NRS391.31214. Policy for evaluations of teachers and other licensed educational personnel instead of NRS 391.3125 during validation study.

      1.  It is the intent of the Legislature that a uniform system be developed for objective evaluation of teachers and other licensed personnel in each school district. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.31211, for the 2013-2014 school year, the board of trustees of each school district shall comply with the policy for the evaluation of teachers, counselors, librarians and other licensed educational personnel, except for administrators, as set forth in this section instead of NRS 391.3125. For the 2014-2015 school year, the board of trustees of each school district shall comply with the policy for the evaluation of counselors, librarians and other licensed educational personnel, except for teachers and administrators, as set forth in this section.

      2.  Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.31211 and 391.31212, if the Interim Finance Committee makes a determination pursuant to NRS 391.31217 that all school districts which participated in the validation study of the statewide performance evaluation system pursuant to NRS 391.31213 are not prepared to implement the evaluation system, the board of trustees of each school district shall, for the 2014-2015 school year, comply with the policy for the evaluation of teachers as set forth in this section instead of NRS 391.3125.

      3.  Each board of trustees, following consultation with and involvement of elected representatives of the teachers or their designees, shall develop a policy for objective evaluations in narrative form. The policy must set forth a means according to which an employee’s overall performance may be determined to be satisfactory or unsatisfactory. The policy must require that the information maintained pursuant to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of subsection 1 of NRS 386.650 account for a significant portion of the evaluation, as determined by the board of trustees. The policy may include an evaluation by the teacher, pupils, administrators or other teachers or any combination thereof. In a similar manner, counselors, librarians and other licensed personnel must be evaluated on forms developed specifically for their respective specialties. A copy of the policy adopted by the board of trustees must be filed with the Department of Education. The primary purpose of an evaluation is to provide a format for constructive assistance. Evaluations, while not the sole criterion, must be used in the dismissal process.

      4.  A conference and a written evaluation for a probationary employee must be concluded not later than:

      (a) December 1;

      (b) February 1; and

      (c) April 1,

Ê of each school year of the probationary period, except that a probationary employee assigned to a school that operates all year must be evaluated at least three times during each 12 months of employment on a schedule determined by the board of trustees. An administrator charged with the evaluation of a probationary teacher shall personally observe the performance of the teacher in the classroom for not less than a cumulative total of 60 minutes during each evaluation period, with at least one observation during that 60-minute evaluation period consisting of at least 45 consecutive minutes.

      5.  Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, each postprobationary teacher must be evaluated at least once each year. If a postprobationary teacher receives an unsatisfactory evaluation, the postprobationary teacher must be evaluated three times in the immediately succeeding school year. An administrator charged with the evaluation of a postprobationary teacher shall personally observe the performance of the teacher in the classroom for not less than a cumulative total of 60 minutes during each evaluation period, with at least one observation during that 60-minute evaluation period consisting of at least 30 consecutive minutes. If a postprobationary teacher is evaluated three times in a school year and he or she receives an unsatisfactory evaluation on the first or second evaluation, or both evaluations, the postprobationary teacher may request that the third evaluation be conducted by another administrator. If a postprobationary teacher requests that his or her third evaluation be conducted by another administrator, that administrator must be:

      (a) Employed by the school district or, if the school district has five or fewer administrators, employed by another school district in this State; and

      (b) Selected by the postprobationary teacher from a list of three candidates submitted by the superintendent.

      6.  The evaluation of a probationary teacher or a postprobationary teacher must include, without limitation:

      (a) An evaluation of the classroom management skills of the teacher;

      (b) A review of the lesson plans and the work log or grade book of pupils prepared by the teacher;

      (c) An evaluation of whether the curriculum taught by the teacher is aligned with the standards of content and performance established pursuant to NRS 389.520, as applicable for the grade level taught by the teacher;

      (d) An evaluation of whether the teacher is appropriately addressing the needs of the pupils in the classroom, including, without limitation, special educational needs, cultural and ethnic diversity, the needs of pupils enrolled in advanced courses of study and the needs of pupils who are limited English proficient;

      (e) If necessary, recommendations for improvements in the performance of the teacher;

      (f) A description of the action that will be taken to assist the teacher in correcting any deficiencies reported in the evaluation; and

      (g) A statement by the administrator who evaluated the teacher indicating the amount of time that the administrator personally observed the performance of the teacher in the classroom.

      7.  The teacher must receive a copy of each evaluation not later than 15 days after the evaluation. A copy of the evaluation and the teacher’s response must be permanently attached to the teacher’s personnel file. Upon the request of a teacher, a reasonable effort must be made to assist the teacher to correct those deficiencies reported in the evaluation of the teacher for which the teacher requests assistance.

      (Added to NRS by 2013, 3162)