Opinion ID: 1843606
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Educator Performance Standards

Text: Educator performance standards shall be established and these standards shall form the basis for pre-service education, certification, and in-service education. The educator performance standards will define what educators need to know and be able to do to succeed with all students. These educator standards shall be related to and based upon the student performance standards. The standards shall reflect high expectations of educators, including the expectation that educators must be able to effectively deliver services to students from widely diverse groups and with differing learning styles, ability levels and individual needs, including students with disabilities, and the expectation that educators must understand and respect the diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds of Alabama's children. Defendants shall submit these educator standards to the Court no later than 18 months after student learning goals have been adopted. Parties shall have 60 days from the submission of these standards to file objections with the Court. The policies currently utilized to grant waivers for teachers not certified must be reviewed to ensure that waivers are not awarded in the place of diligent and exhaustive efforts to locate and employ properly certified teachers. This review must include an analysis of the current imposition of fines and sanctions relating to waivers and include recommendations to increase the effectiveness of those fines and sanctions. Appropriate performance-based assessment strategies shall be developed based on the educator performance standards described herein. These strategies shall be in place as soon as possible, but no later than five years following the identification of the educator performance standards.