39-2. Evaluation Plan and Procedures

39-2.1. Evaluation Plan. 

Each teacher shall be evaluated annually, biennially, or once every three school years as “excellent,” “proficient,” “developing” (state law equivalent is “need improvement”) or “unsatisfactory” by a qualified evaluator in accordance with this Article and the teacher evaluation plan. Effective upon ratification, tenured teachers who are rated in the lower half of developing (a score of 210 to 250) in two consecutive ratings periods shall be rated unsatisfactory, unless in the second year the teacher’s professional practice score is proficient or better.

Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, tenured teachers with a most recent summative rating of "Excellent" earned, or who hold National Board Certification (NBCT), shall be evaluated once every three (3) school years, provided they maintain a rating of "Excellent", or “Proficient’ and retain their National Board Certification. Additionally, a tenured teacher with 19 years of teaching service at CPS, who has earned consecutive biannual summative scores of 320 or above, including at least one rating in SY23 or later, will be evaluated once every three (3) school years, provided they maintain a minimum summative score of 320.Tenured teachers currently on a biannual evaluation cycle will remain on that schedule until their next summative evaluation, after which they will transition to the three-year evaluation cycle if they meet the eligibility criteria. If any teacher that is on a three-year evaluation cycle transfers to another school, the receiving principal may elect to move the eligible teacher to a bi-annual evaluation cycle until they have had an opportunity to provide a summative evaluation.

Tenured Teachers who are due to be evaluated in the last year before they are set to retire and have submitted their retirement paperwork to CPS shall have the option to opt-out from the REACH process and retain their most recent summative rating, unless the teacher was last rated as “developing” or “unsatisfactory.” Notwithstanding, principals may evaluate such teachers subject to the terms of this Article provided they gives notice to the teacher at least fourteen (14) days before the first pre-observation conference and a reason for evaluating the teacher.

39-2.2. Qualified Evaluators. 

Qualified evaluators are those who have successfully completed evaluation training and prequalification under Section 24A-3 of the Performance Evaluation Reform Act and as thereafter required. Additionally, the Board shall provide training on REACH to qualified evaluators, including training on bias and culturally responsive practices. Observations may only be conducted and evaluations may only be given by qualified evaluators. The BOARD shall provide the UNION a list of qualified evaluators on a quarterly basis. The Board and Union shall provide professional development to all new teachers with the goal of building their understanding of the REACH process, including how to prepare for pre/post conferences and how to successfully submit evidence for REACH components.

39-2.3. Teacher Practice Observations. 

1. Formal and Informal

   1. Formal observations shall be preceded by a pre-conference. All formal observations shall be forty-five minutes in duration, the length of the class period or the length of the lesson. Formal observations shall be followed by a post-conference.

   2. Informal observations shall be at least fifteen minutes in duration.

2. Timing and Number

   1. Timing and Number. The first observation shall take place no sooner than the fifth week of the school year. During the 5th through 8th week of the school year, observations are permitted but all reasonable care shall be taken by evaluators to avoid performing observations of Kindergarten teachers during class periods when the KIDS Assessment is being conducted.

   2. Each subsequent observation shall be separated by at least one month, or three months for teachers evaluated biennially or on a three-year evaluation cycle, and be completed no later than the thirty-fifth week of the school year. Observations shall not occur on the two student attendance days preceding or immediately following Thanksgiving, Winter and Spring breaks.

   3. Teachers shall have three observations by qualified evaluators during their evaluation cycles, at least two of which shall be formal observations in order to receive a summative evaluation. The same evaluator shall conduct the pre-conference, observation and post-conference for each observation.

   4. Evaluators shall consider teachers’ preferences when scheduling times and dates (and specific classes and subjects) for formal observations. Principals are encouraged to share a proposed calendar of REACH observations with each individual teacher and will make a good faith effort to complete 50% of observations required in a school year by the end of the first semester.

