How can AI help Illinois evaluators write teacher evaluations under PERA?
How can AI help Illinois evaluators write teacher evaluations under PERA?
Illinois evaluates teachers under the Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), and the honest answer about AI follows the shape of that law. Every Illinois teacher is rated in one of four statewide categories, using an instructional framework the district adopts through its PERA joint committee. AI can genuinely help with the professional-practice write-up — mapping observation evidence to the domains of whatever framework your district uses and drafting feedback in that framework's language. What it can't do is pick your district's framework, calculate your summative rating, or decide what measures your PERA plan uses. And thanks to a 2025 change, one of those measures — student growth — is no longer something Illinois requires at all. This post walks through where AI helps with PERA evaluations, where it doesn't, and what to look for.
What PERA actually is
The Performance Evaluation Reform Act was signed into law in January 2010 (Senate Bill 315, Public Act 96-0861), with further changes under Senate Bill 7 in 2011. It's codified in Article 24A of the Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/24A) and implemented through 23 Ill. Admin. Code Part 50. Its core requirements have been stable for over a decade: teachers are evaluated using four rating categories, by trained and pre-qualified evaluators, on a schedule tied to their most recent rating.
One thing PERA does not do is prescribe a single statewide rubric. Instead, each district adopts its instructional framework through aPERA joint committee— a body with equal district and teacher representation. That's why the first question for any Illinois evaluator, and any honest tool, is: which framework does your district use?
What Illinois requires of the framework
While the specific rubric is a local choice, PERA sets clear requirements for it. A district's instructional framework must be research-based, must address at least three areas, and must align with theIllinois Professional Teaching Standards. The three required areas are:
Planning— preparation and instructional design before the lesson.Instructional delivery— teaching in action, how the lesson is carried out.Classroom management— the environment, routines, and conditions for learning.
Any framework a district adopts has to cover at least those three. Most Illinois districts satisfy the requirement with theDanielson Framework for Teaching, which is by far the most widely used model in the state. Some adopt theISBE state model, and some develop or adapt their own framework that meets the criteria. All roads run through the joint committee.
Illinois's four rating categories
However a district builds its plan, PERA requires the result to place each teacher into one of four statewide categories:Excellent, Proficient, Needs Improvement, and Unsatisfactory(105 ILCS 5/24A-5). These names are set at the state level; how measures combine to reach a placement is decided locally.
The categories also drive the evaluation schedule. Tenured teachers rated Excellent or Proficient are generally evaluated at least once every three years, with informal observation in between; tenured teachers rated Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory must be evaluated again the following year, on a more intensive observation schedule. That schedule means the rating you write today shapes how often you'll be back in that classroom — another reason the documentation needs to be right.
The change that matters most right now: student growth is optional
If you're working from PERA guidance written before mid-2025, this is the piece to update. For its first decade, PERA required that data and indicators of student growth be used as a "significant factor" in every teacher's and principal's rating. That mandate is gone.
Public Act 104-0020, signed by Governor Pritzker on June 30, 2025 and effectiveJuly 1, 2025, removed the requirement that teacher and principal evaluations incorporate student growth as a factor in rating performance. The law does not prohibit student growth — a district may still include it if its joint committee chooses — but it is no longer required. For an evaluator, the practical effect is that the professional-practice observation carries even more of the weight of the evaluation, and for a vendor, it's a reason not to assume a growth component is baked into an Illinois plan.
After the observation: where the work piles up
The observation itself is familiar work for an experienced Illinois evaluator. The write-up that follows is where the hours go: taking fragmentary observation notes and organizing them as evidence against your framework's domains, settling on a defensible rating, and drafting feedback a teacher can act on — then doing it again across a caseload, on a schedule that intensifies for teachers who most need support.
Where AI helps with the Illinois write-up
The strongest fit between current AI and PERA work is the professional-practice documentation, and it applies regardless of which framework your district adopted.
AI handles three parts of that reliably. First, it turns fragmentary notes into coherent, evidence-anchored prose in the framework's language — the difference between "kids explained their reasoning to each other" and a sentence tied to the specific domain your framework uses for engaging students in learning. Second, it maps evidence to the right domain within your adopted framework, including evidence that supports more than one. Third, it holds consistency across a caseload, so the same quality of evidence lands in similar territory from teacher to teacher rather than drifting with the hour of the night.
For Illinois specifically, the value is that the tool works inyourframework's language and toward the four PERA categories, rather than flattening everything into a generic gradient.
Where AI doesn't help — and what stays with the evaluator
The honest scope follows directly from how Illinois built PERA.
AI cannot pick your district's framework or tell you which one you're on. That's set by your PERA joint committee.
