The recent controversy surrounding teacher Reduction in Force (RIF) notices in Hamilton Southeastern Schools has placed renewed attention on how teachers are evaluated — a critical factor under Indiana law when staffing cuts are necessary.
An internal committee consisting of administrators and teachers produced the new system after several months of work.
On Wednesday night, the Hamilton Southeastern School Board unanimously approved a new teacher evaluation system that district administrators say is designed to simplify the process while placing a greater emphasis on classroom instruction and professional practice.
Dr. Danielle Fetters-Thompson, HSE Assistant Superintendent of Foundational Learning, outlined the changes for board members during the meeting.
Under Indiana law, teacher evaluations carry significant weight in determining which educators may be subject to layoffs during a RIF process. Recent reductions tied to district budget pressures have elevated public interest in how those evaluations are conducted.
One of the biggest changes approved by the board is a reduction in evaluation categories. Instead of four ratings, teachers will now be assessed using three performance levels: Exemplary, Proficient and Ineffective. The previous “Improvement Necessary” category has been eliminated. The district presentation also noted that school building letter grades will no longer factor into teacher evaluation scores.
Administrators said the new system moves away from counting the number of classroom visits and instead measures total observation time. Formal evaluations will now be based on accumulated observation minutes rather than a set number of visits.
Principals and assistant principals will conduct the formal evaluative observations. Instructional coaches may still provide professional feedback to teachers, but that feedback will not be part of the formal evaluation process.
The district’s presentation showed that teachers will now fall into one of two experience categories: “Provisional” or “Accomplished.” Teachers in their first two years with HSE Schools — or those previously rated ineffective — will be considered provisional and will receive at least 120 minutes of classroom observations during the school year. That includes at least two long observations of 40 minutes each and two short observations of at least 10 minutes each.
Teachers classified as accomplished — generally those in their third year or beyond with proficient or higher ratings — will receive at least 60 minutes of observation time, including one long observation and one short observation. District administrators emphasized the time requirements are minimum standards and additional observations may occur.
The district also approved specialized evaluation rubrics for teacher librarians, special education teachers, teachers in residence and school counselors. Presentation materials indicated the updated system reduces the number of evaluation indicators from 50 to 37 while removing weighted scoring categories used in the previous model.
According to the implementation timeline presented to the board, administrator training and calibration sessions will continue through the summer, with the new evaluation system formally taking effect Sept. 8 for the 2026-27 school year.
You can review the entire presentation to the board using this link.