After 13 months of meetings, a council tasked with narrowing the definition of an effective educator to one for the entire state is presenting the definition to the State Board of Education today.

It is not a simple definition, though. It consists of six quality standards, including showing knowledge of the content they teach, demonstrating leadership and taking responsibility for student growth.

"Teachers can't go in and close their doors anymore," said Kerri Dallman, president of the Jefferson County Education Association and a member of the council. "We as teachers have to have difficult, crucial conversations with our colleagues. We have to be reflective individually and collectively."

The Colorado Council on Educator Effectiveness also made 60 recommendations on how to evaluate teachers and principals using the new definition. Those recommendations would require districts to engage teachers in selecting or developing measurement tools for their evaluations and will strongly encourage districts to use student and parent surveys as part of evaluations.

Districts will be required to use Colorado Student Assessment Program data and the results of another test —