Teacher Quality No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Title II, Part A

1. Teacher Quality No Child Left Behind (NCLB)Title II, Part A Division of Teacher Quality South Carolina Department of Education

2. Major Programs at a Glance

3. Overriding Principles • No Child Left Behind was enacted to improve student achievement. • In order to improve student achievement, teachers must know the content he or she teaches. • Teachers must demonstrate they have content knowledge in all subjects they teach.

4. Teacher Quality (Title II) • Combines funds formerly used for Eisenhower Professional Development and Class-size reduction • Added approximately 35% new monies

5. Teacher Quality – Title II • Highly Qualified Teachers • Highly Qualified Paraprofessionals • Professional Development • Based on Needs Assessment • Based on Scientific Research

6. Applicability to Teachers • All teachers hired to teach core academic subjects in Title I schools and Title I targeted assistance programs must be highly qualified by the first day of the 2002-03 school year. • All teachers who teach core academic subjects must be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year.

7. Core Academic Content Areas • Core academic subjects are: • English, • Reading or language arts, • Mathematics, • Science, • Foreign languages, • Civics, government, economics, history, geography, and • the Arts (art, music, dance, speech and drama). • All core academic teachers must be highly qualified in the content area(s) that they teach.

8. Applicability to Schools • All schools that deliver content in the core academic areas, including • alternative schools, • special schools, • South Carolina Governor’s Schools, and • charter schools, are considered to be public schools, and, as such, are subject to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind legislation.

9. Currently….. • Certification does not necessarily equal being highly qualified • Being highly qualified does not necessarily equal being certified • In some cases, certification requirements are higher. • In some cases highly qualified requirements are higher.

10. Standards for Being a Highly Qualified Teacher • A highly qualified teacher must • 1) have earned at least a bachelor’s degree, • 2) demonstrate content knowledge in each core content area he or she teaches, and • 3) not have any waivers of the requirements for full state certification.

11. Demonstrating Content Knowledge • A veteran teacher may demonstrate he or she has content knowledge by achieving one of the following: • Academic major • Content exam(s) • Advanced certification • HOUSSE

12. Demonstrating Content Knowledge (continued) • Academic Major • a major in the content area(s) taught (not applicable for early childhood or elementary teachers), by obtaining either: • Thirty or more semester hours earned in content area coursework, twenty-one of which were earned at the junior or senior level or above, or • Twenty-four or more semester hours earned in content area coursework at the graduate level;

13. Demonstrating Content Knowledge (continued) • Content Exam(s) • a passing score on the content area examination(s) in each core academic content area in which the teacher teaches

14. Demonstrating Content Knowledge (continued) • Advanced certification in the area(s) the teacher teaches by obtaining either: • An advanced degree at the master’s, master’s plus thirty, or doctorate levels in the area(s) that the teacher is teaching, or • National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification in the content area(s) that the teacher is teaching. (National Board is considered part of HOUSSE for early childhood and elementary teachers.)

15. Demonstrating Content Knowledge (continued) • HOUSSE: Successful completion of a high, objective, uniform state standard of evaluation (HOUSSE) in the content area(s) • This standard of evaluation must be: • (1) Set by the State for both grade appropriate academic subject matter knowledge and teaching skills; • (2) Aligned with challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards and developed in consultation with core content specialists, teachers, principals, and school administrators; • (3) Provide objective, coherent information about the teacher's attainment of core content knowledge in the academic subjects in which a teacher teaches; • (4) Applied uniformly to all teachers in the same academic subject and the same grade level throughout the State; • (5) Take into consideration, but not be based primarily on, the time the teacher has been teaching in the academic subject; • (6) Made available to the public upon request; and • (7) May involve multiple, objective measures of teacher competency.

16. Revisions to ADEPT • To further develop ADEPT as the “high, objective, uniform state system of evaluation” (HOUSSE), South Carolina plans to add a “Content Area Evaluation” component that will • include the following performance standards, relative to the specific content area: • Long-Range Planning • Selection, Development, and Use of Assessments • Using Appropriate Strategies to Facilitate Learning • Providing Content • Monitoring and Enhancing Student Learning; and • Involve at least two evaluators; one must be highly qualified in the content area being evaluated • At least two observations in each content area taught

17. Credentials That Meet Standards • Initial • Critical Needs • Professional

18. Credentials That Do Not Meet Standards • Out-of-State Temporary Certificates • Transitional Certificates • Out-of-Field Permits • Interim Certificates • Graded Certificates of “B,” “C,” or “D” • Warrants • Special Subject Certificates

19. Who should we be concerned about? • Teachers on waivers • Special Education teachers • Middle level teachers • Teachers certified in South Carolina prior to 1976 • Teachers with add-on certification

20. Substitute Teachers • A substitute teacher is anyone who holds a high school diploma or above and is hired by the Local Education Agency (LEA) to take the place of a classroom teacher for a period of time to be determined by the LEA. • Because substitute teachers are not part of South Carolina’s definition of a teacher, individuals serving as substitutes do not have to meet the requirements of being highly qualified.

21. Parents’ Right to Know • The Local Education Agency (LEA) must disseminate a blanket statement that any parent can request information about any teacher of their child. This is required to inform parents that they have the right to know: • (i) whether the teacher has met state qualification and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction; • (ii) whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualification or licensing criteria have been waived; • (iii) the baccalaureate degree major of the teacher and any other graduate certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the certification or degree; • (iv) whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.

