Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kevin Quinn
January 6, 2017
TEACHER CONTRACT RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 2
How would you really use this process to help a teacher improve?
Under what circumstances, if any, can a teacher be fired (sometimes called
“ nonrenewed” or released)?
Meriden Public Schools utilizes their own district plan, “Meriden Educator Evaluation
and Development,” for teacher evaluations. This evaluation and development plan’s primary
objective is “to provide a learning environment in which educators improve upon their
instructional practice in order to increase student learning” (Meriden Educator Evaluation and
In Meriden, teachers will fall into one of three potential categories for evaluation: First
and Second Year Educators, educators deemed “Developing” and requiring action, and
Exemplary and Accomplished. First and Second teachers and Developing each must have at least
three formal in-class observations, all of which include a post conference. Additionally, at least
two of the classroom evaluations must include a pre-conference. The remaining teachers in the
district are then placed on an evaluation schedule based on their employee ID number. Teachers
will receive either one in-class formal observation, with a post conference and two reviews of
practice, or three informal observations and one review of practice. A review of practice can be
defined as covering “areas of educator work that cannot be typically observed in a classroom
observation” (Meriden Educator Evaluation and Development Plan, 2016, p.28). This can
include, but is not limited to “a review of lesson plans, reports, curriculum, or observation of
TEACHER CONTRACT RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 3
educator of educator performance during a PPT or data team meeting” (Meriden Educator
Evaluation and Development Plan, 2016, p. 28). However, in addition to the minimum
requirements of the plan, the evaluator or educator can request a formal observation at any time.
Regardless of what evaluation cycle a teacher is on, all teachers in Meriden are required to have
evaluations and classroom visits. However, administrators must perform evaluations on teachers
who are in year one or two as well as teachers that have received a Developing or Requires
Action designation. Regardless of what evaluation category or cycle a teacher is on, the
procedures evaluators must follow remains the same. A goal setting and planning meeting must
occur prior to October 15th in which a teacher identifies his or her Student Learning Objective
(SLO) for the year. A mid-year check-in occurs during January/February, and an end-of the-year
review is scheduled by June 30th, which measures a teacher’s progress towards their SLO. All
observations, formal or informal and reviews of practice are kept electronically on the
BloomBoard system. According to the district’s evaluation and development plan, “All
observations and Review of Practices should be followed by feedback using the BloomBoard
system within three school days of an observation” (Meriden Educator Evaluation and
It is the teacher's status of either tenured or non-tenured that determines his or her rights
Connecticut Gen Stat. §10-151b identifies the “procedure for matters involving termination and
non-renewal of certified staff members” (Meriden Teacher’s Contract, 2016, p. 21). Under this
TEACHER CONTRACT RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 4
statute, a teacher needs to be provided with "sufficient opportunities" to be able to improve their
performance with assistance from peers and their administrator and "sufficient time" in order to
have not made sufficient progress. However, a tenured teacher is awarded due process (Mooney,
2012). A non-renewal or termination hearing is held before the Board of Education (Mooney,
2012, p. 229). If the board fails to afford the teacher a "full and fair hearing", the teacher's
termination may be reversed (Mooney, 2012, p.229). Finally, a teacher must receive notice in
References
Meriden Educator Evaluation and Development Plan. (November, 2016). Meriden Board of
Education, Meriden, CT
Meriden Teachers’ Contract. (2016). Agreement between Meriden Board of Education and the
http://teachercontracts.conncan.org/sites/default/files/pdf/tcd_meriden.pdf
Mooney, T. B. (2002). A practical guide to Connecticut school law. Hartford, Conn: Connecticut
Association of Boards of Education.
Cara
TEACHER CONTRACT RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 5
Since my district does not specify the evaluation procedure in the teacher's contract, I
have included the guidelines set forth by the state of Connecticut for teacher supervision and
evaluation. Connecticut Gen Stat. §10-151b (a) identifies that the superintendent shall
However, classroom evaluations may also be conducted by school based administrators whom
administrators must receive at least fifteen hours of training on teacher evaluation and a
The State Board of Education, in conjunction with the Performance Evaluation Advisory
Council, adopted new guidelines for a model teacher evaluation program in 2010. These
guidelines provide, "guidance on the use of multiple indicators of student academic growth"
(Mooney, 2012, p. 254). The first part of the guideline requires the use of Connecticut's
Common Core of Teaching for the definition of "effective teaching" (Mooney, 2012). The state
of Connecticut does not set a requirement for the number of formal observations each teacher
receives; these can be dictated by individual districts. In my district, teachers who are tenured
and have received a rating of Proficient or above for the past two evaluations, may only receive
one formal evaluation and two informal evaluations per year. The informal evaluations do not
need to be classroom based observations but can be observations of a teacher's duty, a school-
based project that the teacher is leading, or meeting that the teacher is facilitating. Non-tenured
teachers and teachers who have received a designation below Proficient may receive three formal
evaluations and three informal observations per year. Each formal observation must have a pre
and post-observation conference between the teacher and his or her evaluator. Our district also
holds mid-year check-in meetings in which a teacher demonstrates progress towards their
TEACHER CONTRACT RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 6
Student Learning Objective (SLO) set at the beginning of the year. At this time, the teacher and
his or her evaluator can modify the goal based on their progress before the end of the year
summative evaluation in which the teacher is given a rating of one of the following: Below
Standard, Developing, Proficient, or Exemplary. Our district uses Charlotte Danielson's (2002)
Framework for Professional Practice for identifying a level of performance in each of the four
domains.
According to the state, a supervision plan needs to include "sufficient opportunities" for
the teacher to be able to improve their performance with assistance from peers and their
identifies that a teacher is in need of a plan for remediation, the teacher may have union
representation present at their meeting to review their evaluation and develop a ninety-day
improvement plan.
A teacher's status of either tenured or non-tenured determines his or her rights when
termination of employment is suggested (Mooney, 2012). If, at the end of the improvement
period, a determination is made that a teacher is not making sufficient progress, a non-tenured
teacher may be terminated or nonrenewed. However, a tenured teacher is awarded due process
(Mooney, 2012). A non-renewal or termination hearing is held before the Board of Education
who serves in a "quasi-judicial" capacity (Mooney, 2012, p. 229). If the board fails to afford the
teacher a "full and fair hearing", the teacher's termination may be reversed (Mooney, 2012,
p.229). The teacher must receive written notice of his or her termination or non-renewal by May
1st. Teachers are entitled to records kept that relate to their evaluation and performance. These
TEACHER CONTRACT RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 7
records are not deemed public record and may only be disclosed if there is prior written consent
As an administrator, I would use this evaluation process to help teachers set realistic and
attainable goals for themselves and their students that are aligned to our school improvement
plan, and that can be tracked through progress monitoring throughout the year. It will be these
goals that I will look for evidence of in their formal and informal evaluations and the data
collected from the progress monitoring of these goals to discuss with them at their mid-year and
summative evaluations. The feedback that they receive from me and from their peer observers
will be specific to helping teachers hone their instructional techniques in order to maximize the
References
Mooney, T. B. (2002). A practical guide to Connecticut school law. Hartford, Conn: Connecticut
Association of Boards of Education.