1. Colorado Department of Education
Educator Evaluation Rules Approved by the Colorado State Board of Education
Colorado Department of Education
November 2011

2. Rule Promulgation State Board approved rules Nov. 9, 2011.
State Council made recommendations to State Board April 13, 2011.
By Feb. 15, 2012 legislature will review rules and approve or repeal provisions.
By May 1, 2012, State Board will promulgate emergency rules for any provisions not approved.
Legislature will review any emergency rules.

3. Continuous Improvement
State model system developed
Local evaluation systems implemented
CDE collects data
State Council makes recommendations
Rules reviewed and revised

4. Outline of Rules 0.0 Statement of Basis and Purpose 1.0 Definitions
2.0 Principals: Definition of Effectiveness, Quality Standards and
Performance Evaluation Ratings
3.0 Teachers: Definition of Effectiveness, Quality Standards and
4.0 Reserved: Measuring Performance of Other Licensed Personnel
5.0 Local Performance Evaluation Systems: Duties and Powers of
Local School Boards and BOCES
6.0 Supporting Piloting and Implementation: Duties and Powers of
Colorado Department of Education
7.0 Parent and Student Partnerships

5. Definition of Principal Effectiveness
Effective Principals in the state of Colorado are responsible for the collective success of their schools, including the learning, growth and achievement of both students and staff. As schools’ primary instructional leaders, effective Principals enable critical discourse and data-driven reflection about curriculum, assessment, instruction, and student progress, and create structures to facilitate improvement…
…Effective Principals are adept at creating systems that maximize the utilization of resources and human capital, foster collaboration, and facilitate constructive change. By creating a common vision and articulating shared values, effective Principals lead and manage their schools in a manner that supports schools’ ability to promote equity and to continually improve their positive impact on students and families.

6. Principal Quality Standards
I: Principals demonstrate strategic leadership.
II: Principals demonstrate instructional leadership.
III: Principals demonstrate school culture and equity leadership.
IV: Principals demonstrate human resource leadership.
V: Principals demonstrate managerial leadership.
VI: Principals demonstrate external development leadership.
VII: Principals demonstrate leadership around student academic growth.

7. Definition of Teacher Effectiveness
Effective Teachers in the state of Colorado have the knowledge, skills, and commitments needed to provide excellent and equitable learning opportunities and growth for all students. They strive to support growth and development, close achievement gaps and to prepare diverse student populations for postsecondary and workforce success…
…Effective Teachers facilitate mastery of content and skill development, and employ and adjust evidence-based strategies and approaches for students who are not achieving mastery and students who need acceleration. They also develop in students the skills, interests and abilities necessary to be lifelong learners, as well as for democratic and civic participation. Effective Teachers communicate high expectations to students and their families and utilize diverse strategies to engage them in a mutually supportive teaching and learning environment. Because effective Teachers understand that the work of ensuring meaningful learning opportunities for all students cannot happen in isolation, they engage in collaboration, continuous reflection, on-going learning and leadership within the profession.

8. Teacher Quality Standards
I: Teachers demonstrate mastery of and pedagogical expertise in the content they teach.
The elementary teacher is an expert in literacy and mathematics and is knowledgeable in all other content that he or she teaches.
The secondary teacher has knowledge of literacy and mathematics and is an expert in his or her content endorsement area(s).
II: Teachers establish a safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environment for a diverse population of students.
III: Teachers plan and deliver effective instruction and create an environment that facilitates learning for their students.
IV: Teachers reflect on their practice.
V:Teachers demonstrate leadership.
VI: Teachers take responsibility for student academic growth.

9. Application of Quality Standards
Each quality standard includes “elements”—which provide a more detailed description of the knowledge and skills needed for each standard.
All districts must base their evaluations on the full set of quality standards and associated elements or on their own locally developed standards that meet or exceed the state’s quality standards and elements.
Districts that use their own locally developed standards must crosswalk those standards to the state’s quality standards and elements, and be able to report for each principal and teacher (1) a final performance evaluation rating, and (2) performance results for each quality standard.

10. Principal and Teacher Performance Evaluation Ratings After CDE develops the state model system and an evaluation scoring matrix, the State Board will adopt definitions for each rating.
Highly Effective
Effective
Partially Effective
Ineffective

11. Required Components of Evaluation Systems
Purposes of evaluation system
Positions to be evaluated and title of evaluator(s)
Standards and criteria for evaluating licensed personnel
Frequency and duration of evaluations
Process for validating the evaluation methods used
System using Principal Professional Performance Plans
Note: these components must be included in both the state model system and all locally-developed evaluation systems.

12. Principal Evaluations
50% Professional Practice
50% Student Academic Growth
Evaluated using: (1) SPF data; and (2) at least one other measure of student academic growth.
Evaluated using: (1) teacher input; (2) teacher evaluation ratings; and (3) teacher improvement.
Quality Standard VII:
VII. Leadership around student academic growth
Quality Standards I-VI:
I. Strategic leadership
II. Instructional leadership
III. School culture/equity leadership
IV. HR leadership
V. Managerial leadership
VI. External development leadership

13. Teacher Evaluations 50% Professional Practice
50% Student Academic Growth
Evaluated using: (1) a measure of individually-attributed growth, (2) a measure of collectively-attributed growth; (3) when available, statewide summative assessments; and (4) where applicable, Colorado Growth Model data.
Evaluated using: (1) observations; and (2) at least one of the following: student perception measures, peer feedback, parent/guardian feedback, or review of lesson plans/student work samples. May include additional measures.
Quality Standards I-V:
I. Mastery of content
II. Establish learning environment
III. Facilitate learning
IV. Reflect on practice
V. Demonstrate leadership
Quality Standard VI:
VI. Responsibility for student academic growth

14. Pilot Period Develop, identify and/or test the following:
Principal and teacher rubrics
Measures of student academic growth
Use of student growth objectives
Method to collect teacher input for principal evaluations
Method to collect student and family perception data
Method to aggregating measures and assign final evaluation ratings
Costs of implementation
Support structures for small and/or rural districts
CDE monitoring methods

15. Assurances Collected annually, beginning July 2013
Districts will provide assurance that they are implementing the state model system or a locally-developed system that meets all statutory and regulatory requirements.

16. Contact Information
Katy Anthes
Executive Director of Educator Effectiveness
Michael Gradoz
Evaluation and Support
Toby King
Evaluation and Support
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