The Oakland Public Schools

EVALUATION OF NONTENURED TEACHING STAFF MEMBERS

     The Oakland Board of Education recognizes the importance of implementing a program for the evaluation of nontenured teaching staff members in accordance with law for the purposes of identifying and correcting deficiencies, improving professional competence, improving the quality of instruction received by pupils of this District, and assisting the Board in determining the member’s reemployment.

    The program of evaluation of nontenured teaching staff members shall include the observation and evaluation of each such employee in the performance of his or her duties by an appropriate supervisor no fewer than three times annually, but not less than once during each semester. Evaluations are to take place before April 30 of each year. The evaluations may cover that period between April 30 of one year and April 30 of the succeeding year, except in the case of the first year of employment. The number of required observations and evaluations may be reduced proportionately when an individual teaching staff member’s term of service is less than one academic year. Each evaluation shall be followed by a conference between the teaching staff member and his or her superior of supervisor(s). The purpose of the observation and evaluation of nontenured teaching staff members shall be to improve professional competence, identify deficiencies, extend assistance for the correction of such deficiencies, provide a basis for recommendations regarding reemployment, and improve the quality of instruction received by the pupils served the the schools in the District.

    Supervisors shall make every effort to assist nontenured teaching staff members in the remediation of deficiencies disclosed by observation and evaluation and may conduct additional observations and evaluations of employees.  Supervisors should recognize that the purposes of this policy cannot be realized by evaluations that do not record the weaknesses as well as the strengths of teaching staff members.  Assessments that are less than honest and candid serve neither the professional growth of the employee nor the interest of the District in building a staff of highly competent, well-trained personnel.

    This Policy shall be distributed to each teaching staff member at the beginning of his or her employment.  

EVALUATION OF TENURED TEACHING STAFF MEMBERS

     The Oakland Board of Education recognizes that the continuing evaluation of tenured teaching staff members is essential to the achievement of the educational goals of this District. The purpose of a program of evaluation will be to promote professional excellence and improve the skills of tenured teaching staff members, improve pupil learning and growth, and provide a basis for the review of teaching staff member performance. The Board will provide leadership, adequate resources for supervision and professional development, time for the proper conduct of evaluations, and time for in-service training.
 
    Each tenured teaching staff member shall be evaluated annually by appropriately certified and trained administrators or supervisors against criteria that evolve logically from the instructional priorities and program objectives set forth in the teaching staff member's job description.
 
    The Superintendent shall develop, in consultation with tenured teaching staff members, job descriptions and evaluation criteria for each teaching staff member position. Job descriptions will be clearly and concisely stated and will be provided to the Board for its approval.
 
    The Superintendent shall distribute to each teaching staff member, no later than October 1 of each school year, a copy of this policy and the teaching staff member's job description and evaluation criteria; any amendments made subsequently to these documents will be distributed no later than ten days after their adoption.
 
    The Superintendent shall develop, in consultation with teaching staff members, procedures for the evaluation of tenured teaching staff members that include, as a minimum:
 
    1.         The collection and reporting of data that is appropriate to the job description and includes as a minimum the observation of classroom instruction;  
 
    2.         Observation conferences between the tenured teaching staff member and the evaluating supervisor;
 
    3.         The preparation of individual professional development plans;
 
    4.         The preparation by the supervisor of an annual written performance report, which shall include the teaching staff member's performance areas of strength and weakness, an individual professional development plan developed by the staff member and the supervisor, and a summary of the results of formal and informal assessments of the staff member's pupils along with a statement as to how these pupil indicators relate to the effectiveness of the overall program and to the staff member's performance;  
 
    5.         The conduct of an annual summary conference between the supervisor and the staff member that will include a review of the staff member's performance, progress toward the objectives set forth in the professional improvement plan developed at the previous annual conference, pupil assessments and growth toward program objectives, and the written performance report prepared by the supervisor; and

    6.         The signing of the annual written performance report within five working days of the annual summary conference and the provision that the staff member may, within ten working days of the signing of the report, augment the report with additional performance data.

TEACHER EVALUATION RESULTS