What does it mean to be a "highly qualified" teacher?

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires teachers of core academic subjects to have a bachelor's degree, to be fully certified by their state, and to demonstrate they know the subjects they are teaching. (All hyperlinks in this paragraph take you to A Toolkit for Teachers for more detailed information on the topic.)

The intent of these requirements is to ensure that teachers are not assigned to teach subjects for which they do not have the requisite knowledge and skills. While many believe that out-of-field teaching is unavoidable due to teacher shortages, research tells us otherwise. Out-of-field teaching often exists in schools and subjects that are neither facing teacher shortages nor considered "hard to staff." This tells us that there is an assignment problem-not a teacher problem!

As schools take steps to end out-of-field teaching, students will benefit, particularly students with traditionally low achievement in schools where the problem is more severe. Allowing teachers to concentrate on what they know best will help improve student achievement.

More on this subject next week.

Tools for Teachers:

Richard M. Ingersoll's study, "The Problem of Under qualified Teachers in American Secondary Schools," which appeared in the Educational Researcher (March 1999), details his findings on out-of-field teaching referenced above.