22. Parent Notification • In addition to the information that parents may request, a school that receives Title I funds must provide each individual parent a timely notice that the parent's child has been assigned, or has been taught for four or more consecutive weeks by, a teacher who is not highly qualified. • The notice and information provided to parents must be in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language that the parents can understand. • This applies to all teachers teaching core academic subjects in a Title I school, regardless if the school has a schoolwide or targeted assistance program.

23. Data Collection • Information needs to be completed on • Each teacher teaching in a core academic subject • Every subject that the teacher is teaching • Due to SDE: Spring 2003 – Exact date to be determined • Due to USDOE: September 2003

24. Verification • SDE will verify information that districts submit. • The teacher’s certificate will have an indicator by each certification area in which he or she is highly qualified.

25. Instructional Paraprofessionals (Title I and Target Assistance Programs) • A paraprofessional is an individual with certain instructional support duties. Individuals who work solely in non-instructional roles, such as food service, cafeteria or playground supervision, personal care services, and non-instructional computer assistance are not considered to be paraprofessionals for Title I purposes.

26. Instructional Paraprofessionals • Newly hired instructional paraprofessionals in schoolwide or Title I funded targeted assistance schools hired after January 8, 2002, must meet one of the following requirements: • Completed at least 2 years of study at an institution of higher education; or • Obtained an associate’s (or higher) degree; or • Met a rigorous standard of quality and can demonstrate through a formal State or local academic assessment • Knowledge of, and the ability to assist in instructing reading, writing, and mathematics; or • Knowledge of, and the ability to assist in instructing, reading readiness, writing readiness, and mathematics readiness, as appropriate.

27. Instructional Paraprofessionals • All instructional paraprofessionals in Title I schools or targeted assistance programs hired prior to January 8, 2002, must meet the above requirements by January 8, 2006.

28. Instructional Paraprofessionals • Districts may use funds received under Title II to assist paraprofessionals in meeting these requirements. • The SDE’s Adult Education Program is offering their services to help paraprofessionals prepare to enroll in college or take a test. • The SDE is working with the technical colleges to develop programs that will lead to a career path for paraprofessionals. • The SDE is piloting the ETS Para-Pro test and the ACT WorkKeys test. • The SDE has applied for an Ameri-Corp grant to assist paraprofessionals with their preparation to become highly qualified.

29. Clarification on Special Ed. Paraprofessionals • Do paraprofessionals who work with profoundly mentally and physically disabled students have to be highly qualified?  Are they considered instructional? • If the paraprofessional is providing instructional support, then the paraprofessional is required to meet one of these requirements.  If the paraprofessional is only providing personal care, then he/she is not considered an instructional paraprofessional.

30. Professional Development • Needs Assessment • Determine what activities need to be conducted to give teachers the means to provide all students the opportunity to meet challenging state content and academic achievement standards • Determine what activities need to be conducted to give principals the instructional leadership skills to help teachers provide all students with the opportunity to meet challenging state content and academic achievement standards

31. Professional Development • The activities/professional development included in the plan must align with State academic content standards.

32. Professional Development • The activities/professional development must be based on a review of scientifically based research. • Scientifically based research means applying rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to improving student academic achievement.

33. Scientifically Based Research • Use of rigorous, systematic, and empirical methods • Adequacy of data to justify the general conclusions drawn • Reliance on methods that provide valid data across multiple measurements and observations • Use of control groups • Details allow for replication • Acceptance by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independentexperts

34. Suggested Activities • Recruitment • Preparation and professional development • Support • Ensuring quality • Retention • Accountability

35. State Department’s Role in Monitoring School Districts • After two years, if the school district has failed to make progress toward meeting its measurable objectives, the school district must develop an improvement plan to describe how it will meet its objectives. • The state must provide technical assistance to the school districts and, if applicable, to schools within the school district while the school district is developing the improvement plan.

36. State Department’s Role in Monitoring School Districts • After an additional year (three years), the state must enter into an agreement with the school district on the use of the school district’s funds under this program, including developing professional development strategies and activities. • The state may also prohibit the use of Title I, Part A funds for any paraprofessional hired after the determination is made.

37. State Department’s Role in Monitoring School Districts • In addition, after 3 years of poor performance, states may provide funds directly to schools to enable teachers to choose, in consultation with the school principal, the professional development activities in which they would like to participate.

38. Allocations • School districts receive a subgrant for the amount they received in FY 2001 for the Eisenhower Professional Development State Grants and Class-Size Reduction programs. Of the remaining funds, 20 percent are allocated based on child population (ages 5 to 17) and 80 percent on the population of students in poverty.

39. Class Size Reduction • School districts are no longer required to use funds to reduce class size in grades K-3 before using funds to reduce class size in other grades, including middle and high school grades. • Teachers hired under the former class-size reduction program must be highly qualified and must still be teaching in positions that exist to reduce class size.

40. Private School Involvement • School districts must consult with appropriate private school officials (those that meet the requirements of the Office of Civil Rights) during the design, development, and implementation of the professional development program • How needs of children and teachers will be identified • What services will be offered • How, where, and by whom the services will be provided • How the services will be assessed • How the results will be used to improve those services • The size and scope of equitable services • The amount of funds available for those services • When the school district will make decisions about the delivery of services

41. SDE Contacts for Title II, Teacher Quality • Joellen Harris • jharris@scteachers.org • 803-734-3455 • Barbara Weston • bweston@scteachers.org • 803-734-3454