An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 5 – Employee Evaluations

desks were texting on their cell phones and talking to each other. One student had his head down on his desk, and four other students were passing notes to each other.  You did not intervene, re-focus, or re-direct your students when they were engaged in off- task behavior while you were reading to the class. You simply ignored this behavior.  The book you read to the students, “The Boxcar Children’s Midnight Adventure” was not appropriate for the fourth grade reading level, but is listed as a first or second grade book on the reading list I provided to all classroom teachers at the beginning of the year.  After you finished reading three chapters in “The Boxcar Children’s Midnight Adventure,” you told the students it was independent reading time and went to sit down at your desk. The students all remained at their desks and began to talk to each other. After a few minutes, you stood up, asked the students “what are you doing” told them “go get your reading books” and sat back down at your desk. Most of the students went to the library, got their independent reading books, and sat down on the library rug to read. A few students just remained at their desks and did not get their reading books. You did not say anything to the students who had not gotten their reading books and were still not reading. Specific language is complete and descriptive in capturing the exact incident in question. Specific language describes the incident objectively, focusing on behavior and actions and not on personality. NOT COMPLETE  Over the past few weeks there have been several occasions where you have used demeaning and disrespectful language when speaking to students.  You have not attended several staff meetings.  You have not had lesson plans for each day this month.  The scalpels in your classroom have been left out and unsecured many times this month.  You have not turned in attendance on a daily basis. COMPLETE  Over the past few weeks there have been several occasions where you used demeaning and disrespectful language when speaking to students. On September 10, when you passed out the scored math tests you told Lisa Smith and Jeff Rodgers that they were now officially “on math probation.” The next day, on September 11, you told these same students that they had better study over the weekend if they want to get a better grade on next week’s test and move out of being “on math probation.” When Lisa and Jeff complained to you about your comments after class on September 11, you told them they were “being too sensitive” and that they should focus on their behavior, not yours.  You did not attend scheduled staff meetings nine times this year. You did not attend on September 3, October 9, November 15, January 18, January 27, February 9, March 3, March 16, and April 13. The faculty handbook clearly identifies staff meetings as a required part of your job.

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