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1. When do the requirements for being "highly qualified" (HQ) go into effect?
All teachers must be HQ at the beginning of the 2006-07 school year.
2. Which teachers are affected by the requirements?
Only those teachers who teach one or more of the core academic content areas specified in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. This includes the following :
o all elementary, middle and high school teachers who teach one or more of the 10 core academic content areas,
o special education teachers, and
o bilingual teachers who are the primary instructors of one or more of the core academic content areas.
3. What are the 10 core academic content areas identified in NCLB?
English language arts/reading mathematics
science history geography
economics civics and government world languages
the arts (music, art, dance and theatre)
4. Where do special education teachers fit in?
Special education teachers who teach any of the core academic subjects must also be HQ in each subject they teach. More specific information about special education teachers? requirements is available in the ?special education teachers? section.
5. Who does not have to meet the HQ requirements?
o teachers who teach health, physical education, vocational education, business, marketing, library media specialists, home economics,
o administrators who currently do not have teaching responsibilities
o pupil personnel staff members (school psychologists, school social workers, etc.)
6. Must teachers who teach in nursery or PreK classrooms be NCLB "highly
qualified"?
If the teachers are in a program that is part of the district?s overall program, those teachers should be determined to be HQ. An early childhood education major would deem a nursery or preK teacher to be NCLB HQ. Currently, there is no content area testing required for early childhood teachers.
7. Are charter school teachers required to be HQ under NCLB?
Yes; in CT they are considered to be public school teachers, so must comply with NCLB requirements.
8. Who is responsible for ensuring that all teachers currently teaching a core
academic content area are NCLB "highly qualified" ? the district or CSDE?
Each district is responsible for this. CSDE will collect this information from districts to include with federal reports to the U.S. Department of Education.
9. What are the ways in which a teacher can show that s/he is HQ?
There are several ways: (1) pass a state approved subject-matter test (for every subject taught; or (2) hold an undergraduate major or graduate degree (or its equivalent) in subject(s) taught; or (3) hold advanced certification, such as National Board Certification, in subject(s) taught; or (4) use the district HOUSSE process to demonstrate competency.
10. If I?ve demonstrated HQ in one subject area I teach, my teaching assignment
changes and I begin teaching another core subject (under that endorsement that I hold), do I have to show HQ again?
Yes. NCLB requires that teachers demonstrate HQ in each subject they teach. But you could do this under the HOUSSE process.
11. If I demonstrate HQ in a subject area in through the HOUSSE plan in district
A, and want to apply for a position in district B, will my HQ status be accepted in district B?
That will be district B's decision. District A will have had to put documentation in your file that you met the NCLB HQ requirements so that your status could be "portable." In order to be hired by district B, you would have had to met the HQ requirements under NCLB; if district B won't accept district A's documentation, you would have to show HQ through another route in order to be hired in district B.
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