In accordance with Executive Orders 20-06 and 20-48 issued by Governor Asa Hutchinson on March 17, 2020, and October 13, 2020, respectively, the statute regarding the requirement of performance evaluation teachers are required to undergo every four years is hereby suspended for the duration of the emergency. Note only the requirement of summative year evaluations have been waived.
Other Teacher Excellence and Support System provisions continue (Novice Teacher mentoring, professional growth goals, etc.). Guidance and licensure implications are available in the attached "Summative Waiver Guidance" document. Implications include educators applying for designations, education leadership program admission, and several others. Administrators should be aware of these impacts as it may result in a request by a summative year educator to receive a summative evaluation for the 2020-21 school year.
EdReflect will continue to serve as a tool for artifact/observation collection, and recording professional growth goal progress. Summative training will be available in 2021 for districts needing to calculate final ratings.
DESE will provide guidance this summer as districts determine how to move forward regarding teacher summative year tracks for 2021-2022.
Finally, supporting educator growth is a priority. DESE continues to add resources to the "TESS Support for Virtual Educators" found HERE. Supports include videos, articles, observation guides for district, building, and classroom levels. Contact Kim Wright, kim.wright@arkansas.gov for additional information.
A list of all currently suspended statutes may be found: HERE