After months of deliberation and testimony, the House Education Committee Thursday morning advanced to the floor an amended version of Senate Bill 103. The latest version has a number of changes from the Senate-passed version that attempt to bridge differences between the two chambers on the issue and secure necessary votes to advance a bill to the Governor for his signature.
The latest version would base 25 percent of year-end evaluations on student growth and assessment beginning in the current school year, and increase that percentage to 40 percent in the 2018-2019 school year. Beginning in that school year, for core content areas in grades and subjects in which state assessments are administered, 50 of student growth must be measured using state assessments. This effectively equates to a maximum of 12.5 percent of evaluations based on state test scores in the current school year through the 2017-2018 school year, ramping up to a maximum of 20 percent in the 2018-2019 school year.
The latest version will allow usage of either the evaluation tools recommended in the Michigan Council on Educator Effectiveness report or local evaluation tools, provided the research base and other relevant information pertaining to the validity and efficacy of those tools is posted on a district’s website. Additionally, the legislation will now require evaluator training in the tool chosen by the district, and growth measurement can include multiple measures such as student learning objectives, achievement of IEP goals, and nationally normed or locally developed assessments, provided those assessments are aligned to state standards, research-based growth measures, or alternative assessments that are rigorous or comparable across the district.
Without enactment of new teacher and administrator evaluation legislation, current law dictates evaluations will be based 50% on testing beginning in the current school year. While legislators have differences of opinion with respect to how to proceed on certain issues in Senate Bill 103, one issue almost all can agree upon is the need to act soon in order to replace the current 50% testing threshold.
