As districts continue to strategize around the reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, ODE issued guidance to help educators plan for 2020-2021 evaluations and implementation of OTES 2.0, given the temporary changes to teacher and principal evaluations included in both House Bill 197 and House Bill 164 (the most recent COVID-19 legislation signed by the Governor on June 19, 2020). These changes grant districts flexibility around evaluations for the 2020-2021 school year.
The discretion granted to school districts in this era of COVID-19 and certain ODE-approved deadline extensions have caused some confusion around the requirements for adoption and implementation of OTES 2.0; however, ODE addressed this issue in its guidance. On July 16, 2020, ODE made clear that school districts must adopt an OTES 2.0 policy no later than September 1, 2020, even if the district determined to delay implementation until the 2021-2022 school year.
The following is a summary of H.B. 164 provisions related to educator evaluations:
Teacher and principal evaluations for 2020-2021 school year
The bill prohibits a school district from using value-added progress dimension data, any other high-quality student data, or any other student academic growth data to measure student learning attributable to a teacher or principal while conducting evaluations for the 2020-2021 school year.
It instead requires that a school district use the other factors and components prescribed under continuing law to conduct evaluations. That includes formal and informal observations, and other performance rubric data.
The bill cannot be construed as prohibiting a district from considering as part of an evaluation how a teacher or principal collects, analyzes, and uses student data, including student academic growth data, to adapt instruction to meet individual student needs or to improve the teacher’s or principal’s practice.
ODE also issued a frequently asked questions section that applies to all educators, including teachers, counselors and administrators, which can be found here.
It is important to note that ODE’s guidance and FAQ cannot be construed as supplanting existing collective bargaining agreement language, Ohio Revised Code, or House Bills 197 or 164, which may result in districts needing to execute an MOU(s) with their respective unions.
The FAQ includes, among other things, that to ensure teacher and principal evaluations do not include student academic growth data to measure student learning, for districts using OTES 1.0 for the 2020-2021 school year, evaluators should use only the teacher and principal performance evaluation rubrics for OPES and OTES 1.0. For districts implementing OTES 2.0 for the upcoming school year, evaluators should NOT include the “Evidence of Student Learning” component on the teacher performance evaluation rubric for OTES 2.0.
The FAQ also includes information relevant to evaluation cycles for the 2020-2021 school year if evaluations were not completed last year due to COVID-19, use of evaluation data collected during the 2019-2020 school year, the impact on 2020-2021 evaluations if an evaluation was completed last year without a student growth measure, and additional guidance for school districts implementing OTES 2.0 for the upcoming school year.