This chapter examines the legal issues involved in state evaluation statutes as interpreted by the judiciary. The nature and purpose of state statutes governing evaluation are described, followed by a discussion of how these statutes relate to tenure laws, administrative regulations, board policy, and collective bargaining agreements. Next, statutory due process is defined, and the consequences for a school board of failure to provide due process are delineated. The rest of the chapter describes the court's role in public employment disputes, outlining the scope of judicial review and standards of compliance. Issues subject to judicial review include the significance of evaluation criteria, evaluator qualifications, the effect of political pressure on dismissal decisions, evaluator performance, administration of evaluations, remediability of employees behavior, and methods of evaluation. The chapter concludes with recommendations for the administration of evaluations in order to improve teaching and supervision and, if necessary, to substantiate demotion and dismissal decisions. (TE)