Excelling Teaching & Learning : Professional Development : Highly Qualified Teachers
	AEPA Documenting HQT Teacher Resources Principal's Resources AEPA Website Elementary Attestation Form Appropriately Certified vs. Highly Qualified Principal's Verification of HQT Compliance AEPA Test Help for Elementary Teachers Middle, High School, Visual Arts, Music Attestation Form Individual Teacher Plan HQT On-Site Personnel Checklist   Special Education Attestation In-District Study Groups HQT Teachers School Summary Report   AZ HOUSSE Rubric - Elementary HQT for SpEd Teachers     AZ HOUSSE Rubric - MS, HS, Visual Arts, Music Reimbursement Form for AEPA     AZ HOUSSE Rubric - SpEd Arizona Highly Qualified Teacher Attestation - Reading Specialist Arizona Highly Qualified Teacher Attestation - SEI/ELD Classroom Principal’s Verification of Highly Qualified Compliance Highly Qualified Teachers Summary School Report Individual Teacher Plan

What is No Child Left Behind (NCLB)?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), signed into law on January 8, 2002, is one of the most ambitious federal education reform acts in recent history. This legislation extensively amends and reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Title I of the Act mandates improved achievement for disadvantaged students. The stated purpose of Title I is “to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education, and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.”

Major components impacting Professional Development and Human Capital:

Highly Qualified Staff

NCLB requires that a district ensures that by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, all public elementary and secondary school teachers in the state who teach a core academic subject are highly qualified.  The term highly qualified is defined in NCLB regulation and means that the teacher must hold a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, have obtained full state certification s a teacher or passed the state teacher licensing examination and hold a license to teach in the state and have demonstrated a high level of competency.

August 25, 2003, the State Board of Education approved the Arizona Academic Support Division's requirements for teachers to become highly qualified under the No Child Left Behind legislation. This approval requires all Arizona public school teachers to hold a Bachelor's Degree, a valid Arizona Teaching Certificate, and to demonstrate subject knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and other core subject areas by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. This is the first time that professional learning is specifically identified in federal legislation aimed at improving student learning in all core subject areas.

What does this mean to Scottsdale teachers and the Scottsdale community? This legislation means that by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, all teachers in Scottsdale will be designated as highly qualified. It assures that all teachers will have the credentials and training to effectively teach children in all core areas to meet the ambitious academic achievement goals of No Child Left Behind. Core content areas are designated as Reading/Language Arts, Math, Science, Foreign Language, Civics and Government (Social Studies), Music, and Visual Arts.

Support for teachers to become highly qualified is being made available through the Scottsdale Unified School District. Support and assistance will include on-going communications to teachers and administrators regarding qualifications, study group offerings in content area knowledge and skills that will prepare educators for the Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments (AEPA), and reimbursement for passing the AEPA exam. For more information, please contact Andi Fourlis or Lisa Zirbel.