"We know nothing helps a child learn as much as a great teacher. Great teachers are helping us reach our goal of having every child doing grade level work by 2014."
Secretary Margaret Spellings
One of the most important factors in raising student achievement is a highly qualified teacher. Research shows that teacher subject-matter knowledge is greatly associated with student learning. In this era of high standards and high expectations, having a highly qualified teacher has never been more important.
The No Child Left Behind Act [NCLB] recognizes this. The law requires that all teachers of core academic subjects in the classroom be highly qualified. This is determined by three essential criteria: (1) attaining a bachelor's degree or better in the subject taught; (2) obtaining full state teacher certification; and (3) demonstrating knowledge in the subjects taught.
States have worked hard to meet this goal. Despite notable progress and some innovative ideas, there is still more work to be done. One of the greatest challenges is the need to place good teachers in underperforming schools and high-poverty communities. Studies show that students from low-income families who acquire strong math skills by 8th grade are 10 times more likely to finish college than their peers. But in high-poverty schools, about half of the grade 7-12 math teachers did not major or minor in math in college. Compounding the problem, two-thirds of the nation's K-12 math and science teachers are expected to retire by 2010 (Source: National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century.) As Secretary Spellings has noted, "We don't serve teachers or students well by placing our least experienced teachers in our most challenging environments."
Last fall, the Department of Education announced that states making a good-faith effort to ensure a Highly Qualified Teacher [HQT] in every classroom before the 2006-07 school year may submit a Revised State Plan for accomplishing this goal by the end of the school year. States were asked to pay particular attention to the staffing needs of schools "in need of improvement" under NCLB, as well as those serving high concentrations of poor and disadvantaged students.
Today the Department announces the findings of a Peer Review of the Revised State Plans. A team of 31 respected teacher quality experts and administrators measured the plans against a six-point protocol of success (see page 2). This first round of feedback will help determine how close states are to meeting their goaland what steps the Department can take to assist them.
The Results
The Department, with input from the panel of experts, determined that:
The vast majority of states made a serious effort to develop comprehensive, future-oriented Plans. Some states, such as Ohio and New Jersey, made great strides in meeting certain goals, such as finding new ways to attract good teachers to serve in low-performing schools. The four states that did not adequately address the six-point protocol, however, will now be subject to strict scrutiny by the Department of Education. For those states, the Department will:
The Six-Point Protocol For A Successful Plan
In evaluating the Plans, the Peer Reviewers examined how states addressed the following six key issues:
Timeline Of HQT Progress
Oct. 21, 2005 Secretary Spellings issued a letter informing each chief state school officer that, despite the substantial progress being made, states were in danger of not meeting the 2005-06 goal for HQT.
March 8, 2006 States submitted their HQT data for the 2004-05 school year to the Department.
March 21, 2006 The Department informed states that they would be evaluated against four "good-faith" criteria:
March 8 to May 12, 2006 The Department assessed HQT data for 2004-05 and previous years, making determinations about whether the states were on track to meet NCLB's HQT requirements as well as the four "good-faith" elements.
May 5, 2006 The Department notified states in writing of the results of the assessment of their HQT progress and requested them to submit Revised State Plans.
July 7, 2006 Revised Plans due to the Department.
Sept. 29, 2006 Deadline for most states to submit revisions to Revised Plans based on Peer Review recommendations.
Nov. 1, 2006 Deadline for states under strict scrutiny to complete their new Revised State Plans.
Other Support For Highly Qualified Teachers
Last Modified: 08/16/2006
|