Welcome to the latest edition of our legal update series, which is based on Kirk Strang’s presentation at the WASDA Spring Conference. Thus far, we’ve covered legal updates as they pertain to …
- Performance Standards
- Hot Tips #1 & 2
- #1: Make the PIP work for you
- #2: Require the subject of the Performance Improvement Plan to prepare written reports
- Hot Tip #3: Teacher Evaluations and Writing an Essay
- Hot Tip #4: Manage the Form, Teacher Evaluations, and More
In this installment of the series we’re sharing two more tips …
- Hot Tip #5, Cover These Subjects: Make the Employment Contract Work
- Hot Tip #6, Cover These Subjects: Review and Regulate Use of Technology — Now
Let’s begin!
Hot Tip #5
COVER THESE SUBJECTS: MAKE THE EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT WORK
- Duties include those listed and reasonably expected or incident to the position (fairly within the scope of the job).
- Duties include those things listed and anything directed.
- Job security language.
- Teacher: full-time versus part-time contract.
- Any waiver of nonrenewal procedures.
- Separate layoff clause.
Hot Tip #6
COVER THESE SUBJECTS: REVIEW AND REGULATE USE OF TECHNOLOGY — NOW
- Do not encourage student misconduct with, e.g., cell phones.
BUT - Nevertheless, serve notice that a credible, authentic recording may still be used as evidence.
EVALUATIONS: IN GENERAL
Evaluation Factors:
Test Scores (in some cases).
Wis. Stat. § 118.225 provides:
Teacher evaluations. A school board may use value-added analyses of scores on the examinations administered to pupils under s. 118.30 and 20 USC 6311(b)(2) to evaluate teachers if the school board has developed a teacher evaluation plan that includes all of the following:
- A description of the evaluation process
- Multiple criteria in addition to examination results
- The rationale for using examination results to evaluate teachers
- An explanation of how the school board intends to use the evaluations to improve pupil academic achievement
Disclaimers:
- Evaluation is ongoing and continuous.
- Scoring or cumulative evaluation is not a composite, arithmetic average. We use systems such as EE and other multiple choice evaluation instruments as part of evaluation. But we do not use averaging processes that make compliance with dress code and effective classroom management equivalent in value.
- Any one criterion can be sufficiently important to make the difference between renewal and nonrenewal.
Next up, we’ll conclude this series with Hot Tip #7, which examines evaluation goals & confidentiality, as well as volunteer standards.
Until then, if you found this article informative, you may also like: