Educator Evaluations for Employees Working Under Permits

• There is no law or rule requiring formal evaluation for individuals employed as an intermittent, day-to-day substitute teacher under a Daily Substitute Permit. Daily Substitute Permits are not renewed but can be applied for annually. However, when a Daily Substitute Permit is utilized to fulfill a need for instruction over an extended period of time (up to 90-calendar days), it is beneficial to provide meaningful feedback focused on growing proficiency in instructional delivery and classroom management.
• Providing substitute teachers access to professional learning opportunities aligned to observation feedback not only affords the individual access to continued growth, but also messages the school’s commitment to growing strong educators to contribute to the educator pipeline. Individuals hired to provide instruction to K-12 students and serve as a teacher of record must be evaluated under MCL 380.1249.

• In some cases when other options have been exhausted and supports have not been effective in transitioning the individual to a full-year option, an Emergency Extension to a Daily Substitute Permit may be appropriate.
• At a minimum, the individual authorized under a Daily Substitute Permit should be observed and provided an evaluation prior to the school’s application for the Extension.
• Additionally, the individual must be assigned and supported by a mentor teacher. When this permit is utilized, it is incumbent upon the district to support the educator with an Individualized Development Plan (IDP) aligned to evaluation feedback.
• Professional development should be responsive to the evaluation feedback and should align to the goals defined in the IDP. Goals may need to address a blend of content and pedagogical strands and should be directly tied to feedback provided through the formal evaluation process as defined in MCL 380.1249.
• Individuals hired to provide instruction to K-12 students and serve as a teacher of record must be evaluated under MCL 380.1249.

Individuals working under a Full-year Basic Permit come from a variety of backgrounds ranging from certified teachers to those completely new to the profession, therefore, individualized district supports intentionally designed to grow their professional practice are key. An Individualized Development Plan (IDP) will include formalized mentoring and induction, collaboratively developed professional goals aligned to the district’s teacher evaluation framework, observation and feedback, and district-provided professional learning opportunities aligned to the established IDP goals.

A certified teacher utilizing the Full-year Basic Permit to teach a course (or grade level) for which they are not endorsed to teach, but who is also teaching in other areas matching their credentials, in collaboration with leadership, will develop and implement and Individualized Development Plan and professional learning supports aligned to feedback specific to the course they are teaching utilizing the permit.

A certified teacher utilizing the Full-year Shortage Permit to teach 0.5 FTE or less of a course they are not endorsed to teach, and 0.5+ in their endorsement area should receive formal observation feedback. Schools should align their evaluation practices to those defined in their district-adopted teacher evaluation tool. Teachers in this category should receive formal feedback specific to both the course they are teaching utilizing the permit and the course they are endorsed to teach. Best practice would dictate the need for an Individualized Development Plan (IDP) with goals aligned to formal summative evaluation feedback to provide optimal supports for the professional’s growth, providing benefit to both the educator and the district.

Individuals delivering instruction through the use of an Expert Substitute Permit are professionals in other areas and typically are not looking to make a career change to become a certified teacher. Because they have not completed pedagogical training through a certification pathway, they should receive targeted, intentional supports from the employing district. Specifically, they will have an Individualized Development Plan (IDP) informed by observation and feedback aligned to the district’s teacher evaluation framework. Educators utilizing the Expert Substitute Permit must be assigned a formal mentor and professional learning aligned to the areas identified through their IDP as goals. As content experts, IDP goals should be aligned to classroom management and other pedagogical strands within the district-adopted teacher evaluation tool.