AB425 - Revises provisions governing education. (BDR 34-213)

A.B. 425 - *AB425* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 425–ASSEMBLYMEMBER LA RUE HATCH MARCH 13, 2025 ____________ Referred to Committee on Education SUMMARY—Revises provisions governing education. (BDR 34-213) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Increases or Newly Provides for Term of Imprisonment in County or City Jail or Detention Facility. Effect on the State: No. ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to education; providing that certain teachers have sole authority to determine the grade assigned to a pupil and the components and weights used to calculate such a grade; prohibiting regulations, policies or directives that interfere with such authority; prohibiting certain acts intended to interfere with the grade assigned to a pupil or the components or weights used to calculate such a grade; eliminating provisions requiring certain teachers and administrators to develop learning goals for pupils that are used in the evaluations of such teachers and administrators; providing a penalty; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt regulations that 1 provide a uniform grading scale for all public high schools, including, without 2 limitation, a grading scale for dual credit courses, international baccalaureate 3 courses, advanced placement courses and honors courses. (NRS 389.007) Section 2 4 of this bill provides that the teacher who provides instruction to a pupil, regardless 5 of the grade in which the pupil is enrolled, maintains sole discretion over: (1) the 6 assignment of a grade to the pupil; and (2) the determination of any components or 7 weights used in calculating the grade assigned to a pupil. Section 2 provides that a 8 person or entity, including, without limitation, the State Board of Education, the 9 Department of Education, the board of trustees of a school district, an administrator 10 or a teacher other than the instructor of the course, is prohibited from interfering 11 with the professional judgment of a teacher in assigning a grade to a pupil. Section 12 2 further: (1) prohibits any such person or entity from adopting a regulation, policy 13 – 2 – - *AB425* or other directive that interferes with the professional judgment of a teacher in 14 assigning a grade to a pupil; and (2) voids and makes unenforceable any regulation, 15 policy or other directive that interferes with the professional judgment of a teacher 16 in assigning a grade to a pupil. Section 4 of this bill makes a conforming change by 17 removing the authority of a public high school to determine how the results of the 18 examination for civics will affect the grade of a pupil in the course in which the 19 examination is administered. (NRS 389.009) 20 Section 3 of this bill provides that an administrator or a parent or legal guardian 21 of a pupil is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or she intimidates, threatens, coerces or 22 harasses a teacher with the intent to interfere with or compel the teacher to alter any 23 grade assigned to the pupil or the components or weights used to calculate such a 24 grade. Section 3 provides that an administrator is guilty of a misdemeanor if he or 25 she disciplines or retaliates against a teacher for: (1) the grade assigned to a pupil; 26 or (2) the refusal of the teacher to alter such a grade or the components or weights 27 used to calculate such a grade. 28 Existing law: (1) requires each teacher and each administrator who provides 29 direct instructional services to pupils at a school to develop learning goals for his or 30 her pupils; (2) provides that pupil growth may be determined by the extent to which 31 the learning goals of a pupil are achieved; and (3) requires such learning goals and 32 pupil growth to be included in the evaluations of such teachers and administrators. 33 (NRS 391.480) Section 9 of this bill repeals those provisions. Sections 5-8 of this 34 bill make conforming changes to remove other references to learning goals and 35 pupil growth in existing law. 36 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 389 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1 thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 and 3 of this act. 2 Sec. 2. 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, it is 3 solely the discretion of the teacher who provides instruction to a 4 pupil to determine: 5 (a) The grade assigned to the pupil; and 6 (b) Any components or weights that are factors in calculating 7 the grade assigned to the pupil. 8 2. For pupils in high school, the grade assigned to a pupil 9 must comply with the uniform grading scale prescribed by the 10 State Board pursuant to NRS 389.007. 11 3. Any person or entity, including, without limitation, the 12 State Board, the Department, the board of trustees of a school 13 district, an administrator or a teacher other than the instructor of 14 the course, shall not: 15 (a) Interfere with the professional judgment of the teacher 16 who provides instruction in carrying out the provisions of 17 subsection 1. 18 (b) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 389.007, prescribe 19 any regulation, policy or other directive that interferes with the 20 provisions of subsection 1, including, without limitation, a 21 – 3 – - *AB425* regulation, policy or other directive that prescribes the minimum 1 grade a teacher may assign to a pupil. 2 4. Any regulation, policy or other directive issued by a person 3 or entity that interferes with the provisions of subsection 1 is void 4 and unenforceable. 5 5. As used in this section, “administrator” means the 6 principal, administrator or other person in charge of a public 7 school. 8 Sec. 3. 1. An administrator or the parent or legal guardian 9 of a pupil shall not, directly or indirectly, intimidate, threaten, 10 coerce or harass a teacher with the intent to interfere with or 11 compel the teacher to alter any grade assigned to the pupil or any 12 components or weights that are factors in calculating the grade 13 assigned to the pupil. 14 2. An administrator shall not discipline or retaliate against a 15 teacher solely for: 16 (a) The grade assigned to a pupil; or 17 (b) The refusal of the teacher to alter the grade assigned to a 18 pupil or the components or weights that are factors in calculating 19 the grade assigned to a pupil. 20 3. Any person who violates any of the provisions of this 21 section is guilty of a misdemeanor. 22 4. As used in this section, “administrator” means the 23 principal, administrator or other person in charge of a public 24 school. 25 Sec. 4. NRS 389.009 is hereby amended to read as follows: 26 389.009 1. A public high school shall administer an 27 examination containing a number of questions, determined by the 28 public high school, which are identical to the questions contained in 29 the civics portion of the naturalization test adopted by the United 30 States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of 31 Homeland Security, to each pupil enrolled in the public high school. 