Tennessee Department of Education details observation pacing, CLASS requirements and TNCompass reports

Tennessee Department of Education staff outlined how districts should monitor teacher observation pacing in TNCompass and explained new and continuing requirements for CLASS observations for pre-K teachers during a February office-hour webinar.

The presenter said observation pacing depends on a teacher’s licensure category (professional or practitioner) and the teacher’s prior Level of Overall Effectiveness (LOE) or individual growth score. Practitioners or permanent-waiver holders without a prior LOE must receive the maximum (minimum-required) number of observations; a teacher who scored a level 5 last year must have at least one observation that is unannounced, and all educators have at least one “professionalism” observation, typically completed later in the year.

The guidance matters because districts must meet those minimums to comply with state evaluation pacing. The presenter told attendees that: “The number of required observations for an educator who has a PYE in the previous year is determined by their level in the school…