House Bill No. 391, introduced by Representative Stagni, amends the evaluation process for teachers and administrators in Louisiana by modifying the student growth component. The bill specifically prohibits the inclusion of test scores or data from students who have ten or more absences—whether excused, unexcused, consecutive, or non-consecutive—when calculating evaluations based on the value-added assessment model. This change aims to ensure that evaluations reflect a more accurate measure of student growth by excluding data from students with significant attendance issues.

Additionally, the bill mandates that the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) develop a policy to invalidate student growth data for any teacher during school years affected by natural disasters or other unexpected events leading to temporary school closures. The legislation also emphasizes the importance of communication between evaluators and those being evaluated by requiring discussions about student learning targets, which must be documented to be considered in evaluations. Overall, the bill seeks to create a fairer evaluation system that accounts for various factors affecting student performance.

Statutes affected:
HB391 Original: 17:3902(B)(5)