|
Highly qualified teachers
Feds require states to step up efforts
A recent review by the U.S. Department of
Education found that South Dakota is one of 29 states showing
good-faith efforts to meet the highly qualified teacher
requirements under No Child Left Behind. Eleven states face
possible sanctions because they have not made sufficient
progress. Another 12 states have yet to be reviewed.
NCLB requires that all teachers be highly
qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. With that
deadline here, USDOE reports that none of the states is likely
to meet the goal. Therefore, the agency has asked states to
submit a revised plan for meeting the 100 percent goal by the
end of the 2006-07 school year.
In developing their revised plans, states
are required to describe how they will phase out the use of
HOUSSE rules. “The phasing out of HOUSSE rules will pose
challenges for some teachers,” said Melody Schopp, South
Dakota’s director of accreditation and teacher quality. In
particular, the change is expected to affect elementary teachers
who did not gain three years of teaching experience prior to
2005-06.
Currently, South Dakota’s HOUSSE rules
allow veteran teachers several ways to demonstrate highly
qualified status. Once the HOUSSE rules are removed, the only
methods for veteran teachers to achieve highly qualified status
will be to 1) to pass a state exam; 2) to earn a major in the
content area; 3) to earn a graduate degree in the content area;
or 4) to earn National Board Certification in the content area.
For elementary teachers, the only option is to pass the
state test.
Teachers who already have been deemed
highly qualified under HOUSSE rules will retain that status
following the elimination of HOUSSE, unless they switch
assignments.
Early this summer, the South Dakota
Department of Education will pull together a group of educators
to begin work on the revised plan. Once the plan has been
approved at the federal level, the department will share the
information with educators across the state.
|
