Retaining Effective Teachers Policy
Link to Evidence of Effectiveness: New Hampshire does not connect tenure decisions to evidence of teacher effectiveness.
Basis for Tenure: New Hampshire awards tenure automatically after the probationary period; it is not based on an additional process that evaluates cumulative evidence of teacher effectiveness.
End the automatic awarding of tenure.
New Hampshire should deliberately base its decision to grant tenure on actual evidence of a teacher's classroom effectiveness.
Ensure that evidence of effectiveness is the determinative factor in tenure decisions.
New Hampshire should make cumulative evidence of effectiveness, rather than number of years in the classroom, the most significant factor when awarding teachers the leap in professional standing that tenure represents.
Articulate a process that local districts must administer when deciding which teachers get tenure.
New Hampshire should require a clear process, such as a hearing, to ensure that the local district reviews a teacher's performance before making a tenure determination.
New Hampshire asserted that, effective 2011, nonrenewal can no longer be decided by seniority alone. The law requires that other factors be applied to the local decision-making process. Further, when a teacher transitions from a beginning educator license (BEC) to an experienced educator license (EEC), that teacher must have a minimum rating of effective for at least two consecutive years.
The state included this statutory language:
Ed 504.02 Experienced Educator Certificate. The board shall, pursuant to RSA 186:11, X(a), issue a certificate to an experienced educator in accordance with the following:
(a) To qualify for an experienced educator credential an individual shall have at least 3 years of full-time experience as an educator at the elementary through secondary levels of education, being deemed effective or above according to the local evaluation system for 2 consecutive years, and successfully completing a renewal cycle pursuant to Ed 509 and according to the state or local professional development master plan as determined by the local superintendent or district administrator or nonpublic school administrator; and
(b) An experienced educator credential shall be issued for 3 years.
New Hampshire's requirements for licensure advancement are presented in that goal's analysis (see 9-A: Licensure Advancement).
9B: Tenure
Tenure should be a significant and consequential milestone in a teacher's career. The decision to give teachers tenure (or permanent status) is usually made automatically, with little thought, deliberation or consideration of actual performance.[1] State policy should reflect the fact that initial certification is temporary and probationary, and that tenure is intended to be a significant reward for teachers who have consistently shown effectiveness and commitment.[2] Tenure and advanced certification are not rights implied by the conferring of an initial teaching certificate. No other profession, including higher education, offers practitioners tenure after only a few years of working in the field.[3]
States should also ensure that evidence of effectiveness is the preponderant (but not the only) criterion for making tenure decisions.[4] Most states confer tenure at a point that is too early for the collection of sufficient and adequate data that reflect teacher performance. Ideally, states would accumulate such data for four to five years. This robust data set would prevent effective teachers from being unfairly denied tenure based on too little data and ineffective teachers from being granted tenure.