April 15, 2002 ( ) Action
Required
(X) Informational
MEMORANDUM NO. 20-02M
TO: Educational
Service District Superintendents
School
District Grants Managers
Chief School District Administrators
School Principals
School Public Relations Professionals
FROM: Dr. Terry Bergeson, State Superintendent of Public
Instruction
RE: No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 – Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965
On January 8, President
George Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. This act reauthorizes
and amends federal education programs established under the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. The intent of this memorandum is to
provide you with general information concerning the impact of this law on
federal programs in light of your current budget planning efforts. An initial
summary of substantial program changes under ESEA is also included in this memorandum.
The major focus of No Child
Left Behind 2001 (a.k.a. ESEA) is to provide all children with a fair, equal
and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. The U.S.
Department of Education is emphasizing four pillars within the bill:
accountability, flexibility, research-based education and parent options. In
essence, it is a national extension of the standards-based education reform
efforts we have undertaken in our state since 1993.
Under the new law, all
students will be expected to achieve proficiency in reading and mathematics
within 12 years. To help get students to this important goal, ESEA requires
high quality assessments that will help educators and parents alike in
identifying areas of potential student improvement and provide data to
make informed decisions about student achievement. The new law also calls for high quality teacher preparation and training to help teachers and paraprofessionals develop the skills and knowledge to help all children reach their academic goals. A substantial portion of this new legislation will focus on closing the academic achievement gap across racial/ethnic and economically disadvantaged groups.
Although OSPI has exercised
caution in reading and interpreting the new law, school districts should be
aware that many ambiguities remain. This law, as always,
is subject to interpretation by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) through
regulations and guidance.
As a result of
changes to the law governing these federal programs, the content of the WebApps
system for federal funding applications must undergo some revision. However,
the procedures used for processing a WebApps application and budget will remain
the same. It is anticipated that necessary changes will be made by the middle
of May 2002, and that districts will have access to most federal funds by July
1, 2002, contingent upon OSPI receiving USDE approval to distribute funds.
Details on the exact dates and times will be posted to the ESEA section of the
OSPI Web page at: http://www.k12.wa.us/Legis/default.asp#ESEA. The WebApps grant system can be accessed
at http://webapps.ospi.wednet.edu.
If you have questions about
the new law, please e-mail your inquiries to: esea@ospi.wednet.edu. The agency will
continue to post the most current information concerning ESEA online at: http://www.k12.wa.us/Legis/default.asp#ESEA.
On this site, you will find:
Please check this site
frequently for new materials and updated information.
LEARNING AND TEACHING
MARY ALICE HEUSCHEL
Deputy Superintendent for
Learning and Teaching
Qualifications
of Teachers: A local education agency
(LEA) receiving Title I, Part A funds must ensure that all teachers teaching
in a Title I, Part A Program hired after the first day of the school year 2002-03,
are ”highly qualified.” Teachers hired prior to the first day of school year
2002-2003 must meet the definition of highly qualified by the end of 2005-2006.
The definition for highly qualified teacher has been attached below.
All teachers currently teaching in core academic subjects must be fully certified in
all of the subject areas they teach (e.g. no out of field teaching) by the end
of the 2005-06 school year. As defined by the No Child Left Behind Act, core
academic subjects include: English, reading or language arts, mathematics,
science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history,
and geography. A teacher quality workgroup made up of OSPI staff, teachers and
professional development experts is currently evaluating the new requirements
as they relate to certification in Washington. More information will be
provided once final details have been decided.
Qualifications
of Paraprofessionals: Effective January 8, 2002, any paraprofessional
hired by the LEA and working in a Title I, Part A program must have a secondary
school diploma or its recognized equivalent (GED) and meet one of
the following qualifications:
Exception: These paraprofessional
qualifications do not apply to a paraprofessional whose primary responsibility
is to serve as a translator or whose duties consist solely of conducting
parental involvement activities under Title I, Part A.
All
paraprofessionals hired by the LEA before January 8, 2002, and working in a Title I, Part
A Program must have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent
(GED) and, not later than four years after the date of enactment
(January 8, 2002), meet the qualifications listed above.
The
U.S. Department of Education (USDE) will be providing guidance in the near
future on the impact of the new teacher and paraprofessional qualifications as
it relates to Title I, Part A schoolwide campuses. We will provide you
immediate guidance as soon as we receive additional information from USDE.
Schoolwide
Eligibility:
To be eligible to operate a schoolwide program, the percentage of low-income
children on a Title I campus must be at least 40 percent. This is a reduction
from 50 percent.
