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New Guidance from the US Department of Education on Highly Qualified Teachers
Special Educators
New guidance from the US Department of Education (USDE) indicates that special education teachers be highly qualified in the content area that they teach. This guidance will control the qualifications until the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is reauthorized. Congress watchers tell us that it is unlikely that this guidance will be materially changed by IDEA reauthorization. The guidance from the USDE follows. HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS Must
special education teachers who teach core academic subjects be highly
qualified? Yes.
Special education teachers who provide instruction in core academic subjects
must meet the highly qualified teacher requirements for those core academic
subjects that they teach. These requirements apply whether a special
education teacher provides core academic instruction in a regular classroom,
a resource room, or another setting. What
activities may special education teachers carry out if they are not highly
qualified in the core academic content area being taught? There are many activities that special education teachers may
carry out that would not, by themselves, require those teachers to be highly
qualified in a particular subject matter. Special Improving Teacher Quality
State Grants Non-Regulatory Guidance January 16, 2004 educators who do not
directly instruct students in any core academic subjects or who provide only
consultation to highly qualified teachers of core academic subjects in
adapting curricula, using behavioral supports and interventions, or
selecting appropriate accommodations do not need to demonstrate
subject-matter competency in those subjects. These special educators could
also assist students with study skills or organizational skills and
reinforce instruction that the child has already received from a highly
qualified teacher in that core academic subject. States
and districts should consider the needs of special education teachers as
they implement Title II, Part A, particularly for activities that
relate to professional development and reform of teacher certification or
licensing procedures. By coordinating the use of resources from other
Federal programs, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA), States can ensure that Title II, Part A funds are used
effectively to help establish a coherent and comprehensive system that
supports teacher quality. Science Teachers New Guidance As of March 15: Latest on Rural Teachers and Science Teachers Science Teachers Science teachers, like rural teachers, are often needed to teach in more than one field of science. Some states allow such science teachers to be certified under a general science certification, while others require a subject-specific certification (such as physics, biology or chemistry). In science, where demand for teachers is so high, the Department is issuing additional flexibility for teachers to demonstrate that they are highly qualified. • Now, states may determine—based on their current certification requirements—to allow science teachers to demonstrate that they are highly qualified either in “broad field” science or individual fields of science (such as physics, biology or chemistry). Guidance in January: Is a teacher with an undergraduate degree or who has otherwise demonstrated subject area competency in a specific scientific field (e.g., biology or chemistry) highly qualified to teach any science course? No. Content knowledge in one scientific discipline does not necessarily mean that a teacher will have sufficient subject-matter competency in another. Middle and secondary school science teachers must demonstrate subject-matter competency appropriate to the specific courses they are teaching. For example, a teacher who majored in biology is not, on that basis alone, considered highly qualified to teach physics. Can a teacher demonstrate subject-area competency in multiple subjects, e.g., civics and government, or chemistry and physics, through a single test? Yes, a State may offer a single test that
covers more than one core content area. To be able to determine whether a
teacher who passes such a test has demonstrated subject-matter competency in
each subject covered by the test, the State would have to determine (as it
would for a single subject test) that the test questions adequately cover
the content area of each subject and that the teacher has successfully
answered an adequate subset of those questions. US Department of Education Teacher Quality Guidance from January 04
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