No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)
Main NCLB NYS
Field Memo
#04-2003
Cover Letter
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part A: When the NCLB Applies to Career and Technical Education Courses
Part B: The NCLB's Requirements for Teachers
Part C: The NCLB's Requirements in Specific Circumstances
Part D: The NCLB's Implications for Career and Technical Education
Appendix A
Appendix B
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Part B
The NCLB's Requirements for Teachers
| B1. |
What are the NCLB's requirements for teachers
of CTE courses that are subject to the NCLB?
The NCLB requires teachers of CTE courses subject to the NCLB to be “highly qualified.” [USDOE, 12/19/02]
See Item B3 of this document for the definition of a “highly qualified” teacher in New York State.
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| B2. |
When do the NCLB's requirements apply to
teachers of CTE courses that are subject to the NCLB?
The NCLB's deadline for being “highly qualified” depends on how a teacher's position is funded and the teacher's hiring date, as described below. [34 CFR 200.55]
“HIGHLY QUALIFIED” WHEN HIRED
- A teacher who teaches a core academic subject in a program “supported with Title I funds” and who was hired after the first day of class in school year 2002-2003 must be “highly qualified” when hired. Under State law, BOCES and the State schools at Batavia and Rome are not local education agencies (LEAs) receiving Title I funds, so this deadline does not apply to BOCES or the State schools.
“HIGHLY QUALIFIED” BY THE END OF SCHOOL YEAR 2005-2006
- All public school teachers of core academic subjects, including those not supported with Title I, Part A funds, must be “highly qualified” by the end of school year 2005-2006 because New York State receives Title I, Part A funds. This includes all teachers of core academic subjects who are employed by BOCES, by the State schools at Batavia and Rome, and all LEAs and schools, whether or not they receive Title I, Part A funds.
A teacher is “supported with Title I funds” when the teacher is employed by an LEA receiving Title I funds and:
- works in a “targeted assistance school” and is paid with Title I, Part A funds; or
- works in a “schoolwide program school;” or
- is employed by an LEA with Title I, Part A funds to provide services to eligible private school students. [34 CFR 200.55]
The terms “targeted assistance school” and “schoolwide program school” are defined in sections 1114 and 1115 of the NCLB, which can be found at
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/ESEA02/pg2.html
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| B3. |
What is the definition of a “highly
qualified” teacher of a CTE course that is subject to the NCLB?
The definition of a “highly qualified” teacher in a CTE course is the same definition used for any other teacher of a core academic subject. To be “highly qualified” to teach a core academic subject, a teacher must:
- have a bachelor's or higher degree; and
- be certified (except certain charter school teachers) in New York State to teach the course (or be teaching it as “incidental teaching,” as permitted in section 80-5.3 of the Commissioner's Regulations); and
- demonstrate subject matter competency in the core academic content of the course using one of the methods required by the NCLB. [34 CFR 200.56]
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| B4. |
What are the methods that CTE teachers must use
to demonstrate subject matter competency for each core subject they teach?
The NCLB permits teachers to use different options for demonstrating their subject matter competency in core subjects, depending on whether the teacher is “new to the profession” or “not new to the profession.”
- SED defines “new to the profession” as the first year following the effective date of a teacher's first teaching certificate, except with respect to charter school teachers who are not certified as permitted by Education Law section 2854(3)(a-1), for whom SED defines “new to the profession” as the first year following the date upon which the teacher met the applicable qualifications in Education Law section 2854(3)(a-1).
- SED defines “not new to the profession” as after the first year following the effective date of a teacher's first teaching certificate, except with respect to charter school teachers who are not certified as permitted by Education Law section 2854(3)(a-1), for whom SED defines “new to the profession” as the first year following the date upon which the teacher met the applicable qualifications in Education Law section 2854(3)(a-1).
For example, a teacher whose first-ever New York State teaching certificate took effect on September 1 of one year is “new to the profession” until September 1 of the following year, when the teacher would become “not new to the profession.”
Appendix A summarizes the only options that elementary, middle and secondary school teachers can use to demonstrate their subject matter competency in core academic subjects, depending on whether they are in their first year of their first certification or beyond it.
Appendix A shows that teachers who are new to the profession (in their first year of their first certification) do not have all of the options that are available to teachers who are not new to the profession (after the first year of their first certification). Specifically, only teachers who are not new to the profession may use the high objective uniform State standard of evaluation, or HOUSSE.
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| B5. |
What is New York State's high objective uniform
State standard of evaluation (HOUSSE)?
The “high objective uniform State standard of evaluation” is one way
that teachers who are beyond the first year of their first certification
can demonstrate their subject matter competency. [34 CFR 200.56 (c)] In
NCLB NYS Field Memo #01-2002, dated October 28, 2002, SED provided an interim definition,
pending final regulations and guidance from the USDOE. It suggested that
LEAs consider:
…all teachers who have successfully participated in professional
development pursuant to district professional development plans [section
100.2(dd) of the Commissioner's Regulations] in conjunction with required annual
professional performance reviews for teachers [section 100.2(o) of the
Commissioner's Regulations] to have met a “high objective uniform State
standard of evaluation.”
After that memo was issued, SED received technical assistance from the
USDOE about the HOUSSE. As a result, SED is issuing additional guidance on
the HOUSSE.
The additional guidance provides a new definition of the HOUSSE
that took effect on June 1, 2003. The new definition supersedes the
previous definition. Teachers who met the previous definition must also
meet the new definition after June 1, 2003. The new definition
refers to “objective, coherent information” that is acceptable to the
Commissioner, described in a field memo issued after June 2003 and posted
at http://www.highered.nysed.gov/nclbhome.htm.
Please refer to the other field memo for further details about the HOUSSE
and a HOUSSE evaluation tool that can be used for CTE teachers.
New York State's Definition of the High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation The “high objective uniform State standard of evaluation” (HOUSSE) is an evaluation conducted locally as part of either (1) a pre-employment review or (2) an Annual Professional Performance Review, as required in section 100.2(o) of the Commissioner's Regulations, that enables a teacher who is beyond the first year of the effective date of the teacher's first teaching certificate to demonstrate subject matter competency in all core academic subjects the teacher teaches based on objective, coherent information acceptable to the Commissioner.
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