An Act To Amend Teacher Evaluation Requirements
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0092
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: McCREA, HERBIG, BRYANT, FARNSWORTH, GROHOSKI, HANDY, KORNFIELD, ROBERTS-LOVELL, SCHNECK, STANLEY
Amends: 20-A MRSA §13704, 20-A MRSA §13706

Legislative Document
No. 92
H.P. 78
House of Representatives, January 15, 2019
An Act To Amend Teacher Evaluation Requirements
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative McCREA of Fort Fairfield.
Cosponsored by Senator HERBIG of Waldo and
Representatives: BRYANT of Windham, FARNSWORTH of Portland, GROHOSKI of 
Ellsworth, HANDY of Lewiston, KORNFIELD of Bangor, ROBERTS-LOVELL of South 
Berwick, SCHNECK of Bangor, STANLEY of Medway.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §13704, sub-§1, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 635, Pt. A, 
§3, is amended to read:
A.  The department shall provide, by rule, a set of standards of professional practice 
or a set of criteria for determining acceptable locally determined standards for 
teachers and a set of standards of professional practice or a set of criteria for 
determining acceptable locally determined standards for principals;.
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §13704, sub-§1, ¶B is enacted to read:
B.  The rules adopted pursuant to paragraph A may include, but may not require, the 
use of student learning and growth measures or state assessment results as a measure 
of educator effectiveness;
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA §13704, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 635, Pt. A, §3, is 
amended to read:
2.  Multiple measures of effectiveness.  Multiple measures of educator 
effectiveness, other than standards of professional practice, including but not limited to 
the use of student learning and growth data to inform instruction;
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §13704, sub-§3, ¶A, as amended by PL 2015, c. 3, §1, is 
further 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. 5.  20-A MRSA §13706, as amended by PL 2015, c. 3, §2, is further 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. 6.  Rulemaking.  In accordance with the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, 
sections 13704 and 13706, the Department of Education shall amend the department's 
rule Chapter 180: Performance Evaluation and Professional Growth Systems to 
implement the provisions of this Act and shall submit the provisionally adopted rule to 
the Legislature by January 10, 2020.
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies that the use of student learning and growth data to inform 
instruction is included as part of the multiple measures of educator effectiveness.  The bill 
also requires the Department of Education to submit a provisionally adopted rule to the 
Legislature by January 10, 2020.