House Bill 15-1323 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

HB 15-1323 FAQs related to Educator Effectiveness

During the legislative cycle of 2015, HB 15-1323 concerning assessments in public schools was passed. This law has impact on the administration and use of state assessments, accreditation ratings and school plan types, school readiness and educator effectiveness, among other requirements. For more information on all the new requirements from HB 15-1323, please visit www.cde.state.co.us. Below are FAQs related to the impact HB 15-1323 has on educator evaluations.

What is the overview of the new requirements for educator evaluations that I should be aware of from this new law?

Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, local boards may use statewide assessment data as a measure of student learning for that year’s evaluation rating only if the data is available two weeks prior to last class day of the school year. If the local board does not receive the data in time to use it in the evaluation report prepared for the school year in which the assessments are administered, the local board must use alternate measures of student learning. If growth, based on state assessments, is not available prior to the last two weeks of the school-year, the local board must then use that statewide assessment data as a measure in the educator’s evaluation the following school year. For educators who are new to a district, state growth measures from the prior year will not be available.

As a reminder, 50 percent of an educator’s evaluation must be based on multiple measures of student learning.

How can we use state assessment results (CMAS) in educator evaluations?

Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, local boards may use statewide assessment results in educator evaluations in two ways:

1. Use the results in evaluations in the same year that the assessment was administered, the results must be available at least two weeks prior to the last class day of the school year.
2. Districts may use the results from the prior assessment year in educator evaluations. When districts use prior year results, it means that state assessment results are the “first data point in” to an educator’s evaluation at the beginning of the year, rather than the “last data point in” at the end of the year.