256.29  Council on educator development established.
  1.  A council on educator development is established to conduct a study and make recommendations regarding the following:
  a.  A statewide teacher evaluation system and performance review requirements.
  b.  A statewide administrator evaluation system.
  2.  The goal of the study shall be to determine the efficacy of the current systems in providing practitioners with clear and actionable feedback to enhance their practice and advance student learning. The council shall receive input from teachers, administrators, and evaluators regarding educators’ personal experiences with evaluations. 
  3.  The study shall review the following: 
  a.  The current teacher evaluation system and performance review requirements and the current administrator evaluation system requirements.
  b.  The Iowa teaching standards.
  c.  Criteria used to further define the Iowa teaching standards.
  d.  The Iowa standards for school administrators.
  e.  Nationally accepted teaching standards.
  f.  The process for developing individual teacher and individual administrator professional development plans.
  g.  Evaluator training.
  h.  The peer group reviews conducted pursuant to chapter 284.
  i.  The interrelated facets of the teacher and administrator evaluation systems and performance review requirements.
  4.  Any evaluation system recommended by the council shall be designed, at a minimum, so that the system is or does all of the following:
  a.  Is meaningful, providing all teachers and administrators with clear and actionable feedback.
  b.  Is comprehensive and based on multiple indicators designed to enhance an educator’s practice.
  c.  Provides for ongoing, nonevaluation feedback and regular, comprehensive, and fair evaluations.
  d.  Is developed and implemented with input from teachers and administrators, respecting their own evaluation systems; and is developed and implemented in partnership with organizations representing teachers, administrators, and school board members at the state and local school district levels.
  e.  Is based on clear standards for what teachers and administrators should know and be able to do.
  f.  Is adequately funded, staffed, and fully developed and validated, and includes training for all teachers and administrators concerning the new systems before the systems are used to make any high-stakes employment decisions.
  g.  Is applicable to teachers and administrators in all content areas.
  5.  In developing recommendations for any evaluation system, the council shall consider, at a minimum, all of the following:
  a.  Any proposed revisions to systems, standards, or training reviewed pursuant to subsection 3.
  b.  The fair and balanced use of student outcome measures, comprised of multiple, reliable indicators of student growth and learning that are appropriate to the curriculum and the students being taught. These measures may include but are not limited to gauges of higher order skills such as student research papers, science investigations, technology products, and art projects; teacher-defined objectives for individual student growth; student learning objectives developed jointly by a teacher and principal or evaluator; district, school, or teacher-created assessments; and high-quality standardized tests that provide valid, reliable, timely, and meaningful information regarding student learning and growth.
  c.  Multiple indicators to provide evidence of practice, including but not limited to classroom observations; proof of practice such as lesson plans, curriculum plans, and instructional notes; teacher and administrator interviews, respecting their own evaluation systems; self-assessment; and evidence of professional contributions and collaboration.
  d.  Student and parent surveys.
  e.  A multitiered evaluation system that differentiates at least three levels of teacher and administrator performance.
  6.  The council shall be comprised of at least seventeen voting members appointed by the director by October 1, 2013, as follows: 
  a.  Eight members representing education stakeholders who shall be subject to the evaluation systems being recommended. 
  b.  One member representing the department. 
  c.  One member representing the area education agencies. 
  d.  One member representing the Iowa state education association.
  e.  One member representing the school administrators of Iowa. 
  f.  One member representing the Iowa association of school boards. 
  g.  One member representing the urban education network.
  h.  One member representing the largest approved practitioner preparation institution in the state.
  i.  One member representing Iowa’s approved administrator preparation programs.
  j.  One member representing parents of Iowa elementary or secondary students. 
  7.  Four members of the general assembly shall serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the council, with one member to be appointed by each of the following: the majority leader of the senate, the minority leader of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the minority leader of the house of representatives. A legislative member serves for a term as provided in section 69.16B and is eligible for per diem and expenses as provided in section 2.10.
  8.  To the extent possible, the council shall have balanced representation with regard to teachers and administrators. Teachers and administrators from elementary and secondary education shall be included in the membership, as well as school and area education agency personnel who are evaluated under the teacher evaluation system but who are not classroom teachers.
  9.  The member representing the area education agencies shall convene the initial meeting. The council shall elect a chairperson from among its members for a term of one year. Administrative support and staffing for the council shall be provided by the department. The voting members of the council shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties and shall receive a per diem as specified in section 7E.6.
  10.  The council shall provide for the wide distribution of a preliminary draft of its recommendations for evaluation systems and performance review requirements to teachers, administrators, and school board members throughout the state by October 1, 2015, and shall provide a mechanism and opportunity for practitioners and school board members to submit feedback to the council. Such feedback shall be reviewed by the council prior to making final recommendations.
  11.  The council shall submit its findings and recommendations to the state board of education, the governor, and the general assembly by November 15, 2016.
2013 Acts, ch 121, §48