As districts grapple with how to address teacher evaluations this year, the Ohio Department of Education this week issued a 21-question FAQ regarding evaluations for the 2019-2020 school year, OTES 1.0, and OTES 2.0. Highlights include:

Confirmation that evaluations completed before March 14, 2020 may be used in the evaluation process. Those evaluations that were not completed by that date, may be completed virtually.
However, it is critical that districts are aware that the post-March 12 evaluation completion process is subject to each district’s specific collective bargaining agreement. If districts are planning to complete evaluations inconsistent with the CBA, that should be done by agreement with the teachers’ union or the district may face a grievance or other legal challenge.
Districts have discretion to complete evaluations on a case-by-case basis. Meaning, districts do not have to choose between completing all evaluations or none.
However, districts are well advised to make these decisions fairly, and understanding that teachers who do not receive evaluations “are afforded the rights established under Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.11. Likewise, districts also should be mindful that administrators who do not receive evaluations are afforded rights under Ohio Revised Code Section 3319.02.”
For example, one consequence of an incomplete evaluation is the inability to non-renew; accordingly, the consequences for not evaluating can be significant.
A “COVID-19” option has been added under the “exemption” tab within eTPES and OhioES, for those evaluations that were not completed. For “COVID-19” exemptions, the teacher will maintain the rating and evaluation cycle that were in place at the start of the 2019-2020 school year at the start of the 2020-2021 school year [when school begins in the fall of 2020].
Districts should review the language in the “exemption” tab in eTPES, as it has examples of how this applies in practice.
Subject to each district’s collective bargaining agreement, the district will have until May 22 (previously May 1) to complete teacher evaluations, and must provide a written report of the results of the evaluation to teachers by May 29 (previously May 10).
Remember, if a district’s CBA has the May 1 and May 10 dates, districts would need to reach an agreement with the union to utilize these later dates.
ODE confirmed that value-added data that was generated from state assessments administered in the 2018-2019 school year and was reported in the fall of 2019 will be used in completed evaluations for the 2019-2020 school year. In accordance with HB 197, ODE confirmed that value-added data will not be available in 2020-2021, given the lack of data from spring 2020 assessments.
ODE did not provide advice on how districts should address student growth in the 2020-2021 school year, without value added.
For student growth in the 2019-2020 school year, ODE advised that vendor assessments and SLOs can be completed virtually if the district deems it is possible or practicable to do so, although the reliability of that data may be in question. Therefore, districts also may explore the use of shared attribution.
House Bill 197 does not give ODE discretion to waive specific required components of the evaluation process, such as student growth measures. For 2019-2020, districts that choose to complete evaluations for teachers without the required student growth measures (excluding value-added) must be aware those teachers will be on a full evaluation in 2020-2021. The COVID-19 exemption only allows for a district to determine if it wants to exempt an entire evaluation.
SLOs and vendor assessment data must be from the current school year; districts cannot use last year’s data as a substitute.
ODE confirmed that districts have until September 1, 2020 to update the local teacher evaluation policy to conform to the OTES 2.0 Framework.
Districts required to implement OTES 2.0 in the 2020-2021 school year can delay until the 2021-2022 school year.
This decision should be approved by the local board of education, and in accordance with district collective bargaining agreements.

ODE did not address other issues that districts are addressing on a local level - e.g., improvement plans, teachers eligible for a continuing contract, reductions in force, and so on. Districts should consult this ODE guidance, but ensure they are considering the implications of evaluating, or not evaluating, based on the unique circumstances in their own districts. In addition, and critically, districts must remember that this ODE guidance does not supersede collective bargaining agreements, HB 197, or any other applicable law or regulation.