instruments for districts and schoolsto use when evaluating teachers using student surveys, teacher self-evaluations, peer reviewevaluations and student portfolios.

Districts and schools must choose one of the ODE-approved instruments if they are using thealternative framework.