32 2. A public high school shall: 33 (a) Determine the course in which the examination will be 34 administered; 35 (b) Establish the number of questions which will be included on 36 the examination, which must not be less than 50; 37 (c) Determine the desired score on the examination ; [and the 38 manner in which the results of the examination administered to a 39 pupil will affect the grade of the pupil in the course in which the 40 examination is administered;] and 41 (d) Not later than August 31 of each year, aggregate the results 42 of the examination for all pupils at the public high school and report 43 the aggregated results to the board of trustees of the school district 44 in which the public high school is located. 45 – 4 – - *AB425* 3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, no pupil in 1 any public high school may receive a certificate or diploma of 2 graduation without having taken the examination described in 3 subsection 1. 4 4. A pupil may receive a waiver from the examination 5 administered pursuant to subsection 1 if: 6 (a) The pupil is a pupil with a disability and the waiver is in 7 accordance with his or her individualized education program; 8 (b) The pupil is identified as an English learner and the public 9 high school is unable to offer the examination in the language which 10 would be most likely to provide accurate results for the pupil; or 11 (c) The principal or administrator of the public high school 12 determines that the pupil has completed all other academic 13 requirements to receive a certificate or diploma of graduation and 14 has shown good cause for a waiver. The principal or administrator 15 of a public high school shall not grant a waiver pursuant to this 16 paragraph to more than 10 percent of each graduating class of the 17 public high school. 18 5. On or before December 31 of each year, the board of 19 trustees of each school district shall report the aggregated results of 20 the examination received by the board of trustees of the school 21 district pursuant to subsection 2 to the Department. 22 6. As used in this section, “public high school” includes, 23 without limitation, any charter school that operates as a high school. 24 Sec. 5. NRS 391.460 is hereby amended to read as follows: 25 391.460 1. The Council shall: 26 (a) Make recommendations to the State Board concerning the 27 adoption of regulations for establishing a statewide performance 28 evaluation system to ensure that teachers, administrators who 29 provide primarily administrative services at the school level, 30 administrators at the district level who provide direct supervision of 31 the principal of a school, and who do not provide primarily direct 32 instructional services to pupils, and other licensed educational 33 personnel, regardless of whether licensed as a teacher or 34 administrator, including, without limitation, a principal and vice 35 principal are: 36 (1) Evaluated using multiple, fair, timely, rigorous and valid 37 methods ; [, which includes evaluations based upon pupil growth as 38 required by NRS 391.465;] 39 (2) Afforded a meaningful opportunity to improve their 40 effectiveness through professional development that is linked to 41 their evaluations; and 42 (3) Provided with the means to share effective educational 43 methods with other teachers, administrators and other licensed 44 educational personnel throughout this State. 45 – 5 – - *AB425* (b) Develop and recommend to the State Board a plan, including 1 duties and associated costs, for the development and implementation 2 of the performance evaluation system by the Department and school 3 districts. 4 (c) Consider the role of professional standards for teachers, 5 administrators and other licensed educational personnel, to which 6 paragraph (a) applies and, as it determines appropriate, develop a 7 plan for recommending the adoption of such standards by the State 8 Board. 9 (d) Develop and recommend to the State Board a process for 10 peer observations of teachers by qualified educational personnel 11 which is designed to provide assistance to teachers in meeting the 12 standards of effective teaching, and includes, without limitation, 13 conducting observations, participating in conferences before and 14 after observations of the teacher and providing information and 15 resources to the teacher about strategies for effective teaching. 16 2. The performance evaluation system recommended by the 17 Council must ensure that: 18 (a) Data derived from the evaluations is used to create 19 professional development programs that enhance the effectiveness 20 of teachers, administrators and other licensed educational personnel; 21 and 22 (b) A timeline is included for monitoring the performance 23 evaluation system at least annually for quality, reliability, validity, 24 fairness, consistency and objectivity. 25 3. The Council may establish such working groups, task forces 26 and similar entities from within or outside its membership as 27 necessary to address specific issues or otherwise to assist in its 28 work. 29 4. The State Board shall consider the recommendations made 30 by the Council pursuant to this section and shall adopt regulations 31 establishing a statewide performance evaluation system as required 32 by NRS 391.465. 33 Sec. 6. NRS 391.465 is hereby amended to read as follows: 34 391.465 1. The State Board shall, based upon the 35 recommendations of the Teachers and Leaders Council of Nevada 36 submitted pursuant to NRS 391.460, adopt regulations establishing a 37 statewide performance evaluation system which incorporates 38 multiple measures of an employee’s performance. Except as 39 otherwise provided in subsection 3, the State Board shall prescribe 40 the tools to be used by a school district for obtaining such measures. 41 2. The statewide performance evaluation system must: 42 (a) Require that an employee’s overall performance is 43 determined to be: 44 (1) Highly effective; 45 – 6 – - *AB425* (2) Effective; 1 (3) Developing; or 2 (4) Ineffective. 3 (b) Include the criteria for making each designation identified in 4 paragraph (a), which must include, without limitation, consideration 5 of whether the classes for which the employee is responsible exceed 6 the applicable recommended ratios of pupils per licensed teacher 7 prescribed by the State Board pursuant to NRS 388.890 and, if so, 8 the degree to which the ratios affect: 9 (1) The ability of the employee to carry out his or her 10 professional responsibilities; and 11 (2) The instructional practices of the employee. 12 (c) [Except as otherwise provided in subsections 2 and 3 of NRS 13 391.695 and subsections 2 and 3 of NRS 391.715, require that pupil 14 growth, as determined pursuant to NRS 391.480, account for 15 15 percent of the evaluation of a teacher or administrator who provides 16 direct instructional services to pupils at a school in a school district. 17 (d)] Include an evaluation of whether the teacher, or 18 administrator who provides primarily administrative services at the 19 school level or adm [Text truncated for display. 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