2009-2010 SURVEY RESULTS OF THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER INITIATIVE September 1, 2010

1. Willa Spicer, Assistant Commissioner Cathy Pine, Director Carol Albritton, Teacher Quality Coordinator Office of Professional Standards, Licensing and Higher Education Collaboration 2009-2010 SURVEY RESULTS OF THE HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHER INITIATIVE September 1, 2010

2. No Child Left Behind Act – 2001The Highly Qualified Teacher To satisfy the federal definition of Highly Qualified, teachers must: • Have a Bachelor’s degree; • Have valid state certification for which no requirements have been waived (i.e., no emergency certificates); and • Demonstrate content expertise in the core academic subject(s) they teach through federal criteria specified in NCLB Note: HOUSE Matrix use ended for general education teachers on June 30, 2007 and for special education teachers on June 30, 2010. HOUSE Matrix may be used by foreign teachers on short-term assignments.

3. 2009-2010 Highly Qualified Progress ReportFall 2009 Certificated Staff Report • 99.8% of NJ teachers are highly qualified in the subjects they teach. The state has made significant progress toward ensuring that all teachers are highly qualified in the content they teach. • The gap between the number of classes taught by highly qualified teachers (HQT) in high poverty and low poverty schools has narrowed from 10% in 2004-2005 to 0.3% in 2009-2010. • Special education classes reflect the lowest percentage of highly qualified teachers.

4. A Longitudinal Look

5. 2009-2010 Highly Qualified Teacher Survey % TeachersHighly Qualified for All Subjects Taught

6. State Equity Plan—Strategies to Increase % of HQT and Ensure Equity • Alignment of licensure and HQT requirements; • Improved data collection procedures; • Out-of-field teaching and HQT compliance monitoring; • Recruitment and retention strategies; and • Targeted technical assistance to identified districts.

7. Targeted Improvement Plans • District HQT Improvement Plan must be submitted by districts failing to achieve 100% of classes taught by highly qualified teachers for two consecutive years. • An HQT Agreement with NJ DOE on the use of Title IIA professional development funds must be implemented for districts failing to meet both AYP and 100% HQT for three consecutive years.

8. Federal Monitoring of NJ’s Title IIA Program, January 26-27, 2010 Monitoring visit included: • Meetings with staff across divisions having responsibility for Title IIA and Highly Qualified programs; • Examination of documentation submitted by NJ DOE; • Presentations by grantees in colleges providing professional development support to high need districts; • On-site visit to an urban school district; and • Telephone conferences with two school districts.

9. Federal Monitoring of New Jersey January 2010 Findings SEA had one-year delay in implementing HQT Improvement Plans and HQT Agreements for Districts in Need of Improvement (DINIs). However, because SEA had implemented the necessary procedures in 2009, no further actions were required.

10. Federal Monitoring of New Jersey January 2010 Commendation "The State is commended for its cohesive and thoughtful leveraging, integrating and coordinating of professional development funds and resources to maximize its reach and impact on teachers and, ultimately, on student achievement. "

11. New Jersey’s HQT Plan • Revised and resubmitted to U.S. Dept. of Education in 2010. • Will be updated annually and made publicly available.