SECTIONS 44660-44665 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 44660-44665

44660. It is the intent of the Legislature that governing boards
establish a uniform system of evaluation and assessment of the
performance of all certificated personnel within each school district
of the state, including schools conducted or maintained by county
superintendents of education. The system shall involve the
development and adoption by each school district of objective
evaluation and assessment guidelines which may, at the discretion of
the governing board, be uniform throughout the district or, for
compelling reasons, be individually developed for territories or
schools within the district, provided that all certificated personnel
of the district shall be subject to a system of evaluation and
assessment adopted pursuant to this article.
This article does not apply to certificated personnel who are
employed on an hourly basis in adult education classes.

44661. In the development and adoption of guidelines and procedures
pursuant to this article, the governing board shall avail itself of
the advice of the certificated instructional personnel in the
district's organization of certificated personnel; provided, however,
that the development and adoption of guidelines pursuant to this
article shall also be subject to the provisions of Article 1
(commencing with Section 7100) of Chapter 2 of Part 5 of Division 1
of Title 1.

44661.5. When developing and adopting objective evaluation and
assessment guidelines pursuant to Section 44660, a school district
may, by mutual agreement between the exclusive representative of the
certificated employees of the school district and the governing board
of the school district, include any objective standards from the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or any objective
standards from the California Standards for the Teaching Profession
if the standards to be included are consistent with this article. If
the certificated employees of the school district do not have an
exclusive representative, the school district may adopt objective
evaluation and assessment guidelines consistent with this section.

44662. (a) The governing board of each school district shall
establish standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level
in each area of study.
(b) The governing board of each school district shall evaluate and
assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates
to:
(1) The progress of pupils toward the standards established
pursuant to subdivision (a) and, if applicable, the state adopted
academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion
referenced assessments.
(2) The instructional techniques and strategies used by the
employee.
(3) The employee's adherence to curricular objectives.
(4) The establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning
environment, within the scope of the employee's responsibilities.
(c) The governing board of each school district shall establish
and define job responsibilities for certificated noninstructional
personnel, including, but not limited to, supervisory and
administrative personnel, whose responsibilities cannot be evaluated
appropriately under the provisions of subdivision (b) and shall
evaluate and assess the performance of those noninstructional
certificated employees as it reasonably relates to the fulfillment of
those responsibilities.
(d) Results of an employee's participation in the Peer Assistance
and Review Program for Teachers established by Article 4.5
(commencing with Section 44500) shall be made available as part of
the evaluation conducted pursuant to this section.
(e) The evaluation and assessment of certificated employee
performance pursuant to this section shall not include the use of
publishers' norms established by standardized tests.
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as in any way
limiting the authority of school district governing boards to develop
and adopt additional evaluation and assessment guidelines or
criteria.

44663. (a) Evaluation and assessment made pursuant to this article
shall be reduced to writing and a copy thereof shall be transmitted
to the certificated employee not later than 30 days before the last
schoolday scheduled on the school calendar adopted by the governing
board for the school year in which the evaluation takes place. The
certificated employee shall have the right to initiate a written
reaction or response to the evaluation. This response shall become a
permanent attachment to the employee's personnel file. Before the
last schoolday scheduled on the school calendar adopted by the
governing board for the school year, a meeting shall be held between
the certificated employee and the evaluator to discuss the
evaluation.
(b) In the case of a certificated noninstructional employee, who
is employed on a 12-month basis, the evaluation and assessment made
pursuant to this article shall be reduced to writing and a copy
thereof shall be transmitted to the certificated employee no later
than June 30 of the year in which the evaluation and assessment is
made. A certificated noninstructional employee, who is employed on a
12-month basis shall have the right to initiate a written reaction or
response to the evaluation. This response shall become a permanent
attachment to the employee's personnel file. Before July 30 of the
year in which the evaluation and assessment takes place, a meeting
shall be held between the certificated employee and the evaluator to
discuss the evaluation and assessment.

44664. (a) Evaluation and assessment of the performance of each
certificated employee shall be made on a continuing basis as follows:
(1) At least once each school year for probationary personnel.
(2) At least every other year for personnel with permanent status.
(3) At least every five years for personnel with permanent status
who have been employed at least 10 years with the school district,
are highly qualified, if those personnel occupy positions that are
required to be filled by a highly qualified professional by the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301, et
seq.), as defined in 20 U.S.C. Sec. 7801, and whose previous
evaluation rated the employee as meeting or exceeding standards, if
the evaluator and certificated employee being evaluated agree. The
certificated employee or the evaluator may withdraw consent at any
time.
(b) The evaluation shall include recommendations, if necessary, as
to areas of improvement in the performance of the employee. If an
employee is not performing his or her duties in a satisfactory manner
according to the standards prescribed by the governing board, the
employing authority shall notify the employee in writing of that fact
and describe the unsatisfactory performance. The employing authority
shall thereafter confer with the employee making specific
recommendations as to areas of improvement in the employee's
performance and endeavor to assist the employee in his or her
performance. If any permanent certificated employee has received an
unsatisfactory evaluation, the employing authority shall annually
evaluate the employee until the employee achieves a positive
evaluation or is separated from the district.
(c) Any evaluation performed pursuant to this article which
contains an unsatisfactory rating of an employee's performance in the
area of teaching methods or instruction may include the requirement
that the certificated employee shall, as determined necessary by the
employing authority, participate in a program designed to improve
appropriate areas of the employee's performance and to further pupil
achievement and the instructional objectives of the employing
authority. If a district participates in the Peer Assistance and
Review Program for Teachers established pursuant to Article 4.5
(commencing with Section 44500), any certificated employee who
receives an unsatisfactory rating on an evaluation performed pursuant
to this section shall participate in the Peer Assistance and Review
Program for Teachers.
(d) Hourly and temporary hourly certificated employees, other than
those employed in adult education classes who are excluded by the
provisions of Section 44660, and substitute teachers may be excluded
from the provisions of this section at the discretion of the
governing board.

44665. For purposes of this article, "employing authority" means
the superintendent of the school district in which the employee is
employed, or his designee, or in the case of a district which has no
superintendent, a school principal or other person designated by the
governing board.