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No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)

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NCLB NYS
Field Memo
#01-2005

Cover letter

Introduction

Part A NCLB Requirements for "Highly Qualified" Teachers

Part B NCLB Requirements for "Qualified" Title I Paraprofessionals

Part C NCLB Accountability System for Teachers and Title I Paraprofessionals

Part D NCLB Requirements for Charter Schools and Non-public Schools

Part E NCLB Parents Right to Know Requirements

Part F Links to Further Information
 

Print Field Memo #01-2005 as  or PDF or WORD 

Part C. NCLB Accountability System for Teachers and Title I Paraprofessionals

C1. Each LEA receiving Title I, Part A funds must provide attestations that it is in compliance with the NCLB's requirements for teachers and Title I paraprofessionals.

• The principal of each school receiving Title I funds must attest annually, in writing, as to whether the school is in compliance.

• Copies of the attestation must be maintained in the district office and the school and made available upon request to the public.

C2. Each LEA receiving Title I, Part A funds must have a plan to ensure that:

• all public school teachers of "core academic subjects," including teachers employed by the LEA to provide services to eligible private school students, are "highly qualified" no later than the end of school year 2005-2006; and
   

• all public school teachers of "core academic subjects" are receiving high quality professional development, as defined in section 9101(34) of the NCLB, to enable them to become "highly qualified" and effective classroom teachers; and
   

• through incentives for voluntary transfers, professional development, recruitment programs, or other effective strategies, minority students and students from low-income families are not taught at higher rates than other students by unqualified, out-of-field or inexperienced teachers.

C3. Each LEA and each school receiving Title I, Part A funds must annually increase, at a pace that will reach 100 percent by the end of school year 2005-2006, the percentage of teachers of "core academic subjects" that are (1) "highly qualified" to teach those subjects and (2) receiving high quality professional development. These annual increases are each LEA's and each school's Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs).

C4. An LEA receiving Title I, Part A funds must use such funds for professional development activities to ensure that teachers and Title I paraprofessionals meet the NCLB's requirements.

• For each fiscal year after 2003, an LEA must use not less than five percent of its Title I, Part A, Subpart A funds for professional development, except as noted below.
   

• An LEA is not required to spend the percentage shown above for a given fiscal year if a lesser amount is sufficient to ensure that the LEA's teachers and Title I paraprofessionals meet the NCLB's requirements.
   

• An LEA may use additional Title I, Part A, Subpart A funds to support ongoing training and professional development to assist teachers and Title I paraprofessionals.

LEAs may also use other NCLB funds, or other funds, to provide professional development to teachers and Title I paraprofessionals.

C5. Annual public reports must show:

• the percent of teachers of core academic subjects that are "highly qualified";

• the percent of classes in core academic subjects being taught by teachers that are "highly qualified" to teach the classes;

• the percent of teachers of core academic subjects receiving high quality professional development; and

• the percent of Title I paraprofessionals that are "qualified."

SED has enhanced its Basic Educational Data System (BEDS) to satisfy the NCLB's reporting requirements. LEAs should maintain records on the qualifications and professional development of teachers and the qualifications of Title I paraprofessionals for no less than six years from the end of the last school year in which the individual was employed.

C6. SED must monitor the progress of each school and LEA receiving Title I, Part A funds in meeting its AMOs. SED must:

• identify LEAs and schools that are not meeting their AMOs; and

• take required actions (e.g., improvement plans, professional development strategies, constraints on hiring of new Title I paraprofessionals).

C7. LEAs failing to meet both AMOs for staff and Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) for student achievement for three consecutive years must:

• develop a plan for meeting their AMOs; and

• no longer use Title I funds to hire new paraprofessionals for Title I programs unless certain conditions are met.

C8. Other sanctions for LEAs that fail to make AYP may apply to teachers and Title I paraprofessionals. However, those sanctions should not "be construed to alter or otherwise affect the rights, remedies and procedures afforded schools or school district employees under Federal, State or local law... or under the terms of collective bargaining agreements, memoranda of understanding or other agreements between such employees and their employers." [NCLB section 1116(d)]

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