An Act Regarding Educator Effectiveness
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0692
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: EDGECOMB, MAKER, LANGLEY, HUBBELL
Amends: 20-A MRSA §13704, 20-A MRSA §13706

Legislative Document 
No. 692 
S.P. 250 
In Senate, March 3, 2015 
An Act Regarding Educator Effectiveness 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator EDGECOMB of Aroostook.  (GOVERNOR'S BILL) 
Cosponsored by Representative MAKER of Calais and 
Senator: LANGLEY of Hancock, Representative: HUBBELL of Bar Harbor. 
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the United States Department of Education requires that revisions be 
made to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, sections 13704 and 13706 and that 
corresponding amendments to Maine Department of Education Rule Chapter 180 be in 
effect by March 15, 2015 in order to be in compliance with the federal Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965; and 
Whereas, because Rule Chapter 180 is a major substantive rule, changes to the rule 
require legislative review before the changes may be made; and 
Whereas, the Legislature has the authority to direct the Department of Education to 
amend its rule to reflect legislative policy determinations; and 
Whereas,  the Department of Education, educators and administrators need statutory 
and rule revisions to be in compliance with the federal Elementary and Secondary 
Education Act of 1965; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §13704, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 635, Pt. A, 
§3, is amended to read: 
A.  The rating must be based on standards of professional practice and measures of 
educator effectiveness.  The proportionate weight of the standards and the measures 
is a local decision, but measurements of student learning and growth must be a 
significant factor in the determination of the rating of an educator.  School 
administrative units shall use state assessment growth data for English language arts, 
literacy and mathematics as at least one measure of the performance of English 
language arts and mathematics teachers in tested grades and as a measure for the 
performance of principals. 
An educator whose summative effectiveness rating indicates ineffectiveness must 
receive an annual summative effectiveness evaluation and rating until the rating 
improves. 
An individualized education plan may not be used to measure student growth for the 
purposes of teacher and principal evaluation, but an individualized education plan 
may be a source of evidence from which learning objectives and learning targets may 
be developed. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §13706, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 635, Pt. A, §3, is amended 
to read: 
§13706.  Rules 
The department shall adopt rules to implement this chapter, including but not limited 
to a rule relating to the method of identifying the educator or educators whose 
effectiveness ratings are affected by the measurement of learning or growth of a 
particular student.  The department shall also adopt rules pertaining to the approval of 
performance evaluation and professional growth systems pursuant to section 13702.  The 
department shall also adopt rules pertaining to the ongoing monitoring of the 
implementation and results of district performance evaluation and professional growth 
systems.  Rules adopted pursuant to this section are major substantive rules pursuant to 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 3.  Amendment of rule.  The Department of Education shall amend portions 
of Rule Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems as 
follows. 
1.  Throughout the rule the abbreviation PE/PG must be changed to PEPG. 
2.  In section 2, subsection 10, language must be added to the definition of "principal" 
to provide that "principal" means a person who supervises teachers in delivering the 
instructional program of a school. The phrase "serving in a position that requires 
certification under State Board of Education Rule Chapter 115, Part II, Section 4.5, 4.6 
and 4.7" must be moved to the end of subsection 10. 
3.  In section 2, subsection 12, the definition of school administrative unit must be 
amended to include charter schools. 
4.  In section 4, subsection 2, the following changes must be made to the 
requirements of a performance evaluation and professional growth system plan: 
A.  In subsection 2, paragraph C, student learning and growth measures must be 
removed as a requirement and replaced with a system for the selection, development, 
review and approval of student learning and growth measures; 
B.  Subsection 2, paragraph D must be deleted; 
C.  In subsection 2, paragraph F, a description of the 4 rating levels must be changed 
to the 4 summative effectiveness rating levels; and 
D.  A provision must be added providing that department approval is also contingent 
upon evidence of adoption of the system by the school board. 
5.  In section 5, the Kim Marshall Teacher Evaluation Rubrics and MSAD 49 
Teacher Evaluation Rubric, based on the Kim Marshall Teacher Evaluation Rubrics, must 
be added as models containing all of the elements necessary to be approved for use as the 
professional practice element for teachers.  
6.  In section 6, the Marzano School Leader Evaluation Model and the Kim Marshall 
Principal Evaluation Rubrics must be added as models containing all of the elements 
necessary to be approved for use as the professional practice element for principals. 
7.  In section 7, subsection 1, a sentence must be added requiring school 
administrative units to develop a defensible approach to using student learning and 
growth as a significant factor in the summative effectiveness rating of an educator. 
8.  Section 7, subsection 2, paragraph A must be clarified so that a teacher is a 
"teacher of record" for a student only if, for any student growth measure, the student 
meets the criteria in subsection 2, paragraph A. 
9.  In section 7, subsection 2, paragraph A, a provision must be added providing that 
a student's academic performance may be attributed to more than one teacher of record, 
as long as the criteria in subparagraphs (1) to (3) are met for each teacher.  The current 
language regarding a student's academic performance being attributable to more than one 
teacher must be deleted. 
10.  In section 7, subsection 2, paragraph B, a sentence must be added providing that 
nothing in section 7 prevents the school administrative unit from collaborating with a 
teacher in establishing and monitoring the list of students for whom the teacher will be 
the teacher of record. 
