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This an article of the 2000-2003 contract with teachers that are represented by the Alameda Education Association. Here the complete table of contents of the contract. ARTICLE 28(Effective July 1, 2000) PEER ASSISTANCE AND REVIEW PROGRAM The Association and the District strive to provide high quality education to the students of Alameda. In order for all students to succeed in learning, all teachers should succeed in teaching. The Association and the District believe that all teachers should focus on continuous improvement in professional practice and that teachers having difficulties can benefit from assistance and review by colleagues. Therefore the Association and the District hereby establish a teacher peer assistance and review program (PAR), making available the skills of exemplary teachers to help all teachers develop as professionals. PAR shall use as its professional model the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP). Peer assistance will be provided non-permanent teachers through the BTSA program, or through other alternative means. Peer assistance and review will be provided to permanent teachers who volunteer for assistance or who are referred to the program because of an unsatisfactory evaluation. Between July 1, 1999 and June 30, 2000, the District shall notify the State Superintendent of Schools that it plans to implement the Peer Assistance and Review Program pursuant to ABX1 on July 1, 2000. The Parties shall implement PAR effective July 1, 2000 in accord with this article, using 1999-2000 as a planning year. I. Definitions A. Consulting Teacher (CT). A consulting teacher is a permanent exemplary teacher who provides assistance and review to teachers participating in the program. B. Participating Teachers. The three types of participating teachers are voluntary, referred, and beginning. 1. Voluntary Teacher (VT) - the permanent teacher who wishes to participate in the program. 2. Referred Teacher (RT) - the permanent teacher who is referred to the program because of an unsatisfactory evaluation. 3. Beginning Teacher (BT) - a non-permanent teacher with fewer than two full years of fully credentialed teaching experience within the past five years who is required, or wishes, to participate in the program. II. Joint Committee A. Composition and Selection. The Joint Committee (JC) shall consist of five (5) members. Three (3) members shall be certificated classroom teachers who shall be selected by the Association. Two members shall be administrators selected by the District. The Association and the District shall individually determine the method for selection, the qualifications, and the term of its appointees, being mindful of the purpose of PAR and the value of continuity in administering PAR. To promote continuity, the parties shall consider 1) staggered terms so that no party’s appointees are all new in any one school year and 2) retaining the same appointees for the 2000-2001 school year as were appointed for the 1999-2000 planning year. In 1999-2000 only, to plan for PAR implementation on July 1, 2000, the Joint Committee shall be augmented by two (2) non-voting members, one (1) selected by the Association and one (1) by the District. The Joint Committee may call on additional resources as appropriate. It is the intent of the parties that all initial appointments to the Joint Committee be made by November 8, 1999 for the 1999-2000 planning year. The Joint Committee shall establish its operational procedures including the method for selection of a chairperson. B. Meetings and Compensation. The Joint Committee shall establish its meeting schedule. To hold meetings a majority of the members must be present. Meetings may be held during the school day, with a grant of release time to teachers, or during non-school time. Every effort shall be made, however, to meet at times other than during the school day to allow teachers to remain in the classroom. Association appointees to the Joint Committee shall receive a stipend of $5,500 for the 1999-2000 planning year. The Joint Committee shall recommend to the District and the Association a stipend for subsequent years which shall be subject to collective bargaining. C. Decision Making. The Joint Committee shall make decisions by consensus of the entire body. If no consensus can be reached, the decision shall be made by a majority vote of the five chairs. D. Responsibilities. The Joint Committee shall be responsible for the following: 1. Consulting Teachers (CT). * Selection of CTs. No applicant shall be selected without a classroom observation by the Joint Committee. * Training of CTs. * Review/direct the CT’s provision of services. * Review peer review reports prepared by the CT. * Evaluate the CT and possibly remove the CT. Reasons for removal may include the specific needs of the PAR program or inadequate performance of the CT. Removal shall be at the sole discretion of the Joint Committee. Prior to the effective date of such removal, the Joint Committee shall provide the CT with a written statement of the reasons for the removal and upon request, meet with the CT to discuss the reasons. 2. Permanent Teachers. The Joint Committee shall provide participating permanent teachers, voluntary or referred, with a list of available CTs. The permanent teacher may indicate the CT that he/she prefers but the Joint Committee shall not be bound by the preference. The Joint Committee shall notify the permanent teacher, his/her principal, and the CT in writing that the permanent teacher is participating in PAR and identify the appointed CT. 3. Cooperation Between Consulting Teacher and Principal. The Joint Committee shall expect and strongly encourage a cooperative relationship between the consulting teacher and the principal in the peer assistance and review process. 4. Recommendations to Board. The Joint Committee shall review peer review reports prepared by CTs and make recommendations to the Board regarding the referred teacher’s progress in PAR, including but not limited to, identifying referred teachers who are unable to demonstrate satisfactory improvement after sustained assistance.
