Reference Title: schools; career ladders

AN ACT
AMENDING SECTIONS 15-918.01, 15-918.02 AND 15-918.03, ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES; RELATING TO CAREER LADDER PROGRAMS.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-918.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

15-918.01 . State career ladder advisory committee

A. The state board of education shall establish a state career ladder advisory committee which shall :

1. Provide recommendations to the state board on matters related to the implementation, operation and monitoring of career ladder programs in this state's school districts.

2. DEVELOP CRITERIA FOR THE ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE COMPONENTS SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ALLOWED PURSUANT TO SECTION 15-918.02, SUBSECTION B.

B. The advisory committee shall consist of no more than fifteen members and shall be composed of representatives from the educational, business and general community. No more than one-third of the members of the advisory committee may represent districts which have been authorized to budget for a career ladder program.

C. The state board of education shall appoint the members of the advisory committee for staggered three year terms. Vacancies shall be filled for an unexpired term in the same manner as original appointments. The advisory committee shall annually elect a chair and vice-chair.

D. Members of the committee are not eligible to receive compensation, but if monies are available, members are eligible to receive reimbursement of expenses pursuant to title 38, chapter 4, article 2.

Sec. 2. Section 15-918.02, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

15-918.02 . Career ladder program; requirements; optional component

A. To receive approval to budget for a career ladder program as provided in this article, a school district's career ladder program or the district's plan for the implementation of its program must contain at least the following components:

1. A structure which provides teachers with opportunities for professional career advancement based primarily on improved or advanced teaching skills, evidence of pupil academic progress and higher level instructional responsibilities. Advancement shall not be based on years of teaching experience or the number of educational credits earned.

2. Provisions requiring all teachers new to the district to be evaluated for the career ladder program.

3. Provisions for ensuring that the placement of teachers on the career ladder shall be based on more than one measure of teacher performance incorporating the areas of instructional performance and pupil academic progress and requirements for higher level instructional responsibilities. The following specific requirements shall exist:

(a) The evaluation of teacher performance shall be based on an evaluation system as provided in section 15-537 and shall include at least the following:

(i) A minimum of one evaluation that consists of both announced and unannounced observations of teacher performance.

(ii) Procedures for ongoing review and refinement of the evaluation instruments and procedures, including a process for establishing inter-rater reliability among all evaluators.

(iii) Increasingly higher levels of instructional criteria against which teachers are evaluated for placement on higher career ladder levels.

(iv) Provisions for formative evaluations and other opportunities for improvement of teacher performance.

(b) The evaluation of a teacher's pupil academic progress shall include at least the following:

(i) Specific criteria and requirements for the demonstration of pupil academic progress for placement at each level of the career ladder. Teachers shall be required to demonstrate increasingly higher levels of pupil academic progress for placement at the higher levels of the career ladder.

(ii) The use of various methods of assessment which have been established by the district for the evaluation of pupil progress. A variety of evaluation procedures may be used depending on the grade levels and the academic disciplines involved. The system must evaluate the teacher in terms of pupil progress as opposed to absolute performance which does not take into account entering ability.

(iii) Specific district procedures for the review and refinement of pupil academic progress criteria, assessments and procedures. Means for measuring pupil progress and the methodology for incorporating this information into the teacher's placement on the ladder must be consistent for all teachers.

(c) The requirement that teachers must perform higher level instructional responsibilities as part of placement at the highest career ladder levels. In addition to these higher level instructional responsibilities required for placement, districts may utilize monies budgeted for the career ladder program to support additional higher level instructional responsibilities for teachers placed on the career ladder.

4. Provisions for the placement of teachers on the career ladder include at least the following:

(a) Specific criteria for placement at each level and step on the ladder.

(b) More than one person who is responsible for determining the placement of the teacher on the ladder.

(c) An appeal process which includes both teachers and administrators to review situations in which teachers disagree with their placement.

(d) Procedures for ensuring the fair and objective placement of teachers on the career ladder including the establishment of inter-rater reliability among persons responsible for determining placement.

5. The program shall utilize a compensation system which is based on a completely restructured salary schedule in which a salary range is established for each career ladder level and a salary is set for each step within a level. The salary range established for a teacher is determined by that teacher's performance and subsequent career ladder placement and not by that teacher's salary at the time of placement. The compensation system must be based on equal pay for equal performance and shall not be the traditional schedule based on experience and education with additional stipends for career ladder placement. If participation in the career ladder program is optional for teachers already teaching in the district when the program is implemented, the traditional salary schedule may be retained for those teachers who choose not to participate in the program.

6. The program shall include provisions for the administration of the career ladder program which include the establishment of at least the following:

(a) A steering committee composed of teachers, administrators, board members and parents to assist in the development and refinement of the district's career ladder program.

(b) Procedures to allow for regular communication of information related to the district's career ladder program, including formalized procedures for teacher, administrator and community input.

(c) Provisions for adequate program management in which the district recognizes the additional responsibilities associated with the management of the program and assigns this task to a person or group of people.

(d) Provisions to provide additional support to building level administrators in recognition of the additional responsibilities associated with the evaluation of teachers for the career ladder program.