The
focus of the Title I, Part D, Subpart 2 program has narrowed to deal primarily
with the educational and other needs of students being released from facilities
for the delinquent that are located within the LEA’s boundaries. Dropout
prevention is still an allowable activity under this program, but services to
students at-risk of dropping out shall not have a negative impact
on meeting the transitional and academic needs of the students returning from
correctional facilities.
The
Class-Size Reduction Program and the Eisenhower Professional Development
Program have been combined to form a new program under Title II, Part A of P.L.
107-110. This new program is the Teacher and Principal Training and Recruitment
Fund.
The
new program offers flexibility with no restriction to focus on Mathematics
and/or Science. Instead, an LEA may choose to conduct one or more of the
following activities:
Funds
under the program are supplemental.
Therefore, state and local mandated professional development and
class-size requirements may not be paid with Title II, Part A funds. Title II, Part A must supplement, not
supplant, non-federal funds that would otherwise be used for Title II, Part A
activities.
Major
changes to the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Program include the
following:
·
The new legislation delegates responsibility for managing the program to
the state education agency.
·
In addition to local educational agencies, community-based
organizations, including faith-based organizations and other public or private
organizations may directly receive funds from the state.
· Grantees must provide academic enrichment activities.
· Applications will be available sometime in mid-summer.
Funds available to LEAs under the Title V, Part A program will continue
to be
used for one or more innovative assistance programs as defined by P.L.
107
110. The
number of innovative programs has been expanded, providing LEA’s with
additional flexibility.
Title VI, Part A, Subpart 2—State and Local Transferability Act
This program provides LEAs with additional flexibility by allowing the
transfer of
funds that have been allocated by formula under Section 2121 [TPTR],
Section
2412(a)(2)(A) [Enhancing Education Through Technology], Section
4112(b)(1)
[Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities], and Section 5112(a)
[Innovative
Programs].
The
process for accomplishing the transfer of funds under this Act will be detailed
in the Instructions for the Application for Federal Funding.
(23)
HIGHLY QUALIFIED—The term “highly qualified”—
(A) when used with respect to any
public elementary school or secondary school teacher teaching in a state
means that:
(i) the teacher has obtained full State certification as a teacher (including certification obtained through alternative routes to certification) or passed the State teacher licensing examination, and holds a license to teach in such State, except that when used with respect to any teacher teaching in a public charter school, the term means that a teacher meets the requirements set forth in the State’s public charter school law; and
(ii) the teacher has not had certification or
licensure requirements waived on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis;
(B) when used with respect to—
(i) an elementary school teacher
who is new to the profession, means that the teacher—
(I) holds at least a bachelor’s degree; and
(II) has demonstrated, by passing a rigorous State test, subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum (which may consist of passing a State-required certification or licensing test or tests in reading, writing, mathematics, and other areas of the basic elementary school curriculum); or
(ii) a middle or secondary school teacher who is new
to the profession, means that the teacher holds at least a bachelor’s degree
and has demonstrated a high level of competency in each of the academic
subjects in which the teacher teaches by—
(I) passing a rigorous State academic subject test
in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher teaches (which may consist
of a passing level of performance on a State-required certification or
licensing test or tests in each of the academic subjects in which the teacher
teachers); or
(II) successful completion, in each of the
academic subjects in which the teacher teaches, of an academic major, a
graduate degree, coursework equivalent to an undergraduate academic major or
advanced certification or credentialing; and
(C) when used with respect to an
elementary, middle, or secondary school teacher who is not new to the
profession, means that the teacher holds at least a bachelor’s degree and—
(i) has met the applicable standard in clause (i) or
(ii) of subparagraph(B), which includes an option for a test; or
(ii) demonstrates competence in all the academic
subjects in which the teacher teachers based on a high objective uniform State
standard of evaluation that—
(I) is set by the State for both grade appropriate academic subject matter knowledge and teaching skills;
(II) is aligned with challenging State academic
content and student academic achievement standards and developed in
consultation with core content specialists, teachers, principals, and school
administrators;
(III) provides objective, coherent information about
the teacher’s attainment of core content knowledge in the academic subjects in
which a teacher teaches;
(IV) is applied uniformly to all teachers in the same
academic subject and the same grade level through the State;
(V) takes into consideration, but not be based
primarily on, the time the teacher has been teaching in the academic subject;
(VI) is made available to the public upon request; and
(VII) may involve multiple,
objective measures of teacher competency.