5. Annual Evaluation of Program. The Joint Committee shall evaluate annually the impact of PAR in order to improve PAR. The review and evaluation may include interviews or surveys of PAR participants, principals, and others as deemed appropriate. The Joint Committee shall submit this annual evaluation in writing, including any recommendations for improvement, to the Board and the Association at the same time that it submits the proposed budget. This submission shall be not later than May 30. 6. Annual Budget. The Joint Committee shall annually submit a proposed budget to the Superintendent for board approval. The proposed budget shall be designed to carry out the provisions of this Article and shall take into consideration a) the number of consulting teachers which will be required in the coming year in light of the projected level of participation in the program, b) the cost of augmenting the BTSA program adequately, or the cost of other programs to support beginning teachers, c) the recommendations for improvement of PAR which it made in the annual report to the board, and d) other relevant factors. The proposed budget shall not exceed the state funding allocation for the coming year as estimated by the District’s chief financial officer. This proposal shall be submitted at the time and in the form requested by the District. The Joint Committee shall recommend to the superintendent that the board authorize the necessary number of consulting teacher positions or any increase or decrease thereof, providing to the Superintendent the rationale for the request. The Board shall consider the requests promptly, normally in accord with a previously published calendar on budget review and position authorization. 7. Procedures. The Joint Committee shall adopt procedures for implementing the provisions of this Article. These procedures shall be consistent with the statutes, the provisions of this Article, and this Collective Bargaining Agreement. If there is any inconsistency, the statutes, the provisions of this Article, and this Collective Bargaining Agreement shall prevail. E. Confidentiality. All materials related to evaluations, reports and other personnel matters regarding individuals which are created or reviewed by the Joint Committee shall be strictly confidential. Therefore, Joint Committee members may not disclose such information obtained by way of the Program or in the peer review process with the following exceptions: 1. The District may make use of the following documents regarding referred teachers: (a) final and intermittent peer review reports prepared by Consulting Teachers ; (b) recommendations of the Joint Committee or CT regarding participants in the Program; and (c) evaluations of a teacher’s participation in the Program by the Joint Committee or CT. 2. Materials shall be disclosed if required by law. F. Indemnity. The District shall defend and indemnify Joint Committee members against claims arising out of their good faith performance of duties under this Article. Joint Committee members who act pursuant to the Program shall have the same protection from liability and access to appropriate defense as other public school employees pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with section 810) of Title 1 of the Government Code. G. Non-Management/supervisory status. Functions performed by teacher Joint Committee members pursuant to the Program shall not constitute either management or supervisory functions as defined by subdivision (g) and (m) of section 3540.1 of the Government Code. III. Participating Teachers. A. Beginning Teachers (BT). A Beginning Teacher is defined as a non-permanent unit member with fewer than two full years of fully credentialed teaching experience within the past five years. All Beginning Teachers shall be required to participate in PAR for at least two years or until they no longer meet the definition of Beginning Teacher. Unit members who continue to meet the definition of Beginning Teacher after two years may be required by the District to participate in PAR, or they may do so at their own request if they make the request by May 1 of the prior year. The PAR program for Beginning Teachers shall include the BTSA program. BTSA shall be supplemented with PAR funds as necessary to insure that Beginning Teachers who are not eligible for BTSA funding or do not wish to participate in BTSA are provided the support deemed appropriate by the Joint Committee. All support provided the Beginning Teacher shall be confidential in accord with BTSA program guidelines. The District shall provide the Joint Committee and BTSA with a list of all Beginning Teachers at the beginning of every school year, indicating the support program for which the Beginning Teacher is eligible, and shall supplement the list during the year as required. B. Referred Teachers (RT). Permanent unit members who have received an unsatisfactory evaluation shall be referred to the Joint Committee and required to participate in the PAR program as an intervention. 