7. The program shall include provisions for the periodic review and evaluation of the district's career ladder program and procedures for refining program components based on the evaluation results.

8. The program shall include provisions for providing appropriate amounts and types of staff development for teachers and administrators on the requirements of the career ladder program and assistance in improving performance.

B. In addition to the requirements of subsection A of this section, the program may include additional incentive components in which awards are based upon group, team, school, or district performance , EXCEPT THAT AWARDS SHALL NOT BE BASED UPON EXTRA PAY FOR EXTRA WORK . Monies budgeted for the career ladder program may be used to support these additional incentive components. These components may provide performance rewards to a single school regardless of whether the components are provided to other schools in the district or to employees regardless of whether they are participating in the main career ladder program as prescribed in subsection A of this section. Examples of incentive components that may be included pursuant to this subsection are as follows:

1. A system for basing rewards on improved performance of a school on the measures included in the school's report card as provided in section 15-743, subsection A, or other objective measures.

2. A system which is based on principles of effective organizations, teamwork, parental and pupil involvement and support of teachers, that utilizes measures of quality including parental satisfaction or rating of educational quality, teacher job satisfaction or rating of support and pupil satisfaction with the quality of education being received.

C. EACH DISTRICT THAT INCLUDES AN ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE COMPONENT AS PROVIDED IN SUBSECTION B OF THIS SECTION SHALL DEVELOP AN ASSESSMENT PLAN FOR THE MEASURES OF PERFORMANCE BY NOVEMBER 1 OF EACH YEAR. MONIES USED FOR THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE COMPONENTS SHALL NOT EXCEED FIVE PER CENT OF THE MONIES THAT ARE ALLOCATED FOR THE ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE COMPONENTS.

Sec. 3. Section 15-918.03, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

15-918.03 . Career ladder programs; implementation phases

The state board of education shall utilize the following implementation phases and requirements when approving districts to budget for a career ladder program:

1. The application phase is the first phase of the career ladder implementation process. During this phase, districts shall assess their readiness to implement a career ladder program and shall develop the general outline of their program based on model components adopted by the advisory committee but are not authorized to increase their budgets. To receive approval for advancement to the second phase, districts must submit, at a minimum, evidence that the plan was developed in consultation with teachers, administrators and school board members, the district's readiness to implement the plan and a time line indicating when various components, such as the refinement of the district's teacher evaluation instrument and procedures, an appropriate staff development program and the development of pupil assessments, will occur.

2. The development phase is the second implementation phase undertaken by districts following their completion of the application phase. During this phase, districts shall develop the specifics of their career ladder programs and are allowed to budget for a career ladder program as provided in section 15-918.04. To receive approval for advancement to the third phase, districts must submit, at a minimum, evidence that teacher and pupil academic progress evaluation instruments and procedures have been refined and pilot tested, appropriate levels of staff development have been provided and any specific areas of weaknesses associated with the district's readiness to implement a career ladder program have been adequately rectified.

3. The evaluation phase is the third implementation phase undertaken by districts following their completion of the development phase. During this phase, districts shall evaluate teachers, shall provide teacher career ladder placement contracts for the following year and are allowed to budget for a career ladder program as provided in section 15-918.04. To receive approval for advancement to the fourth phase, districts must submit, at a minimum, evidence that teachers have been fairly evaluated and placed and that the district is evaluating its program.

4. The placement phase is the fourth implementation phase undertaken by districts following their completion of the evaluation phase. During this phase, a district shall continue to evaluate teachers and is allowed to budget for a career ladder program as provided in section 15-918.04. To receive approval for advancement to the fifth phase, a district must submit, at a minimum, evidence that the program participation rate is at least fifty per cent , EXCEPT THAT IF A SCHOOL DISTRICT IS DEVOTING AT LEAST THIRTY PER CENT OF ITS CAREER LADDER FUNDING TO ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE COMPONENTS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15-918.02, SUBSECTION B, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY REPORT ITS PROGRAM PARTICIPATION RATE TO BE ONE HUNDRED PER CENT , that district level pupil academic progress has occurred and, if not already included, that provisions to require all teachers new to the district to be evaluated for the career ladder program have been included. The state board of education shall prescribe a method of computing the program participation rate that treats all career ladder programs equitably by taking into account variations in program definitions.

5. The effective career ladder phase is the fifth and final implementation phase undertaken by districts following their completion of the placement phase. During this phase, districts shall fully implement their career ladder programs and are allowed to budget for a career ladder program as provided in section 15-918.04. During this phase, the state board may grant districts up to a five year waiver of any program requirements prescribed in section 15-918, subsection B, or section 15-918.02. Waivers may be granted to districts that meet all of the following conditions:

(a) The district has submitted a request for the waiver that explains how the proposed waiver will improve its program and how this program improvement will enhance pupil achievement.

(b) The district has integrated its career ladder program with other reforms or programs that are designed to improve pupil achievement.

(c) The district is actively evaluating and reviewing its career ladder program and making adjustments as necessary, including analysis of the impact of the program on pupil achievement.

(d) The career ladder program is strongly supported by teachers, administrators and the governing board.

APPROVED BY THE GOVERNOR APRIL 24, 1997.

FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 25, 1997.