Identifying Effective Teachers Policy
Ohio does not connect tenure decisions to evidence of teacher effectiveness.
Teachers in Ohio are awarded tenure automatically after a five-year probationary period, absent an additional process that evaluates cumulative evidence of teacher effectiveness.
SB 5, which included policy that related to this goal, was repealed by referendum in November 2011.
End the automatic awarding of tenure.
The decision to grant tenure should be a deliberate one based on consideration of a teacher's commitment and actual evidence of classroom effectiveness.
Ensure evidence of effectiveness is the preponderant criterion in tenure decisions.
Ohio should make evidence of effectiveness, rather than years in the classroom, the most significant factor when determining this leap in professional standing.
Articulate a process that local districts must administer when deciding which teachers get tenure.
Ohio should require a clear process, such as a hearing, to ensure that the local district reviews a teacher's performance before making a determination regarding tenure.
Ohio asserted that 50 percent of an evaluation's total effectiveness rating is based on student growth measures, and 50 percent is based on teacher performance (goal-setting, teacher performance on standards and communication/professionalism). The evaluation, therefore, determines cumulative effectiveness in the classroom. Further, legislation and Race to the Top require that districts set procedures for using evaluation results for retention and promotion decisions and for removal of poor-performing teachers.
The state has not presented any evidence that an additional process evaluating cumulative evidence of teacher effectiveness is required for tenure.