Copyright © 2003 School Services of
California, Inc.
Volume 24
For Publication Date: July 11,
2003 No. 14
Highly Qualified
Teacher Regulations Released for Public Review
At the June meeting of the State
Board of Education (SBE), members voted to approve in concept a proposal for
meeting the “highly qualified teacher” requirements under No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) (see “State Board of Education Clarifies NCLB Paraprofessional
Plan for
California
” in the
June 27, 2003
, Fiscal Report). Federal officials
subsequently reviewed the proposal and the California Department of Education
(CDE) developed regulations, to implement the plan, taking into account federal
feedback. At the
July 9, 2003
, meeting, the SBE approved the new regulations to go out for a 45-day public
review.
Federal feedback resulted in two
changes to the SBE's plan as approved in June:
- CDE was informed that local educational agencies can
determine, based on curriculum taught, whether a teacher is hired to teach
elementary, middle, or high school. This is significant for determining the
subject matter competency assessment options for 6th through 8th
grade teachers who, under the “middle and secondary level” requirements,
would have to pass a subject matter competency exam for every core subject
assigned.
- Federal officials saw no authority in the law for a
transition period, as proposed by the SBE, for teachers “new to the
profession” who have not passed one of the subject matter assessments.
This means that teachers hired after
July 1, 2002
, who received their credentials via the coursework option instead of
through a “rigorous state exam” will have to come into compliance
immediately instead of by
June 30, 2004
, as proposed by the SBE in June.
These regulations will come back
to the SBE at its September 2003 meeting for further discussion, and can
currently be accessed at http://www.cde.ca.gov/regulations/.
-Karen Storm