FACT SHEET ON HIGHLY QUALIFIED OPTIONS
FOR TENNESSEE TEACHERS
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) ACT
NCLB Highly Qualified Requirements:
* All core academic teachers must be highly qualified by the end of school year
2005-2006.
Teachers of core academic subjects newly hired after the first day of school in the
2002-03 school year to teach in a program supported by Title I funds (school-wide or
targeted assistance), must meet the requirements upon employment.
All other teachers of core academic subjects (new hires in non-Title I schools/
programs and all existing teachers), must meet the requirements by the end of the
2005-06 school year.
*NCLB Core academic subject areas include English, reading or language arts,
mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts,
history, and geography.
* A highly qualified teacher must meet all three of the following conditions:
Bachelor's Degree; and
Teacher's License (no requirements waived); and
Demonstrate competency for grade/subject area(s) being taught.
* Elementary (K-6)
Subject knowledge in reading, writing, math, and other areas of basic elementary
curriculum.
Middle (7-8) and High School (9-12)
Content knowledge in each core academic subject assigned to teach.
Options for Meeting NCLB Highly Qualified Requirements:
*The Tennessee-defined teacher quality requirements are outlined in detail in the
Tennessee Plan for Implementing the Teacher and Paraprofessional Quality
Provisions of the NCLB Act of 2001. A copy of the state plan is available online at http:/
/www.tennessee.gov/education/nclb. Teachers should read this plan prior to
selecting any option to meet the federal requirements of NCLB.
o Academic Major: The major must be in the academic content area.
o Coursework Equivalent: Twenty-four (24) semester hours in the academic
content area (excluding methodology courses).
o Graduate Degree: The graduate degree must be in the academic content area.
o National Board Certification (NBC): NBC must be at the grade level being taught
(K-6) or in the academic content area (7-12).
o Test: The applicable NTE or Praxis tests are listed in Appendix A of the State
Plan.
o Framework for Evaluation & Professional Growth: Revised classroom
observation component under development.
o Teacher Effect Data: The teacher vs state gain comparison level must be Not
Detectably Different (NDD) from the mean or Above the mean for the state.
o Professional Matrix: Teachers must accumulate 100 points on the Matrix to
achieve highly qualified status.
