(a) Each teacher must be appraised each school year, except as provided by subsection (l) of this section. Whenever possible, an appraisal shall be based on the teacher's performance in fields and teaching assignments for which he or she is certified.
(b) The annual teacher appraisal, or full appraisal, shall include:
  (1) a completed and appraiser-approved Goal-Setting and Professional Development Plan that shall be:
    (A) submitted to the teacher's appraiser within the first six weeks from the day of completion of the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS) orientation, as described in §150.1006 of this title (relating to Teacher Orientation), for teachers in their first year of appraisal under the T-TESS or for teachers new to the district; or
    (B) initially drafted in conjunction with the teacher's end-of-year conference from the previous year, revised as needed based on changes to the context of the teacher's assignment during the current school year, and submitted to the teacher's appraiser within the first six weeks of instruction; and
    (C) maintained throughout the course of the school year by the teacher to track progress in the attainment of goals and participation in professional development activities detailed in the approved plan;
    (D) shared with the teacher's appraiser prior to the end-of-year conference; and
    (E) used after the end-of-year conference in the determination of ratings for the goal setting and professional development dimensions of the T-TESS rubric;
  (2) for a teacher in the first year of appraisal under the T-TESS or for teachers new to the district, a Goal-Setting and Professional Development Plan conference prior to the teacher submitting the plan to the teacher's appraiser;
  (3) after a teacher's first year of appraisal under the T-TESS within the district, an observation pre-conference conducted prior to announced observations;
  (4) at least one classroom observation of a minimum of 45 minutes, as described in subsection (g) of this section, with additional walk-throughs and observations conducted at the discretion of the certified appraiser and in accordance with the Texas Education Code, §21.352(c-1). Additional observations and walk-throughs do not require an observation post-conference. Additional observations and walk-throughs do require a written summary if the data gathered during the additional observation or walk-through will impact the teacher's summative appraisal ratings, in which case the written summary shall be shared within 10 working days after the completion of the additional observation or walk-through. Section 150.1004 of this title (relating to Teacher Response and Appeals) applies to a written summary of an additional observation or walk-through that will impact the teacher's summative appraisal ratings;
  (5) an observation post-conference that:
    (A) shall be conducted within 10 working days after the completion of an observation;
    (B) is diagnostic and prescriptive in nature;
    (C) includes a written report of the rating of each dimension observed that is presented to the teacher only after a discussion of the areas for reinforcement and areas for refinement; and
    (D) can allow for, at the discretion of the appraiser, a revision to an area for reinforcement or refinement based on the post-conference discussion with the teacher;
  (6) cumulative data, as described in subsection (f) of this section, from written documentation collected regarding job-related teacher performance in addition to formal classroom observations;
  (7) an end-of-year conference that:
    (A) reviews the appraisal data collected throughout the current school year and previous school years, if available;
    (B) examines and discusses the evidence related to the teacher's performance on the four dimensions of Domain IV of the T-TESS rubric, as described in §150.1002(a)(4) of this title (relating to Assessment of Teacher Performance);
    (C) examines and discusses evidence related to the performance of teachers' students, as defined in §150.1001(f)(2) of this title (relating to General Provisions), when available; and
    (D) identifies potential goals and professional development activities for the teacher for the next school year; and
  (8) a written summative annual appraisal report to be provided to the teacher within 10 working days of the conclusion of the end-of-year conference.
(c) A teacher may be given advance notice of the date or time of an observation, but advance notice is not required.
(d) Each school district shall establish a calendar for the appraisal of teachers and provide that calendar to teachers within three weeks from the first day of instruction. The appraisal period for each teacher must include all of the days of a teacher's contract. Observations during the appraisal period must be conducted during the required days of instruction for students during one school year. The appraisal calendar shall:
  (1) exclude observations in the two weeks following the day of completion of the T-TESS orientation in the school years when an orientation is required, as described in §150.1006 of this title; and
  (2) indicate a period for end-of-year conferences that ends no later than 15 working days before the last day of instruction for students.
(e) During the appraisal period, the certified appraiser shall evaluate and document teacher performance specifically related to the domain criteria, as identified in §150.1002(a) of this title, and the performance of teachers' students, as defined in §150.1001(f)(2) of this title.
(f) The certified appraiser is responsible for documentation of the cumulative data identified in subsection (b)(6) of this section. Any third-party information from a source other than the certified appraiser that the certified appraiser wishes to include as cumulative data shall be verified and documented by the certified appraiser. Any documentation that will influence the teacher's summative annual appraisal report must be shared in writing with the teacher within 10 working days of the certified appraiser's knowledge of the occurrence. The principal shall also be notified in writing of the cumulative data when the certified appraiser is not the teacher's principal.
(g) By written, mutual consent of the teacher and the certified appraiser, the required minimum of 45 minutes of observation may be conducted in shorter time segments. The time segments must aggregate to at least 45 minutes.
(h) A written summative annual appraisal report shall be shared with the teacher no later than 15 working days before the last day of instruction for students. The written summative annual appraisal report shall be placed in the teacher's personnel file by the end of the appraisal period.
(i) An end-of-year conference shall be held within a time frame specified on the school district calendar, no later than 15 working days before the last day of instruction for students. The end-of-year conference shall focus on the data and evidence gathered throughout the appraisal year; the teacher's efforts as they pertain to Domain IV, as identified in §150.1002(a) of this title; the results of the performance of teachers' students, when available, as defined in §150.1001(f)(2) of this title; and the potential goals and professional development plans, as identified in subsection (b) of this section, for the following year. The written summative annual appraisal report shall be shared with the teacher within 10 working days following the conclusion of the end-of-year conference but no later than 15 working days before the last day of instruction.
(j) In cases where the certified appraiser is not an administrator on the teacher's campus, as defined in §150.1005(b) of this title (relating to Appraiser Qualifications), either the principal, assistant principal, or another supervisory staff member designated as an administrator on the campus must participate in the end-of-year conference.
(k) Any documentation collected after the end-of-year conference but before the end of the contract term during one school year may be considered as part of the appraisal of a teacher. If the documentation affects the teacher's evaluation in any dimension, another summative report shall be developed to inform the teacher of the change(s).
(l) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a full appraisal must be done at least once during each school year. A teacher may receive a full appraisal less frequently if the teacher agrees in writing and the teacher's most recent full appraisal resulted in the teacher receiving summative ratings of at least proficient on nine of the sixteen dimensions identified in §150.1002(a) of this title and did not identify any area of deficiency, defined as a rating of Improvement Needed or its equivalent, on any of the sixteen dimensions identified in §150.1002(a) of this title or the performance of teachers' Cont'd...