3. Observations and Conferences.

   1. Pre-observation conferences shall be scheduled with three school days’ notification to the teacher.

   2. Pre-observation conferences between the teacher and the evaluator shall take place no later than one week prior to the formal observation. Teachers are encouraged to complete the Pre-Conference Protocol prior to the Pre-Conference. Pre- observation conferences prior to a formal observation shall be private interactive discussions between the evaluator-observer and the teacher at which lesson and unit plans, portfolios of student work, student issues, resource needs, the teacher’s identification of areas in which they wish to have focused feedback from the evaluator-observer and other professional practice issues identified by the teacher or evaluator-observer shall be discussed.

   3. Evidence collected during formal or informal observations shall be aligned to the CPS Framework for Teaching. In the case of observations of educators where CPS Addendums exist, no evidence shall contradict such an Addendum.

   4. Each formal observation shall take place within five school days of the pre-conference and during the time that the instructional module discussed at the pre-conference is to be taught.

   5. Post-conferences between the teacher and evaluator-observer shall take place within three to ten school days following the formal observation and shall be private. Feedback after an informal observation may be provided in person or electronically. The teacher may request in person feedback after an informal observation.

   6. The evaluator shall provide the teacher with all the evidence, observation scoring and reflections via the BOARD’S on-line teacher evaluation data system, to which the BOARD will provide teachers unlimited access.

   7. The evaluator will reschedule observations if classroom activity has been disrupted at the time of the scheduled observation (e.g., when a co-teacher is absent, if the building loses electricity, when the teacher is conducting a test, etc.)

4. Summative Evaluation

   There will be only one summative evaluation rating at the end of each teacher’s evaluation cycle. The BOARD shall attempt to provide summative ratings no later than September 15, and the Joint Committee will review its progress toward that goal.

39-2.4. Inability to Rate or to Provide Rating. 

In the event that a tenured teacher does not receive an annual summative rating, the previous rating shall be established as the current rating. If the tenured teacher does not receive a summative rating for two consecutive cycles, the teacher will have the option of having their previous rating as the current rating or receiving a Proficient rating. In the event a probationary appointed teacher does not receive an annual summative rating the parties will attempt to agree on a rating or re-rating during the same year, and, if no agreement is reached, the teacher will have the option of having their previous rating as the current rating or receiving a Proficient rating.

39-2.5. Summative Ratings and Forms. 

On or before seven days prior to the last day of student attendance, an evaluator shall provide each teacher with all available components of their summative rating. The summative rating shall include observation scores, student growth scores if available and all other evidence used to determine the summative rating, along with the formula used to calculate the summative rating, provided that the rating shall not include scores from student surveys in school year 2012-2013 or 2013-2014 and shall only include student survey scores in school year 2014-2015 and thereafter if agreed by the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee will determine the timing of end of year (annual or biennial) summative evaluations for the 2013-2014 school year and beyond.

Summative ratings shall be based on the following scale in which points are earned in accordance with the plan.

For purposes of layoff, the developing rating will be divided into two sublevels—“emerging” with a rating score of between 210 and 250 and “developing” with a rating score of between 251 and 284.

39-2.6. Professional Development. 

The Joint Committee shall determine the professional development needed to support teachers in becoming proficient teachers as defined in the evaluation plan.

39-2.7. Clinician Evaluation Plan. 

Clinicians shall be evaluated in accordance with the Clinician Evaluation Plan in effect during the 2015-16 school year, and the BOARD shall abide by the Case Review process established in that plan.

Clinicians who are PATs hired and assigned by the Office Students with Disabilities (OSD) and whose REACH ratings are projected to be 250 or below may be non-renewed by OSD. Clinicians in their PAT1 or PAT2 year whose REACH ratings are projected between 251 and 284 will be renewed by ODLSS and provided support for the following school year. Such support may include from a cooperating senior clinician in the same field and professional development in the areas that they were rated lowest. Clinicians in their PAT3 year or later will continue to be subject to the non-renewal standards and procedures for all other non-tenured teachers.