An increasing number of states are mandating teacher performance be considered in educator employment decisions, including awarding tenure and layoffs, according to a 50-state policy review of teacher tenure laws. Tenure laws have historically granted job protections based on years of employment. The Education Commission of the States (ECS)…

In this article, we explain how overly prescriptive, rigid state statutory and regulatory policy frameworks regarding teacher evaluation, tenure and employment decisions outstrip the statistical reliability and validity of proposed measures of teaching effectiveness. We begin with a discussion of the emergence of highly prescriptive state…

Broad legal constraints upon legislative authority over faculty tenure rights and the particular application of those constraints to the State of Washington are discussed. After defining tenure and tracing the creation of tenure rights, legislative authority over statutorily created tenure is discussed. Methods of legislative modification of…