By Julie Hubbard - The Tennessean -

Tennessee principals are getting their first look at the teacher evaluation forms they’ll be using just weeks before the process begins.

The coming school year will be the first where every public school teacher in the state gets a mandatory evaluation, one directly tied to gaining, losing or keeping tenure.

On Tuesday the state Board of Education adopted a state-recommended teacher evaluation model being used in South Carolina. Based on Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman’s recommendations, the board also approved three alternate evaluation systems districts may choose.

The state says it will monitor districts this year to make sure teachers are judged fairly no matter which tool their districts choose.

“If our starting point is that we think our teacher evaluation system is going to be an important step in the right direction ... but not a perfect solution, than I think it’s important we have multiple systems in place we can analyze and learn from,” Huffman said.

Huffman said just a few of the state’s 136 school districts asked to stray from the state-recommended evaluation. Memphis City Schools is working with the Gates Foundation and using an evaluation model called the Teacher Effectiveness Model. Hamilton County schools preferred using one called Project Coach.

Two state analysts will monitor evaluations and scores, and nine state workers will train administrators.

Tennessee’s 2010 First to the Top Legislation, which netted $500 million in federal grants for public school reforms, required teachers and principals to be evaluated each year and rate them in part using student test scores.

Starting this school year, teachers and principals will be evaluated with 50 percent based on student achievement. Of that, 35 percent will be the teacher's value-added score from student achievement tests — or the school’s score for educators in subjects without state exams, such as Spanish or physical education.

Fifteen percent will be based on graduation rates, advanced coursework or other school-selected data.

The remaining 50 percent of the evaluation is from a minimum of four classroom observations using the state-approved evaluation models.

Huffman said it could be that an alternate teacher evaluation model yields better results down the line.

“At this point and time we are not making permanent decisions,” Huffman said.

Contact Julie Hubbard at 615-726-5964 or jshubbard@tennessean.com.