11.  In section 7, subsection 3, paragraph A, the criterion requiring that a student 
learning and growth measure must measure student growth in achievement, and not 
solely the level of achievement, must be removed and replaced with a criterion requiring 
that a student learning and growth measure must measure a change in a student's 
knowledge or skills between 2 points of time during which an educator has influence. 
12.  Section 7, subsection 3, paragraph B must provide that multiple measures of 
student learning and growth must be factored into the summative effectiveness rating of 
an educator and reference to large-scale, norm-referenced standardized tests must be 
deleted. 
13.  In section 7, subsection 3, paragraph C, the word "subject" must be changed to 
"knowledge and skills" and the word "pre-assessment" must be changed to "comparable 
pre-assessment." 
14.  Section 7, subsection 3, paragraph D, subparagraph (2) must be deleted. 
15.  Section 7, subsection 4 must provide that school administrative units must use a 
student learning objective framework or comparable structure to develop and record 
student learning and growth measures, and the school administrative unit must establish 
in its PEPG system handbook criteria for: 
A.  The identification of content standards; 
B.  The selection of assessments; 
C.  Setting growth targets, if applicable; 
D.  The size of an instructional cohort; and 
E.  The length of the instructional interval of time. 
Subsection 4 must also provide that individual education plan goals are important tools 
for individualizing instruction and learning and may be used to establish an appropriate 
basis for measuring student growth, but progress toward completion of an individual 
education plan may not be used as a growth measure in the evaluation of a teacher. 
16.  Section 7, subsection 5 must be deleted and replaced with a provision regarding 
the use of state assessment results for tested subjects and grades that provides that the 
Maine Educational Assessment for Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy 
State Assessment results must be used as one measure of student learning and growth for 
teachers in the corresponding grades and subjects.  These results must: 
A.  Be attributed to teachers of record in accordance with the criteria for a teacher of 
record in section 7, subsection 2; and 
B.  Be used in such a way that they meet the criteria for permissible measures in 
section 7, subsection 3. 
17.  In section 11, subsection 3, paragraph A, a requirement that evaluators must 
complete training in providing meaningful feedback on instructional practice must be 
added. 
18.  In section 12, subsection 1, paragraph D, the word "numerical" must be replaced 
with the word "mathematical" and a provision must be added providing that in a system 
that uses a matrix approach, the outcomes on the matrix must prevent a teacher whose 
rating on student learning and growth is not satisfactory from being rated effective. 
19.  In section 13, a new subsection must be added regarding professional growth 
plans and must provide that an educator who receives a summative effectiveness rating 
higher than ineffective must develop a professional growth plan that is based on clearly 
articulated goals related to targeted areas of practice and student performance. 
20.  The text of section 14 must be moved to section 13 and identified as subsection 
2. 
21.  Except for language containing the purpose of the pilot project and the provision 
providing that data from a pilot project must be used to inform potential refinement and 
improvement of the system, section 15 must be replaced with the following provisions: 
A.  Evidence and data collected during the pilot year may be used to inform 
professional growth plans and differentiated evaluation cycles beginning during the 
first year of implementation, but performance ratings assigned during the pilot year 
may not be used in any action related to employment or compensation of an educator; 
and 
B.  A school administrative unit shall design a pilot project for the purpose of testing 
technical aspects of the system, determining the value of its elements and identifying 
problems. The pilot project must include student growth measures based on state 
assessments in English language arts and literacy and mathematics and a portion of 
the district-defined growth measures intended for use in content areas other than 
English language arts and literacy and mathematics.  The school administrative unit 
shall ensure that the local steering committee is formed before the pilot project begins 
and must ensure that the steering committee develops a plan for monitoring and 
evaluating the results of the pilot project. 
22.  In section 16 a provision must be added providing that the department shall 
implement a system of monitoring and providing feedback and support based on 
information gathered through the monitoring system.  Ongoing monitoring will include 
the collection of data including but not limited to: 
A.  The aggregate summative effectiveness ratings for each school; 
B.  The process for and frequency of observation and feedback; 
C.  Opportunities for targeted professional growth and improvement; 
D.  The types and descriptions of individual assessments used in the evaluation of 
educators; 
E.  The process for developing student learning and growth measures; 
F.  Exemplars of student learning and growth measures; 
G.  District criteria for the development, review and approval of growth measures; 
H.  The use of effectiveness ratings for employment decisions; 
I.  The mechanism for sustaining the PEPG system; and 
J.  Evaluator and educator training programs. 
23.  The sections must be renumbered to read consecutively.  
Sec. 4.  Expedited amendment process.  Notwithstanding the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapters 2 and 2-A and any other law, the Department 
of Education shall amend its Rule Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional 
Growth Systems as provided in this bill and shall file the amended rule with the Secretary 
of State as a final amended rule within 7 business days of the effective date of this bill. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this bill are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 
375, subchapter 2-A.  Beginning July 1, 2015, any changes to Rule Chapter 180 are major 
substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill directs school administrative units to use state assessment data for English 
language arts and math as a measure of performance for teachers and as a measure of 
performance for principals. It clarifies the law regarding the usage of summative 
effectiveness ratings for certain categories of performance rating.  It adds an additional 
component to the rules regarding monitoring of the performance evaluation and 
professional growth systems.  The bill also directs the Department of Education to amend 
its rules regarding performance evaluation and professional growth systems.