Windham Northeast Supervisory Union
DATA ON HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS
March 2008
The 2001 federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) requires that all public school teachers of “core” academic subjects meet the “highly qualified teacher” (HQT) requirements of the Act.
Under NCLBA educators of “core” subjects must be properly licensed and endorsed for the subjects and instructional levels they teach, and have the required content knowledge for the endorsement they are using in the assignment. The law also requires that schools receiving federal Title I funds notify parents when their child is being taught a “core” subject by a teacher who has not yet met the federal requirements. Title I funded schools must also notify all parents annually of their right to request information on the qualifications of their child’s teachers.
Here are some key points to keep in mind when reviewing our local data:
· Highly Qualified Teacher requirements pertain only to teachers of “core academic subjects” as defined by NCLBA. These are English language arts (including English as a Second Language), math, science, social studies, reading, foreign languages, art, music, and the generalist endorsement areas of elementary and early childhood education (grades K-3 only). In addition, special educators who provide primary instruction in one or more of these “core” content areas are subject to HQT requirements, as are teachers of core subjects in alternative education programs.
· There are a number of reasons why a class might be taught by an educator who is not HQT for his or her assignment. These reasons include teaching under an emergency license, not yet meeting the testing or content knowledge requirements to be HQT for the assignment, or being assigned to teach a grade level or subject area that is outside of the parameters of the educator’s current license and endorsements.
· Emergency license figures include educators of all subjects, not just “core” subjects as defined by NCLBA (see above). However, they do not include administrators or student support personnel (e.g., guidance counselors, nurses) working under emergency licenses.
· In any instance where a class is taught by an educator that is not HQT for an assignment, an individual plan is in place for the class to become so with the support of the school administration.
· The data that is being reported is from the 2006-2007 school year. 2007-2008 school year data will be available next spring.
· In small schools, the percentages of educators who are HQT for their assignments may fluctuate significantly year to year because of the small number of classes and teachers.
This chart contains information about the Highly Qualified status of our teachers in 2006-2007:
School Name |
Percent of Emergency Credentialed Teachers in 2006-2007 |
Percent of Core Academic Classes NOT Taught by Highly Qualified Teachers in 2006-2007 |
Athens/Grafton Joint Contract |
0% |
17.5%* |
Bellows Falls Union High School |
2.04% |
16.35% |
Rockingham School District Overall |
0% |
8.00% |
Bellows Falls Middle School |
0% |
10.42% |
Central Elementary School |
0% |
6.67% |
Saxtons River Elementary School |
0% |
0% |
Westminster Schools |
0% |
5.0% |
*It was determined subsequent to the publication of this report by the State of Vermont that there were actually 0% of core content classes taught at Athens-Grafton by teachers who were not highly-qualified in 2006-2007.
For more information on Highly Qualified Teacher requirements, please contact: Christopher Kibbe, Assistant Superintendent, WNESU
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