Tracking highly qualified teacher status

Administrators now can track the status of teaching staff by viewing the “Highly Qualified Status” report online.You will need to enter your district user name and password to access the information.

The report allows administrators to see which of their teachers are not highly qualified for core content areas they may be teaching. Please note that the “Highly Qualified Status” report reflects the current (live) data available in the certification program. If a teacher’s certificate expired on July 1, 2004, and this teacher has not completed the renewal process, the teacher may now be reported as NOT highly qualified.

To be considered “highly qualified,” teachers must be properly certified in all the content areas they are teaching. If they do not have a major and have contractual teaching experience prior to the 2002-03 school year, they must be fully authorized and have three years of teaching experience, a graduate degree or National Board Certification. 

If you have teachers that do not meet these requirements but have graduated after December 2002 in a South Dakota teacher preparation program, the Department of Education has populated either the CAAP exam or a portfolio to their certificate. This will give them highly qualified status.   

If they graduated prior to December 2002 or come from outside the state, they will need to send documentation of a state test. This could be either the Praxis, or it may be some other test that will grant them highly qualified status.

Questions regarding the “Highly Qualified Status” report should be directed to Deedra Gesinger, Department of Education, at (605) 773-6934. deedra.gesinger@state.sd.us