1. Referral. The administrator who authored the unsatisfactory evaluation shall refer the RT to the Joint Committee . The administrator shall provide the Joint Committee a copy of the unsatisfactory evaluation, together with appropriate supporting documentation. A copy of the referral packet shall be sent to the RT. The Joint Committee shall review the referral packet including the unsatisfactory evaluation and supporting documentation. It may also interview the referring administrator and the teacher being referred. Based on the needs of the teacher, the Joint Committee shall determine the nature of assistance which the CT shall provide. 2. Teacher objection. A teacher who has been referred to PAR and objects to such participation on the grounds that the unsatisfactory evaluation leading to the referral was procedurally or otherwise flawed may, at his/her request, appear before the Joint Committee with a representative of his/her choice to explain his/her point of view regarding the defects in the evaluation. Notwithstanding this provision, the Joint Committee shall proceed to assign a CT to the RT in accord with its normal provisions. C. Volunteer Teachers (VT). Any permanent classroom teacher may volunteer to participate in the Program for the purpose of obtaining peer assistance to improve performance. For guaranteed participation in the program, the unit member must volunteer by May 1 of the prior school year. A volunteer may withdraw from the program at any time. When the volunteer applies to the program, he/she shall provide the program with an initial draft of the goals which he/she would like to accomplish by participation in PAR. 1. The CT shall maintain a log of assistance which shall not include any evaluative comments. A copy of this log shall be provided to the Joint Committee and the volunteer. It shall not be placed in the volunteer’s personnel file unless the volunteer so requests. 2. All communications between the Volunteer and the CT shall be confidential and shall not be shared without the written consent of the Volunteer and CT. The CT shall not, without the written consent of the Volunteer, be called by the Association or District to testify, produce documents, or to participate in any way in any proceeding involving the teaching performance of the Volunteer if the subject of the inquiry is the teaching performance of the Volunteer during the period the CT assisted the Volunteer as a participant in PAR. IV. Consulting Teachers. A. Duties. Consulting Teachers (CT) shall participate in training and provide assistance to Beginning Teachers, Referred Teachers and Volunteer Teachers pursuant to the Program.
B. Qualifications. A CT should be considered by colleagues to be a highly skilled practitioner. A consulting teacher shall possess the following qualifications: (1) permanent status, (2) at least four recent years of teaching experience in the District, (3) demonstrated exemplary teaching ability as defined by the California Standards for the Teaching Profession, (4) extensive knowledge of subject matter, (5) mastery of a range of teaching strategies, instructional techniques, and classroom management skills necessary to meet the diverse needs of students, (6) ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing, (7) ability to work cooperatively and effectively with others. A consulting teacher cannot be a member of the Joint Committee.
C. Posting and Application. There shall be a permanent posting for the position of consulting teacher at all sites and in the District office. Applications may be submitted at any time and will be kept on file to the end of the current school year. In addition to the application, applicants shall submit letters of recommendation from 1) his/her principal or immediate supervisor, 2) a union representative, and3) two teachers at the applicant’s site/program. The Joint Committee may interview any persons submitting a letter of recommendation. The Joint Committee may include additional procedures as it sees fit regarding the application process. A prospective CT cannot be named to said position without first having been observed teaching in his/her own classroom by the JC. All applications and references shall be treated with confidentiality. They shall not be placed in the CT’s personnel file D. Term of Assignment. A CT shall be appointed for and agree to accept a three-year term, subject to annual renewal. A consulting teacher shall be placed in a classroom assignment for a minimum of one year before reapplying to be a consulting teacher if the consulting teacher’s out of class CT assignment was half-time or greater. Each Consulting Teacher shall be provided reasonable release time from regular classroom duties on a full- or part-time basis, depending on need and funding for the Program.
