I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 768 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require 
the establishment of teacher evaluation programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 15, 2013 
Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself and Mr. POLIS) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
of 1965 to require the establishment of teacher evalua-
tion programs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Securing Teacher Ef-
fectiveness, Leadership, Learning, And Results Act of 
2013’’ or the ‘‘STELLAR Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Effective teachers and principals are the 
backbone of our schools and the key to successful 
students. 
(2) Teachers and principals deserve our full 
support as they take on one of the most important 
and most challenging responsibilities—educating our 
children. 
(3) High-quality evaluations that provide mean-
ingful feedback are a crucial element to giving edu-
cators the support they need to successfully achieve 
at high levels. 
(4) Teachers and principals also deserve access 
to professional development opportunities so they 
can continue to learn and grow as educators. 
(5) Research shows that high-quality and effec-
tive teaching is the single most important school- 
based factor impacting student learning. 
(6) In formal studies, including research high-
lighted in ‘‘The Widget Effect’’, nearly 75 percent of 
teachers reported that they have not received specific 
suggestions on how to improve classroom practices 
in annual evaluations. 
(7) Across all local educational agencies, only 
43 percent of teachers, including novice teachers 
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who may benefit the most from feedback, report that 
current evaluations systems are helpful. 
(8) Research also shows that school leadership 
quality is second only to teacher quality among 
school-related factors in its impact on student learn-
ing. 
(9) Strong school leadership is a key deter-
minant of whether schools can attract and retain ef-
fective teachers particularly in high poverty schools, 
as research has found teachers’ satisfaction to be 
more influenced by the culture of the school than by 
the demographics of the school’s students. 
(10) Principals set the direction and vision for 
a school, and studies find that strong instructional 
leadership and a focus on building a shared mission 
focused on student achievement can create a positive 
teaching and learning environment. 
(11) Constructive feedback specifying areas for 
improvement could be useful to both teachers and 
principals who are dedicated to growing profes-
sionally. 
(12) The most effective way to turn around a 
struggling school is through talented teachers and 
an inspirational principal. 
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(13) Effective teachers and principals also de-
serve to be recognized for excellence and to receive 
commendations in areas of strong performance and 
improvement. 
(14) Evaluations should give teachers and prin-
cipals the opportunity to foster mutually beneficial 
professional relationships. 
(15) Teachers and principals should provide 
input and contribute directly to designing, imple-
menting, and improving evaluation systems in their 
school districts. 
(16) High-quality teacher and principal evalua-
tions have the potential to be a powerful tool and 
should play a significant role in building a talented 
force of educators. 
(17) The goal of evaluation systems is to im-
prove individual, as well as whole school and district, 
teaching and leadership practices to benefit stu-
dents. 
SEC. 3. ROBUST TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL EVALUATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1111(b) of the Elemen-
tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
6311(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(11) ROBUST TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL EVAL-
UATIONS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of the STELLAR 
Act, each State plan shall include the following: 
‘‘(i) The statewide definitions of 
teacher and principal effectiveness that the 
State has established and not less than 4 
levels of performance ratings for teachers 
and for principals, including an effective 
rating and a highly effective rating, based 
on such definitions. 
