No. The "Highly Qualified" criteria applies to all teachers - in Title I and non-Title I public schools - who teach in core academic subject areas. The federal regulations do not apply to non-core academic subject area teachers such as those in most vocational (workforce development/career-technical education) programs or physical education.
Those areas include: English, reading, language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, social studies, economics, arts, history, geography, and kindergarten through Grade 6 (K-6).
Teachers must be "Highly Qualified" in each of their core subject teaching areas.
Deadlines vary. NCLB requires that all teachers of core academic subjects working in Title I schools or programs hired after the first day of the 2002-03 school year be "Highly Qualified" now. As an Ed-Flex state, school districts and charter schools could have applied for and been granted a waiver of this requirement through the end of the 2004-05 school year. Because the teacher quality waiver does not extend through the 2005-06 school year, all new teachers hired for Title I schools and programs for the 2005-06 school year must be “Highly Qualified.”
Veteran teachers of core academic subjects working in Title I schools and programs and all core academic subject non-Title I teachers have until June 30, 2006, to become "Highly Qualified."
To be designated “Highly Qualified,” new elementary and new special education teachers must pass a rigorous state test (currently TExES/ExCET). Middle school, high school, and special subject teachers (e.g., art, music, second languages, etc.) can be designated “Highly Qualified” by passing a rigorous state test (currently TExES/ExCET), or by having an academic major or the equivalent in the content area, or by having a graduate degree in the content area, or by having State Board Certification in the area.
Teachers who are not new to the profession can be designated "Highly Qualified" through the HOUSE method (High, Objective, Uniform, Standard of Evaluation).
What parent notifications must Title I schools make regarding "Highly Qualified" teachers?
NCLB requires Title I schools to notify each parent in the school whose child is being taught for four or more weeks by a teacher who is not “Highly Qualified” regardless of whether or not the teacher is being paid with Title I funds.
Districts must notify the parents of students attending Title I schools that they may request and the district must provide (in a timely manner) information regarding the professional qualifications of students’ classroom teachers including, at a minimum, the following:
- Whether the teacher has met Texas qualifications and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subject areas in which the teacher provides instruction.
- Whether the teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver through which the state qualifications or licensing criteria have been waived.
- The bachelor's degree major of the teacher and any other graduate certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field or discipline of the certification or degree.
- Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications.
