Joint Council of County Special Services School Districts
No Child Left Behind: NJ’s Model for Highly Qualified Teachers

All academic content teachers and special education teachers providing academic content are required to meet definition of "highly qualified" by end of 2005-06 school year.

All NJ teachers are required to complete NJ Highly Qualified Teacher Identification forms to assess their status as highly qualified teachers and submit to building principals by November 3, 2003.

Building principals are responsible for reviewing documentation. State does not review individual teacher status/documentation, but will monitor district compliance with NCLB requirements.

No consequences or job loss for individual teachers who do not satisfy definition. School must inform parents if child is taught be teacher who has not met the definition.

Highly Qualified Definition

All academic content teachers and special education teachers providing academic content will be required to meet definition of "highly qualified" by end of 2005-06 school year.

Bachelor’s degree or higher, and Valid teaching certificate (no emergency cert.), and one of the following:

Academic major, 30 credits equivalent coursework, or graduate degree in each subject area/grade level to be taught, or

Passing score on state test in each subject to be taught (NTE or Praxis II) (required since 1985), or

National Board Certification in content area, or

10 points under NJ HOUSE Standard (see below) for each academic subject to be taught.

Forms and Documentation (Distributed to school districts and on DOE website: http://www.nj.gov/njded/profdev/house.pdf)

Special education teachers instructing elementary students or providing elementary-level content to middle school or secondary students in a self contained class must pass the NTE or Praxis II Elementary Education Content Knowledge Test or must accumulate 10 points under the NJ HOUSE Standard (see below).

These teachers must complete NJ Highly Qualified Teacher Identification Form A (form will be revised by DOE to include teachers who provide elementary content to secondary students in a self-contained setting).

Special education teachers instructing secondary students in a departmentalized setting or providing secondary level content in a self contained class must pass the NTE or Praxis II test for each content area for which they provide instruction or must accumulate 10 points under the NJ HOUSE Standard for each content area.

These teachers must complete a NJ Highly Qualified Teacher Identification Form D for each content area in which they provide instruction

District/building principal determines whether the content provided in a self-contained setting is secondary or elementary/middle.

NJ HOUSE (Highly Objective Uniform State Evaluation) Standard

The NJ HOUSE Standard provides an "alternate route" for special education and other teachers who did not take the NTE/Praxis to demonstrate that they are "highly qualified." A teacher is required to document 10 points under the HOUSE Standard:

4 points for college coursework in the academic content area is required (2 points per course taken or taught)

1 point for each professional activity in the content area, such as service on a standards, curriculum or assessment committee, research-based professional development, content-specific presentations, published research, etc. Maximum of 6 points/activities. Must be completed within past four years.

1 point for each year of team-teaching interdisciplinary content (within last four years)

Successful content area teaching performance

– 2 points for 8-15 years experience

– 3 points for 16+ years

Special education teachers instructing elementary students or providing elementary-level content to middle school or secondary students in a self contained class must complete one Content Matrix (Form F) documenting 10 points.

Special education teachers instructing secondary students in a departmentalized setting or providing secondary level content in a self contained class must complete a Content Matrix (Form F) for each content area taught and must document 10 points for each subject area.

The Joint Council will continue to monitor implementation of these requirements and press for changes as necessary. Please notify Judy Savage of any issues problems (jpsavage@erols.com or 215-297-5212).