No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)

• are past their first year of teaching; and
  
  
• have a bachelor’s or higher degree; and
  
  
• are State certified for the classes they are teaching (except certain charter school teachers); and
  
  
• are teaching a core academic subject; and
  
  
• have not demonstrated their subject matter competency with any of the other options permitted by the NCLB.

Teachers who may meet the above criteria include, but are not limited to:  

• teachers with common branch or special education certificates issued before examinations were required for certification in 1984 and who teach common branch classes or other classes with instructional content at the level of grades K through 6;
  
  
• teachers with certificates for grades 7 through 12 and extensions to teach specific subjects at the elementary level;
  
  
• teachers of core academic subjects in grades 7 and above who have common branch certificates or special education certificates;
  
  
• teachers in alternative education programs;
  
  
• teachers of Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes who have a bachelor’s degree, who are teaching classes that can be used for credit in a core academic subject and who are certified as CTE teachers rather than in the core academic subjects they are teaching;
  
  
• teachers doing “incidental teaching” in core academic subjects, as permitted in section 80-5.3 of the Commissioner’s Regulations, who have not demonstrated subject matter competency in the “incidental” subjects they are teaching in one of the other ways required by the NCLB.

NOTE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

Please note that some special education teachers are not subject to the NCLB's requirements. The USDOE indicated in its comments on the final NCLB Title I regulations issued last year that special education teachers who do not directly instruct students in any core academic subject or who provide only consultation to “highly qualified” teachers need not be “highly qualified” in core academic subjects. Indirect consultant services include adapting curricula, using behavioral supports and interventions, and selecting appropriate accommodations.

The Senate bill (S.1248) on the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) contains a definition of "highly qualified" for special education teachers that differs from the general NCLB definition and that would give special education teachers an additional year to become highly qualified.  The House bill (H. R. 1350) uses the NCLB definition of "highly qualified."  As of this writing, it has yet to be determined what the IDEA definition will be and how the IDEA definition will impact the NCLB requirements for special education teachers.  SED will issue further guidance when final information is available.

• If an employer assigns a teacher to teach new core academic subjects that the teacher has not taught before for that employer, the teacher would need to be evaluated with the HOUSSE for the new subjects if the teacher has not already demonstrated subject matter competency in the new subjects in one of the ways required by the NCLB.
  
  
• If a teacher does not satisfy the requirements of the HOUSSE, the teacher may have additional HOUSSE evaluations until the teacher does satisfy the requirements, so long as the employer ensures that all teachers of core academic subjects are “highly qualified” by the end of school year 2005-2006.  Between HOUSSE evaluations, teachers may be able to complete graduate education, certification requirements, examinations, professional development, professional service or other activities that would enable the teacher to satisfy the HOUSSE.  For example, special education teachers in self-contained classrooms covering instructional content above grade 6 might need multiple HOUSSE evaluations to demonstrate subject matter competency in each core academic subject they teach.