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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A new bill signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper is changing how teachers and principals qualify for tenure.

The new performance evaluations are divided into a four-tier rating system.

Teachers would have to get three consecutive "effective" ratings to receive employment protections or tenure.

If the teacher is already tenured, two consecutive years of "ineffective" ratings means they would lose that status.

"I think they need to be on top of what the changes are, and that's the only way they can be on top of the changes, it's huge," Ric Putnam, a Cheyenne Mountain School District grandparent, said.

Evaluating the effectiveness of licensed personnel is crucial to the quality of education in Colorado and is one of the reasons for the new teacher tenure rules.

The new system requires an annual evaluation of all teachers and principals, an evaluation that factors at least 50 percent on academic growth of their students.

While the bill has been signed by Hickenlooper, local educators say there's still a lot to do.

"We're probably about two years away from knowing what the tool is going to look like and what assessment is going to be used," Dr. Walt Cooper, Superintendent for Cheyenne Mountain School District, said.

The Colorado Department of Education, will test the new performance evaluation system starting next school year in certain districts.

The new testing could go into effect as early as the 2013-14 school year.