E. Compensation. A full-time CT shall receive his/her regular salary and benefits. A CT shall continue to accrue seniority as a regular certificated employee for the time served as a consulting teacher in the same manner and for the same purposes as if he/she had remained in a regular assignment. If a CT, active or inactive, works beyond the regular teacher work year at Joint Committee direction, he/she shall be compensated in accord with the collective bargaining agreement. The active CT, whether full-time or part time, shall be paid a stipend. The stipend shall range from 7% to 13% of the Salary Schedule Step 1, Col. 1, the amount to be determined by the Joint Committee. It shall be prorated according to assignment. A change in this stipend shall be subject to bargaining. F. Return to Regular Assignment. While on assignment as a full time consulting teacher, the CT will be considered on leave to a categorical program from his/her regular assignment. Thus, his/her regular assignment may be filled by a temporary teacher. Upon completion of his or her service as a full time released Consulting Teacher, the CT shall be returned to a regular assignment in accordance with section 5.17.01 of this agreement. G. Caseload. The Joint Committee shall determine the caseload for a consulting teacher. The number is dependent on the amount of intervention time which the Joint Committee determines, in consultation with the CT, is necessary for each participating teacher. Consulting Teachers shall assist the teachers on their caseload by demonstrating, observing, coaching, conferencing, referring or by other activities, which, in their professional judgment, will assist the teacher in accord with the PAR process set out below in Section V. H. Indemnity. The District will defend and indemnify Consulting Teachers against claims arising out of their good faith performance of duties under this Article. Consulting Teachers who act pursuant to the Program shall have the same protection from liability and access to appropriate defense as other public school employees pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with section 810) of Title 1 of the Government Code. I. Non-Management/supervisory status. Functions performed by Consulting Teachers pursuant to the Program shall not constitute either management or supervisory functions as defined by subdivisions (g) and (m) of section 3540.1 of the Government Code. V. Peer Assistance and Review Process for Permanent Teachers. A. Preparation of Assistance Plan. As soon as possible after assignment, the Consulting Teacher shall review the referring packet for the RT/VT. Thereafter, the Consulting Teacher shall meet with the RT/VT and the site principal together or separately, as appropriate, to review the employee’s performance and recommendations for improvement. The Consulting Teacher will then prepare a written Assistance Plan aimed at remedying the deficiencies which were cited in the RT’s unsatisfactory evaluation or meeting the goals set forth in the VT’s application. For the RT, the Assistance Plan will include 1) performance goals which are aligned with pupil learning and consistent with Stull Bill criteria and CSTP and 2) a projected date for completion which will ordinarily be by the end of the current school year. The Plan will be submitted to the Joint Committee for final development and approval. B. Classroom Observations. The Assistance Plan will include multiple observations of the RT/VT by the Consulting Teacher. These observations will be in addition to any that are performed as part of the evaluation Article in this agreement. C. Progress Reports. The Consulting Teacher will prepare and discuss with the Joint Committee periodic (at least every three months) reports of the RT’s/VT's participation and progress in the program. The Consulting Teacher’s report shall include an assessment as to whether the Assistance Plan can or should be discontinued, whether the Plan needs revision, or whether the Plan needs to be extended beyond its original projected term. For purposes of the VT these reports shall be limited to the assistance log referred to in II.C. above. D. Final Report. By April 15, or at a later date if specified in the Assistance Plan, the Consulting Teacher shall make a final report to the RT/VT, and, for RTs, to the Joint Committee and the evaluator. A copy of the final report shall be included in the RT’s personnel file after he or she has had an opportunity to review and comment on it. The Final Report shall not constitute the District’s evaluation of the employee’s performance but, in the case of an RT shall (and, in the case of a VT, may at his or her request) be considered by the site administrator in preparing any evaluation document or proposing any personnel action. VI. Miscellaneous. A. This article shall not be grievable. Any claims that the article has not been properly implemented shall be presented in writing to the Joint Committee, with a copy to the District and the Association. Each year until 2002-2003 this article shall be an automatic reopener in these negotiations. B. Expenditures made for this program shall not exceed the revenues received under ABX1 and, where applicable, BTSA. C. At the conclusion of the 2000-2001 fiscal year, if revenue exceeds the expenditures of this program, the parties shall meet to consider the matter and shall recommend the allocation of the surplus. D. Nothing herein shall modify or in any manner affect the right of the District under provisions of the Education Code relating to the employment, classification, retention or non-reelection of certificated employees. E. Article 17, Mentor Teacher Program, shall be deleted from the collective bargaining agreement effective July 1, 2000. Go to the previous article. 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