Evaluation of New District Teachers Without Tenure

Tenure Acquisition

Untenured (Probationary Appointed Teachers) can read about the pathways to tenure in Article 23-5 (page 93) of the contract as well as page 60 of the CPS SY 17-18 Teacher Evaluation Handbook available on the CPS Knowledge Center.

Under the state tenure rules:

• PATs appointed BEFORE July 1, 2013 (though there should be none remaining in CPS) fall under the old state tenure rules and CPS policy and receive tenure status after three years of teaching (with no break in service and no final summative Unsatisfactory ratings) on their anniversary date.

• PATs appointed AFTER July 1, 2013 (which at this point should be all untenured full time educators) fall under the new state tenure rules and receive tenure status at the beginning of the the following school year after working for:
• Three consecutive school years without a break in service, where they worked at least 150 school days in each of the three school years, and they received an Excellent final summative ratings for each of the three years, OR
• Four consecutive school years without a break in service, where they worked at least 150 school days each of the four school years, and they received a Proficient final summative rating or higher in years 2 or 3, and year 4.

See Article 23-5.2 (pages 96-97) for information for tenure acquisition of PATs who transferred to CPS from another school district.

PAT Non-Renewal

According to Article 23-3.3 (pages 94-95) of the contract, CPS now must renew Probationary Appointed Teachers (PATs, untenured educators) who are projected to receive a Proficient or Excellent final summative REACH rating for the school year. However, school have the option to renew or non-renew PATs who are projected to receive a Developing or Unsatisfactory final summative REACH rating. (If a PAT’s projected rating turns out to be incorrect and they do receive a final Proficient rating or better their non-renewal can be later reversed.) PAT clinicians can also be non-renewed if their projected rating is Developing or Unsatisfactory by their clinical manager if a school principal agrees with the non-renewal.

Principals must notify PATs whom they have chosen to non-renew for the next school year no later than June 1st of the current school year.**

REACH Document for Newly Hired CPS Educators

Educators new to CPS who want a short overview of how to get information and orientation to the REACH evaluation system, should download and review the REACH Guidance for Newly Hired Educators document from the CPS Knowledge Center. This document is particularly important for new educators hired after the August professional development days where annual REACH orientation takes place in all schools. New hires can contact their CTU Field Representative for additional information and to get their questions answered.

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