BELOW STANDARDS EVALUATION

If an employee’s evaluation does not meet required standards, it is incumbent upon the administrator to provide assistance by developing and issuing a Professional Improvement Plan (PIP). Statutory and/or contractual timelines must be considered when developing a PIP and activities for completion of the PIP must be reasonable and appropriate. This PIP must be directly related to identified deficiencies and structured to include specific recommendations to be used to remedy the deficiencies.

For Annual Contract or Professional Service Contract employees in the 90-Calendar Day Performance Probation and engaged in a professional improvement plan that cannot be completed before the end of the school year, the PIP will be continued into the next year and the annual evaluation withheld until the evaluation process is concluded.

The timelines for the Professional Improvement Plan for Continuing Contract employees shall conclude no later than the last day of the contract year. A PIP resulting from Domain VII noncompliance issues is the exception. Information regarding the Professional Responsibilities Component (Domain VII) is on pp. 18-20 for instructional personnel and pp. 21-23 for school support/resource personnel.

An official observation for evaluation of instructional personnel must start at the beginning of the scheduled class/subject and last a minimum of 20 minutes. Any follow-up observation must start at the beginning of the class and last for the complete lesson. However, for classes extending beyond the standard elementary/secondary scheduled class/subject (e.g., 2 hour block schedule, 3 hour auto mechanics, etc.), the administrator must have observed a lesson from the beginning of the class and remain for a minimum of one hour.

An official observation for evaluation of school support/resource personnel must start at the beginning of the scheduled activity and last a minimum of 20 minutes. Any follow-up observation must start at the beginning of the activity and last for the duration of the activity. However, for activities that extend beyond one hour, the administrator must have observed the activity from the beginning of the activity and remain for a minimum of one hour.

Below is a chart which delineates the contractually required number of observations for employees identified as not meeting standards on the PACES Observation Form for Annual Evaluation.

CONTRACT STATUS

PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE

NOTES

Annual or Professional Service

Principal, or Designated Administrator, or Supervising Administrator of non-school-based support personnel

Employee

Office of Professional Standards/UTD/ Employee

If the results of the initial observation of ~~teaching and learning~~ do not meet standards, an PACES Observation Form for Annual Evaluation is completed and a post-observation meeting must take place within 10 calendar days excluding employee absence(s). At that meeting, the following occurs:

The administrator and employee review and discuss the results of the observation in terms of the Domains and Components that meet standards as well as those that do not. No Professional Improvement Plan (PIP) is issued at this time.
The administrator and the employee shall sign the Observation Form and a copy must be provided to the employee. The administrator and the employee shall discuss an approximate date for the Follow-up observation.
The administrator advises the employee that the assistance of a Professional Growth Team (PGT) may be requested at any time prior to the Follow-up observation. (To assemble and implement a PGT see pages 4 through 6 9 of the Procedures for Observation, Assessment, and Evaluation of Instructional and School Support/Resource Personnel).
The Follow-up observation must be conducted by the same administrator who completed the initial observation.
If the results of a Follow-up observation meet standards, the results of the Follow-up observation are recorded on the Observation Form for Annual Evaluation and that becomes the observation of record. The Initial Observation Form is then discarded.

If standards are not met during the Follow-up observation, the 90-Calendar Day Performance Probation process is initiated for PSC and AC employees. (See page 13 15 of the Procedures for Observation, Assessment, and Evaluation of Instructional Personnel.) Procedures for the Professional Growth Team must be implemented without unreasonable delay. (See pages 4 through 6 9 of the Procedures for Observation, Assessment, and Evaluation of Instructional and School Support/Resource Personnel.)

Employees may use provisions specified in Article XIII, Section 6 of the M-DCPS/UTD contract to address PACES compliance issues.

The Union, upon the employee’s request, may meet with personnel from the Office of Professional Standards to review all pertinent documents and administrative actions relative to the below standard evaluation and the PIP.