AI cannot calculate your summative rating. Tools like EvalScribe draft the professional-practice piece; how your district combines measures to place a teacher into one of the four categories is set by its approved PERA plan.
AI cannot decide your measures. Whether your district still includes student growth, and how it weighs professional practice, is a local policy question a drafting tool has no business answering.
AI cannot supply an evaluator's professional and local judgment — what the evidence really shows, how a teacher's year unfolded, how a rating fits the district's context. That stays with the evaluator, who remains the last set of eyes on every rating and comment. Illinois underscores this by requiring evaluators to be trained and pre-qualified; the judgment is precisely what the state is certifying.
And general-purpose AI in particular tends to assume a single statewide rubric that Illinois doesn't have, or to treat student growth as required when, as of July 2025, it no longer is. For a document that informs employment decisions, those wrong assumptions surface at the worst possible moment.
What to look for in an AI tool for PERA
A few questions worth asking before committing a tool to this work.
Does the tool actually support your district's adopted framework — Danielson, the ISBE state model, or your local framework — or does it produce generic language that fits none of them precisely?
Does it stay in its lane, drafting professional practice and leaving the summative combination to your PERA plan, rather than pretending to compute a rating it has no basis for?
Does it avoid baking in assumptions Illinois has moved past, like a mandatory student-growth component?
Where does your observation data live? Is it stored on the vendor's servers, or used to train models?
How EvalScribe handles Illinois PERA
EvalScribe ships the instructional frameworks Illinois districts commonly adopt — the Danielson Framework for Teaching and more. Tell it which framework your district uses, and it drafts the professional-practice write-up in that framework's language: an evaluator captures notes by typing, dictating, or photographing handwriting (Smart Scan OCR converts it to text), EvalScribe maps that evidence to the relevant domain, and drafts a rating and evidence-anchored feedback you review and finalize, toward the four categories — Excellent, Proficient, Needs Improvement, Unsatisfactory. Because it fits your adopted framework rather than forcing a generic rubric onto it, the write-up stays defensible and traceable.
Two scope notes, because Illinois's structure calls for them. First, EvalScribe drafts the professional-practice piece; the overall summative rating is determined by your district's PERA evaluation plan and joint committee, not the app. Second, if your district still includes student learning and growth measures by local choice, those are handled within your PERA plan, not by EvalScribe. Confirm your district's adopted framework and rating method.
Beta testers report saving 30 to 60 minutes per evaluation versus writing the documentation by hand. Across a full caseload and multiple observation cycles, that adds up to dozens of hours back — hours that can go to the feedback conversation the ratings are meant to support. More detail on the Illinois workflow is available atevalscribe.com/illinois.
Frequently asked questions about Illinois PERA and AI
Does Illinois have a single statewide teacher evaluation rubric?No. Each district adopts its own instructional framework through its PERA joint committee. The framework must be research-based, address at least planning, instructional delivery, and classroom management, and align with the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards. Most districts use the Danielson framework.
Is student growth required in Illinois teacher evaluations?No — not since July 1, 2025, when Public Act 104-0020 removed the mandate. Districts may include growth measures by choice, but they're no longer required.
What are Illinois's rating categories?PERA sets four: Excellent, Proficient, Needs Improvement, and Unsatisfactory (105 ILCS 5/24A-5).
Which framework does EvalScribe support for Illinois?It ships the frameworks Illinois districts commonly adopt — the Danielson framework and more. If you're unsure yours is covered, contact the team and we'll confirm.
Does EvalScribe calculate my summative rating?No. It drafts the professional-practice piece; the summative combination happens in your district's approved PERA plan.
Does AI replace evaluator judgment?No. The observation, the ratings, and the professional judgment are yours — which is exactly what Illinois certifies through its evaluator pre-qualification requirement. AI translates your judgment into framework-aligned documentation.
If you're evaluating teachers in Illinois under PERA, see how EvalScribe drafts in your district's adopted framework atevalscribe.com/illinois. Questions, or a school or district license? Reach the team at[email protected].
References
Illinois State Board of Education,Educator Evaluations(PERA overview; Public Act 104-0020 makes student growth optional, effective July 1, 2025)
Illinois Compiled Statutes,105 ILCS 5/Article 24A — Evaluation of Certified Employees(the four rating categories; framework requirements)
Illinois General Assembly,23 Ill. Admin. Code Part 50(performance evaluation system requirements)
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Page maintained by Anthony D. Neely, Ph.D. — practicing K-12 educator with nearly 20 years in the classroom, 2025–2026 Walker County Distinguished Teacher of the Year, and co-founder of EvalScribe. Framework details verified against the Illinois State Board of Education's Educator Evaluations resources, Article 24A of the School Code, and Public Act 104-0020.
Last updated on July 28, 2026.