‘‘(ii) A demonstration that the State 
has developed, after taking input from and 
collaborating with, teachers and principals, 
a model teacher and principal evaluation 
program under which— 
‘‘(I) individuals in charge of ad-
ministering teacher and principal eval-
uations within each local educational 
agency in the State are provided rig-
orous training on how to conduct the 
teacher and principal evaluations, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(aa) how to identify areas 
for improvement and provide spe-
cific feedback about improving 
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teaching and principal practice 
based on evaluation results; 
‘‘(bb) how to evaluate teach-
ers and principals using the per-
formance ratings described in 
clause (i) and established under 
subparagraphs 
(B)(iii) 
and 
(C)(viii); 
‘‘(cc) a measure of student 
academic growth with respect to 
the State’s academic standards of 
the school’s students, including 
students in each of the subgroups 
described 
in 
paragraph 
(2)(C)(v)(II), and training on 
how to interpret such measure; 
and 
‘‘(dd) how to reliably and 
accurately rate teachers using the 
State’s 
rigorous 
rubric 
that 
meets the requirements of sub-
paragraph (B)(ii)(II)(aa); 
‘‘(II) a teacher or principal who 
is evaluated is provided, based on the 
evaluation results, professional devel-
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opment opportunities that meet the 
specific needs identified for the teach-
er or principal, including mentorship 
programs that use highly effective 
teachers or principals as leaders or 
coaches; 
‘‘(III) measures are taken to en-
sure that the results of personally 
identifiable teacher and principal eval-
uations are not publicly disclosed, ex-
cept as required under subsection (h); 
‘‘(IV) regular monitoring and as-
sessment of the quality, reliability, va-
lidity, fairness, consistency, and objec-
tivity of the evaluation program and 
the evaluators’ judgments takes place 
within and across local educational 
agencies in the State; 
‘‘(V) each teacher’s performance 
is annually evaluated in accordance 
with subparagraph (B); 
‘‘(VI) each principal’s perform-
ance is annually evaluated in accord-
ance with subparagraph (C); 
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‘‘(VII) on the basis of the evalua-
tion, each teacher or principal re-
ceives— 
‘‘(aa) a performance rating, 
as described in clause (i), that is 
based on multiple measures; 
‘‘(bb) in the case of a teach-
er, in addition to the measures 
required 
under 
subparagraph 
(B)— 
‘‘(AA) in a grade level 
and subject area with a 
statewide 
assessment, 
a 
measure of student learning 
gains that is comparable 
across the State for all 
teachers in grade levels and 
subject areas with a state-
wide assessment; or 
‘‘(BB) in a grade level 
and subject area without a 
statewide 
assessment, 
a 
measure of student learning 
comparable across the local 
educational agency for all 
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teachers in the same grade 
without a statewide assess-
ment for elementary schools 
and for all teachers in the 
same grade and subject area 
without a statewide assess-
ment in secondary schools; 
‘‘(cc) 
ongoing 
formative 
feedback 
and 
specific 
rec-
ommendations on areas for pro-
fessional improvement, which in-
cludes an identification of areas 
in which the teacher or principal 
can strengthen practices to im-
prove student learning; 
‘‘(dd) commendations for ex-
cellence in areas of strong per-
formance and in areas of signifi-
cant improvement; and 
‘‘(ee) in the case of a teach-
er or principal who is identified 
as being in 1 of the lowest 2 per-
formance ratings described in 
clause (i), a comprehensive reme-
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diation plan within set time pa-
rameters not to exceed 1 year; 
‘‘(VIII) evaluation results are 
clearly communicated to each teacher 
and principal, and the steps, goals, 
and requirements of a professional de-
velopment or remediation plan are 
clearly communicated to the teacher 
or principal; 
‘‘(IX) evaluation results are the 
primary factor used in determining 
layoffs during any reduction in force; 
‘‘(X) evaluation results are used 
to ensure that low-income students 
and minority students are not as-
signed at higher rates than other stu-
dents to classes in core academic sub-
jects taught by teachers who have re-
ceived one of the two lowest evalua-
tion rates in their most recent evalua-
tion; 
‘‘(XI) evaluation results are used 
as the principal factor in informing all 
key personnel and staffing decisions, 
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including decisions with respect to 
tenure, promotion, and retention; 
‘‘(XII) any teacher or principal 
who receives the lowest evaluation 
performance rating for 2 consecutive 
years is subject to dismissal; 
‘‘(XIII) any teacher or principal 
who receives the lowest performance 
rating and does not successfully im-
prove performance on an evaluation 
after completing the comprehensive 
remediation plan as required under 
subclause (VII)(ee) is prohibited from 
working in any elementary school or 
secondary school served under this 
part; 
‘‘(XIV) any teacher or principal 
who receives the second lowest per-
formance rating and does not success-
fully improve performance on an eval-
uation after completing such com-
prehensive remediation plan is prohib-
ited from working in any elementary 
school or secondary school— 
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‘‘(aa) in a State-defined 
turnaround status; or 
‘‘(bb) in the lowest 5 percent 
of schools based on its perform-
ance against State-defined stu-
dent achievement goals. 
‘‘(iii) A demonstration that each local 
educational agency in the State has adopt-
ed a local educational agency-wide teacher 
and principal evaluation program that— 
‘‘(I) was developed after seeking 
input from and collaborating with 
teachers and principals; 
‘‘(II) meets the standards for va-
lidity and reliability developed by the 
State; and 
‘‘(III) meets the minimum re-
quirements set forth in clause (ii). 
‘‘(iv) A demonstration that each local 
educational agency in the State is seeking 
input from and collaborating with teachers 
and principals to make improvements to 
the evaluation program on an annual basis. 
‘‘(v) An assurance that the State will, 
on a regular basis— 
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