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Enclosure A: Proposed Teacher Shortage Area Designation Submission Checklist

Please refer to the letter (dated August 17, 2016) to the Chief State School Officers that is included in the contents of this package of documents related to the March 2017 (expected date) publication Teacher Shortage Areas Nationwide Listing 1990-1991 through 2016-2017. You must respond to each of the items in this “checklist” (and provide any additional documentation and explanations, when requested) in order support your State’s 2017-2018 Teacher Shortage Area submission to the U.S. Department of Education (Department), and thereby have the proposed teacher shortage areas approved by the Secretary of Education. When completing the information requested to support your State’s proposed teacher shortage areas, please refer to the enclosed program regulations as noted below.

I. PRESCRIBED METHODOLOGY – Use the prescribed methodology discussed in the enclosed 34 CFR 682.210(q)(6) for your submission, which must include:

  1. An assurance that written objective standards were used in developing the proposed teacher shortage areas.
  2. An assurance that the Chief State School Officer (CSSO) consulted with private nonprofit elementary and secondary school officials within the State.
    1. An assurance that the proposed teacher shortage areas met the specific requirements found in 34 CFR 682.210(q)(6)(iii); or
    2. If the percentage of your State’s proposed teacher shortage areas¹ exceeds the automatic designated limit of five percent of the total of all of the full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching positions, a statement that you are submitting the supporting documentation, as required in 34 CFR 682.210(q)(6)(iv) for the consideration by the Department.
  3. An assurance that 2016-2017 academic year data (or the most current data available) was used to determine the proposed teacher shortage areas.
    1. The name and original signature of the CSSO; and
    2. The name, title, office, mailing address, telephone, and fax number of a contact person.
  4. A list of proposed teacher shortage areas in priority order and containing the following information:
    1. Name of State;
    2. Applicable school year (e.g., 2015-2016, 2016-2017);
    3. Date prepared;
    4. Total of all the FTE teaching positions within the State from 2016-2017 academic year data (or previous year’s data, if most current data available);
    5. If proposed areas are geographic regions, list the names of specific areas such as counties or school districts. Also, include the number of FTE teacher shortage positions for the geographic region and the percentage of the total of all of the FTE teaching positions (d. above).² For example:
    6. State of Columbia – 2016-2017 School Year – December 3, 2016

      Northwest Independent School District FTE 332.90 4.3%
      Central Independent School District FTE 263.25 3.4%
      Total (documentation required) -- 7.7%

      State of Ventura – 2016-2017 School Year – December 10, 2016

      McLean County FTE 148 0.6%
      Jenkins Hill County FTE 246 1.0%
      City of Freeport FTE 615 2.5%
      Total -- 4.1%

    7. A specific grade level or academic discipline may be proposed as a teacher shortage area statewide. Please include the number of FTE teacher shortage positions for the academic discipline or grade level and the percentage of all FTE teaching positions.³ For example:
    8. State of Albion – 2016-2017 School Year – December 3, 2016

      Fifth and Sixth Grade Teachers FTE 742 4.7%

      State of Platte – 2015-2016 School Year – December 10, 2015

      Bilingual/ESL (Pre-K - 12) FTE 75.0 0.9%
      French FTE 99.75 1.2%
      Mathematics (9 - 12) FTE 458.0 5.5%
      Physics FTE 249.5 3.0%
      Total -- 10.6%

      State of Albemarle – 2016-2017 School Year – December 3, 2016

      Special Education for Handicapped Children (Birth - 3 years) FTE 55.25 0.1%

  5. If you propose more than the five percent limit in Item I.6, include the listing of teacher shortage areas ranked according to priority, as required by 34 CFR 682.210(q)(6)(iv), along with supporting documentation, showing the methods used for identifying shortage areas and an explanation of why the Department should designate all of the proposed areas as teacher shortage areas.

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II. STATE-DEVELOPED ALTERNATIVE METHODOLOGY – If you are proposing an alternate methodology for designation of teacher shortage areas as permitted by the enclosed 34 CFR 682.210(q)(7), your submission must include:

  1. A statement that your submission contains a request for approval of an alternate teacher shortage area selection methodology and that the submission contains supporting documentation as described in 34 CFR 682.210 (q)(7).
  2. An assurance that written objective standards were used in developing the proposed teacher shortage areas.
  3. An assurance that the CSSO consulted with private nonprofit elementary and secondary school officials with the State.
  4. An assurance that the 2016-2017 academic year data (or the most current data available) was used to determine the proposed teacher shortage areas.
    1. The name and original signature of the CSSO; and
    2. Name, title, office, mailing address, telephone, and fax number of a contact person.
  5. A list of proposed teacher shortage areas following the instructions in I.6. However, we can evaluate this list for designation only if your alternate methodology for proposing teacher shortage areas is approved by the Department.
  6. If you propose more than five percent in Item II.6, include the listing and other information described in Item I.7.

¹ Calculate teacher shortage areas as a percentage of the FTE teaching positions for all teachers in the State. A combination of the following unduplicated FTEs may be used to calculate teaching shortage area FTEs and the percentage of total FTEs: (a) teaching positions that are unfilled; (b) teaching positions that are filled by teachers who are certified by irregular, provisional, temporary, or emergency certification; and (c) teaching positions that are filled by teachers who are certified, but who are teaching in academic subject areas other than their area of preparation.

² See Footnote 1.

³ See Footnote 1.

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Last Modified: 08/18/2016