What changes were made to Teacher Development and Evaluation (TDE) requirements by the Legislature during the 2013 session?
The Legislature removed the requirement that value-added data be used for evaluating teachers when such data are available (see below). Now, all teachers will have 35 percent of their evaluation based on growth data from assessments that are valid, reliable and aligned to standards.

The Legislature provided funding for the Minnesota Department of Education to lead TDE efforts and for districts that will pilot the state model.

In addition, there was a change to the 2 percent staff development set-aside to allow districts to use those monies to fund teacher evaluation.

Finally, charter schools are now required to implement teacher evaluation plans.

What does this mean to me and my district?
The removal of the value-added requirement provides more flexibility to joint union/district teams in designing TDE plans, allowing multiple approaches to addressing the requirement that 35 percent of a teacher’s evaluation be based on student learning data.

Some members have inquired about the meaning of the words “valid” and “reliable” in the new statutory language. Valid assessments are simply those that measure what they claim to measure. Validity can be established for any type of student assessment, from a paper and pencil test to a rubric used for scoring a musical performance. Reliable assessments are those that produce consistent results; they yield similar results when used in similar conditions. Like validity, reliability can be established for a wide range of student performance measures.

The new language also requires that assessments be “aligned to state and local academic standards.” Since teachers should already align their curriculum lessons and assessments to established state and local standards, this requirement is not new.Unfortunately, no funding was provided for full implementation of TDE requirements in 2014-15. The lack of funding underlines the importance for local districts to capitalize on existing practices and find efficiencies in developing local plans.

The following language change has been made to the teacher evaluation requirements in 122A.40/41:

" ... the annual evaluation process for teachers:

must use an agreed upon teacher value-added assessment model for the grade levels and subject areas for which value-added data are available and establish state or local measures of student growth for the grade levels and subject areas for which value-added data are not available as a basis for 35 percent of teacher evaluation results must use data from valid and reliable assessments aligned to state and local academic standards and must use state and local measures of student growth that may include value-added models or student learning goals to determine 35 percent of teacher evaluation results ..."