Highly Qualified Requirements for Exceptional Student Education Teachers

1. Highly Qualified RequirementsforExceptional Student Education Teachers What’s New? February 15, 2006

2. No Child Left Behind • NCLB is an act designed to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility and choice so that no child is left behind • All children must have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and meet proficiency on state academic standards and state academic assessments • Teacher quality is a key component of student learning • Law includes definition of Highly Qualified Teacher (HQT) • Subject content knowledge emphasized

3. WHY? • Federal Title II monitoring visit indicated that Florida had not met the highly qualified requirement for some elementary ESE teachers.

4. WHEN? • NCLB was enacted January 8, 2002 • Beginning 2002-03 school year, Title I schools were required to hire teachers in core subject areas that are highly qualified • All other teachers must be HQ no later than June 30, 2006

5. WHO? PreK ESE Teachers if teaching combination class of PreK and K or higher • NCLB is triggered and the teacher must meet the highly qualified requirements for elementary in addition to ESE

6. WHO? • ESE teachers who are the teacher of record and teach an elementary core academic subject.

7. English Civics Reading Government Language Arts Economics Math Arts (Music, Drama & Art) Science History Foreign Languages Geography NCLB Core Academic Subjects

8. Elementary ESE Courses that trigger HQT… • 7755010 – Academics: K-5 • 7755030 – Academic Skills: K-5 • 7755040 – Advanced Academics: K-5 • 7755050 – Developmental Skills: K-5 • 7701010 – Art: K-5 • 7710010 – Language Arts: K-5 • 7710020 – Reading: K-5

9. Elementary ESE Courses that trigger HQT (cont …) • 7710030 – Communications: K-5 • 7710040 – Spelling: K-5 • 7710050 – Writing: K-5 • 7712010 – Math: K-5 • 7713010 – Music: K-5 • 7720010 – Science: K-5 • 7721010 – Social Studies: K-5

10. Definitions New Teachers - less than one year of teaching experience (not tied to year of employment) Experienced Teachers - one or more years of full-time teaching experience

15. WHO? • K-12 ESE teachers who teach core academic subjects exclusively to students who are assessed against alternate achievement standards (students with significant cognitive impairments)

16. WHAT? • Are required to meet the highly qualified requirement for elementary teachers or • core academic subject areas appropriate for the level of instruction provided and • the appropriate certification in ESE to match the ESE table in the Course Code Directory

17. WHEN? • New ESE teachers 2 years after their date of employment to demonstrate subject matter competency, in the other subjects taught if they teach multiple core academic subjects exclusively to ESE students, and if those teachers have already met the requirements in math, language arts, or science.

18. Middle Grades (6-8) ESE courses that trigger HQT … • 7855010 – Academics: 6-8 • 7855030 – Academic Skills: 6-8 • 7855040 – Advanced Academics: 6-8 • 7855050 – Developmental Skills: 6-8 • 7810010 – Language Arts: 6-8 • 7810020 – Reading: 6-8

19. Middle Grades (6-8) ESE courses that trigger HQT (cont…) • 7810030 – Communications: 6-8 • 7812010 – Mathematics: 6-8 • 7820010 – Science: 6-8 • 7821010 – Social Studies: 6-8 • 7801010 – Visual and Performing Arts: 6-8 • 7813010 – Music: 6-8

20. High School (9-12) ESE courses that trigger HQT … • 7910100 – Reading: 9-12 • 7910110 – English: 9-12 • 7910390 – Communications: 9-12 • 7910400 – Life Skills Reading: 9-12 • 7912050 – Math: 9-12 • 7912340 – Life Skills Math: 9-12

21. High School (9-12) ESE courses that trigger HQT (cont…) • 7920010 – Science: 9-12 • 7921010 – Social Studies: 9-12 • 7961010 – Academic Skills for Functional Living • 7961020 – Communication Skills for Functional Living • 7962010 – Cognitive and Linguistic Skills • 7967010 – Visual and Performing Arts

22. ESE Academic Courses • Students with disabilities who are participating in the FCAT and are on a standard diploma track should only be enrolled in ESE academic courses when those courses are used to provide remediation, not primary instruction.

23. Ways To Determine Level of Instruction for Secondary Students • IEPs • Course descriptions • Classroom curriculum • Instructional materials used in classroom Case-by-case, class-by-class

28. Consultation, Co-teaching, and Support Facilitation • The general education teacher who is certified in the core academic subject area is considered the content expert and must be HQ • The special education teacher is the provider of strategies and methods to assist students and is considered highly qualified if they meet the requirements for certification on the ESE table in the Course Code Directory

29. HOUSSEOption Requirements • Experienced teacher • Total 100 points or more • Signed by teacher and district official • Copy in personnel file • Supporting documentation at district office

30. Components of HOUSSE • Full-time teaching experience in elementary education or the core content areas • Successful performance evaluation • College credit in the core academic courses • Professional development in the core content area • Awards/Recognition for core content area • Student learning GAINS – Math or English-Language Arts for grades 4 - 10

31. Florida In-field Designation A revision has been made to Rule 6A-1.0503, FAC, that adds documentation of meeting requirements for the NCLB highly qualified designation via the HOUSSE plan as a method for being defined as a qualified, infield teacher.

32. What help is available? Professional Development Opportunities

33. Dual Certification Pilot Programs at Universities • Two universities developed dual certification pilot programs funded with State Improvement Grant dollars • Graduates will be eligible for certification in ESE and a secondary subject area • University sites are: • UCF and USF-St. Pete

34. Virtual ESE Distance Learning Program • Collaborative effort among universities in Florida • Provides graduate courses in special education • On-Line delivery system

35. PDA – ESE Professional Development Alternatives for Exceptional Student Educators (PDA-ESE) is a DOE initiative developed to deliver specialized training for teachers of students with disabilities. PDA-ESE utilizes online modules and local facilitators to provide statewide accessible professional development.

36. Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum On-Line Study Module • This module is designed to assist educators who are preparing to take the certification exam for Middle Grades Integrated Curriculum. • There are no facilitators – this is a self-paced study module.

37. New Elementary Education On-Line Study Module Planned • Self-paced study module for elementary K-6 subject area exam being developed. • Plan to roll out in fall 2006.

38. For additional information on PDA-ESE and other MGIC, contact Content questions: • Mary Ann Ahearn- ahearnm@nefec.org or • Sue Kupchunas- kupchunasa@nefec.org • Phone: 386-312-2265 • www.pda-ese.org • http://FDLRSHRD.NEFEC.org/IC/

39. Technical Assistance • December 8, 2005, John Winn memo and attachments: Update on Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements for Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Teachers - • http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3409/ese_memo.pdf • http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3410/ese_att1.pdf • http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-3411/ese_att2.pdf

40. For Additional Information on ESE HQT, contact • Evy Friend, Administrator evy.friend@fldoe.org • Lezlie Cline, Program Director lezlie.cline@fldoe.org • Phone: (850) 245-0478 • Fax: (850) 245-0955 Florida Department of Education Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services 325 W Gaines St. Suite 601 Turlington Tallahassee, Florida 32399