Meeting the "Highly Qualified" standard: Rules may become more flexible
March 19, 2004

ESEA ("No Child Left Behind") requires K-12 teachers teaching in core academic subjects to comply with the law's requirement for "Highly Qualified" by the end of the 2005-06 school year.  Under this federal law, core academic subject areas are defined as English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography. 

This week the U.S. Department of Education announced changes to the law that should provide more fleixibility to some teachers. The changes are in response to concerns that the law needs to be tweaked in several ways.

Basically, if you teach in a core subject area in which you are licensed, you're okay under the new law. 

If you teach in a core subject area in which you are not licensed, you may have to acquire proof that you are Highly Qualified in this subject area.

Elementary teachers (grades K-5) must have an elementary education license to comply with the Highly Qualified requirement.

Sixth grade middle school teachers will meet the requirement if they have an elementary education license. 

Seventh and eighth grade middle school teachers in the core subjects will be considered Highly Qualified if they teach in the subject area for which they are licensed, e.g., you are licensed in math and you teach math.  If you are teaching outside your licensed subject, you will have to demonstrate your com-petency to do so in one of these ways: 

• Show that you have 24 semester hours of college coursework or the equivalent in that subject area, demonstrated by actual college courses (transcripts) or relevant professional development or relevant travel; OR
• Complete a graduate degree in that subject area; OR
• Earn National Board Certification in that subject area; OR
• Pass the PLACE test or PRAXIS test in that subject area.

Any middle school teacher teaching in a self-contained classroom is highly qualified with an elementary endorsement.

Most high school teachers (grades 9-12) in the core subjects will comply with the Highly Qualified requirement if they have the subject area endorsement that matches what they teach.  If you are teaching outside your licensed subject, you will have to do exactly what middle school teachers have to do.

The changes announced in mid-March affect teachers in rural school districts and science teachers. State departments of education, such as CDE, will have to determine how to implement these changes in Colorado.

Teachers in rural schools who are highly qualified in one core academic subject and assigned to teacher another core academic subject will have until the end of 2007-08 to meet the requirement (an extra year).

Science teachers who teach in more than one discipline (e.g., biology, chemistry, physics) may have additional flexibility if their state has a broad-based "science" certification. This change directly overturns Secretary Rod Paige's September 2003 ruling prohibiting general science certification.

Eventually, your school district employer will determine if you are Highly Qualified and notify you if the administration thinks you are not.  Many districts have already done this. If you are not sure if your district has, contact your local association president.

Even if you are notified, don't panic.  You have plenty of time to acquire the coursework or other proof that you need -- until the end of the 2005-06 school year.