CONTRACT STATUS	PERSON(S) RESPONSIBLE	NOTES
Continuing Contract Employees	Principal, or Designated Administrator, or Supervising Administrator of non-school-based support personnel	If the results of the initial observation of ~~teaching and learning~~ do not meet standards, an *PACES* Observation Form for Annual Evaluation is completed and a post-observation meeting must take place within 10 calendar days excluding employee absence(s). At that meeting, the following occurs: The administrator and employee review and discuss the results of the observation in terms of the *PACES* Domains and Components that meet standards as well as those that do not. No Professional Improvement Plan (PIP) is issued at this time. The administrator and the employee shall sign the Observation Form and a copy must be provided to the employee. The administrator and the employee shall discuss an approximate date for the Follow-up observation. The administrator advises the employee that the assistance of a Professional Growth Team (PGT) may be requested at any time prior to the Follow-up observation. (To assemble and implement a PGT see pages 4 through 6 9 of the Procedures for Observation, Assessment, and Evaluation of Instructional and School Support/Resource Personnel). The Follow-up observation must be conducted by the same administrator who completed the initial observation. If the results of a Follow-up observation meet standards, the results of the Follow-up observation are recorded on the Observation Form for Annual Evaluation and that becomes the observation of record. The Initial Observation Form is then discarded. If the results of the Follow-up observation do not meet standards, the following must occur within 10 calendar days excluding employee absence(s); The principal or immediate supervisor of non-school based support personnel must conduct a conference-for-the record with the employee. The administrator and employee will review and discuss the results of the observation in terms of the PACES Domains and Components that do not meet standards. A PIP is reviewed. The employee may advance suggestions for the PIP. Any changes resulting from clarifications made at the meeting must be initialed by the administrator and the employee. The employee signs and receives a copy of the Observation Form and the PIP signed by the administrator. An employee's signature indicates only receipt of the form. An initial observation and a minimum three (3) observations of record with identified deficiencies are required for the Annual Evaluation to be below standard. If an initial observation and two observations of record with identified deficiencies are conducted by June 1st the Annual Evaluation is withheld pending completion of the observation process. Professional Improvement Plans for Continuing Contract employees shall not be carried over to the next school year, however, the observation process continues. The employee shall have the right to initiate a written response to the Observation Form and/or the Professional Improvement Plan. The response shall become a permanent attachment to his/her personnel file. A complete written report of each below standard observation (Professional Improvement Plan), including any agreed-upon changes, shall be made and a copy given to the employee within 10 calendar days after the observation. All PIP time lines must be completed prior to the next formal observation. In the event that an employee is absent on authorized leave in excess of 10 consecutive days, the observation process is suspended until the employee returns to active duty, at which time it resumes. Employees who have the Annual Evaluation withheld pending the completion of the observation process are ineligible for summer school employment.
	Employee	Employees may use provisions specified in Article XIII, Section 6 of the M-DCPS/UTD contract to address *PACES* compliance issues.
	Office of Professional Standards/UTD/ Employee	The Union, upon the employee’s request, may meet with personnel from the Office of Professional Standards to review all pertinent documents and administrative actions relative to the below standard evaluation and the PIP procedures. The employee shall be informed in writing of this right.

The "Carry Over" Process (CC Teachers)

If circumstances make it impossible to conduct the number of observations required to make an Annual Evaluation decision, the decision is withheld until the following school year, with the necessary follow-up observation(s) to be conducted in the subsequent school year.

For school-based instructional personnel, if one additional follow-up observation is required to complete the process, it must be conducted during the first 30 work days with student contact. If two follow-up observations are required, they must be completed within the first 60 work days of student contact.

For non school-based support/resource personnel, if one additional follow-up observation is required to complete the process, it must be conducted during the first 30 work days. If two follow-up observations are required, they must be completed within the first 60 work days.

For 12-month personnel observation(s) begin on July 1^st.

Upon completion, carry-over follow-up observations yield an Annual Evaluation decision for the previous school year, and they may also serve as the initial observation(s) of record for the year in which they are conducted.

For an employee who at any time during the school year is subject of an investigation that is substantiated AND requires a Performance Improvement Plan for Domain VII, the annual evaluation does not meet standard. For an investigation that is not completed before the end of the school year, the annual evaluation will be withheld pending the outcome of the report.