(a) General provisions.
  (1) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
    (A) Beginning of course--The first nine weeks of a year-long course or the first six weeks of a semester course.
    (B) Charter school--A Texas public school that meets one of the following criteria:
      (i) is operated by a charter holder under an open-enrollment charter granted either by the State Board of Education or commissioner of education pursuant to Texas Education Code (TEC), §12.101, identified with its own county district number;
      (ii) has a charter granted under TEC, Chapter 12, Subchapter C, and is eligible for benefits under TEC, §11.174 and §48.252;
      (iii) has a charter granted under TEC, §29.259, and Human Resources Code, §221.002; or
      (iv) has a charter granted under TEC, §11.157(b).
    (C) Classroom teacher--An educator, as defined by TEC, §5.001, who is employed by a school district and who, not less than an average of four hours each day, teaches in an academic instructional setting or a career and technical instructional setting. This term does not include an educational aide or a full-time administrator.
    (D) Data capture year--The school year in which the teacher observation and student growth measure data is collected based on the proposed local teacher designation system.
    (E) Designated teacher--An exemplary, master, or recognized teacher.
    (F) Eligible teaching assignment--An assignment based on campus, subject taught, or grade taught.
    (G) End of course--The last twelve weeks of a year-long course or the last six weeks of a semester course.
    (H) National Board certification-- Certification issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
    (I) Provisional approval--Conditional approval of a school district local optional teacher designation system that would require resubmission of system review, data validation, additional required documentation, video submission, and/or other technical assistance for further data submission.
    (J) Reliability--The degree to which an instrument used to measure teacher performance and student growth produces stable and consistent results.
    (K) Rural--A campus within a school district with fewer than 5,000 enrolled students that is categorized as a rural, non-metropolitan: stable, or non-metropolitan: fast growing district type by the Texas Education Agency (TEA); a campus within a school district with fewer than 5,000 enrolled students categorized as rural by the National Center for Education Statistics; or a campus defined in TEC, §48.112(a)(1).
    (L) School district--The definition of a school district includes charter schools as defined in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
    (M) Student growth--Student academic progress achieved in response to the pedagogical practices of teachers, as measured at the individual teacher level by one or more measures of student growth aligned to the standards of the course.
    (N) Teacher category--One or more eligible teaching assignments evaluated with the same teacher observation rubric, student growth measure, and optional components and weighting as defined in a district's local designation system.
    (O) Teacher observation--One or more observations of a teacher instructing students for a minimum of 45 minutes or multiple observations that aggregate to at least 45 minutes.
    (P) Texas Student Data System (TSDS)--Data collected annually during the Class Roster Winter Submission.
    (Q) Validity--The degree to which an instrument used to measure teacher performance and student growth measures what it is intended to measure.
  (2) Fees for teacher incentive allotment teacher designation and system renewal. A school district requesting approval of a teacher designation system or renewal of such a system shall pay the applicable fees listed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph. The following fees must be paid by the district and cannot be paid by the teachers submitted for designation:
    (A) a $500 fee for each teacher submitted for designation to TEA; and
    (B) a $2,500 system renewal fee for districts where all campuses meet the definition of rural pursuant to paragraph (1)(K) of this subsection the year prior to renewal application submission or a $10,000 system renewal fee for districts where not all campuses meet the definition of rural pursuant to paragraph (1)(K) of this subsection.
(b) Teacher eligibility.
  (1) Teachers eligible to earn or receive designations under an approved local optional teacher designation system must meet the following requirements:
    (A) the teacher is employed by the recommending school district or charter partner pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) or (iv) of this section in a role ID coded as 087 (Teacher) and corresponding class roles of 01, 02, or 03, if applicable, in TSDS for 90 days at 100% of the day (equivalent to four and one-half months or a full semester) or 180 days at 50-99% of the day and compensated for that employment. A charter partner operating under subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) or (iv) of this section is required to report teacher-level data in TSDS or provide teacher-level data to its partner school district for reporting by the district in TSDS;
    (B) the teacher was employed by the recommending school district or charter partner pursuant to subsection (a)(1)(B)(ii) or (iv) of this section during the year the teacher's effectiveness was collected in alignment with the recommended designation;
    (C) the teacher is not currently designated under a local optional teacher designation system, unless the teacher is being recommended for a higher designation; and
    (D) the teacher does not have a suspension, revocation, permanent surrender, or surrender of a certificate issued by the State Board for Educator Certification and is not found on the registry of persons not eligible for employment in public schools under TEC, §22.092, and Chapter 153, Subchapter EE, of this title (relating to Commissioner's Rules Concerning Registry of Persons Not Eligible for Employment in Public Schools).
  (2) School districts are eligible to receive funding for each designated teacher if the teacher meets the requirements in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection for each district. TEA may exercise administrative discretion to determine the eligibility of a teacher if a district disputes TSDS data. Disputes must be received by TEA by the second Friday in May each year; however, TEA may exercise administrative discretion to allow disputes to be considered outside of this timeline.
(c) Application procedures and approval process.
  (1) The following provisions apply to applications submitted under this section.
    (A) If TEA determines that an application is incomplete, TEA may provide the applicant with notice of the deficiency and an opportunity to submit missing required information. If the missing required information is not submitted within seven business days after the original submission deadline, the application will be denied.
    (B) If TEA determines that a system application does not meet the standards established under TEC, §21.3521, and this section, TEA shall permit the applicant to resubmit the application by June 30. If no resubmission is made by the deadline, the application will be denied.
    (C) Applicants that are determined to meet the standards established under TEC, §21.3521 and §48.112, and the requirements of the statutorily based framework provided in the figure in this subparagraph shall be approved.
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    (D) Applications that are determined to meet the standards established under TEC, §21.3521 and §48.112, and this section shall be approved for an initial term of five years. Applications that are determined to need ongoing support may result in provisional approval.
  (2) The application shall include the following for each eligible teaching assignment:
    (A) components of a local system for issuing designations, including:
      (i) a teacher observation component that contains:
        (I) a plan for calibration, using the rubric approved under subclause (II) of this clause, that includes congruence among appraisers, a review of teacher observation data and the correlation between teacher observation and student growth data, and implementation of next steps; and
Cont'd...