U.S. Department of Education Announces Reasonable Flexibility in Implementing NCLB Teacher Quality Requirements

This fall, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced new guidelines for States in meeting the "highly qualified teacher" goals of the No Child Left Behind Act. Recognizing that teachers are one of the most important factors in improving student academic performance and closing the achievement gap, the No Child Left Behind Act set the important goal of ensuring that all students be taught by a "highly qualified teacher" (HQT). Secretary Spellings has announced that States that do not quite reach the 100 percent goal by the end of the 2005-06 school year will not lose federal funds if they are implementing the law and making a good-faith effort to reach the HQT goal. States and school districts have made great gains in implementing these requirements, but there is still work to be done.

The U.S. Department of Education will determine whether or not a State is implementing the law and making a good-faith effort to reach the HQT goal by examining States' progress in ensuring that all core academic subjects are taught by highly qualified teachers, as well as their efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers and improve the quality of the teaching force.

To learn more, you can access Secretary Spellings' letter to Chief State School Officers at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/051021.html. To learn more about the requirements for teachers under No Child Left Behind, you can access the revised "Highly Qualified Teachers and Improving Teacher Quality State Grants" Non-Regulatory Guidance at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/teacherqual/legislation.html#guidance.